QA vs Independent Inspector

Interesting issue this one, everyone has an opinion and one I have been wanting to ask for awhile.

The builders say they aren't required and not worth the money while the inspectors say its worth it if only as an insurance policy for your investment.

Each are paid by opposing parties, so have vested interests in opposite directions and it appears each has varying degree of attention to detail.

So the M employed QA guy went through our place weeks ago and obviously prior to handover and rated it a 98.3%. How the hell that is worked out is beyond me, but a pretty good score none the less.

Our engaged Independent Inspector found quite a few obvious issues that was over looked by the QA guys including,

• A window lintel was not painted at all,
• The fire box was still not to code - frustrating given he raised it in April at his early inspection,
• The heating duct was not connected to the outlet - ok if you intend to heat and live in the roof space,
• Insulation wasn't correctly installed in all places,
• The carpet still had visible lines through it which needed replacing, and
• Two of the 5 ceiling mounted vents / fans didn't have dampeners which are required for the star rating.

Excluding paint imperfections and other tidy ups, the above are a couple of really obvious, easy gets if your inspector is on his game and / or has a quick look through the manhole into the roof.  Our independent inspector did. Not so sure about whoever did the QA.

With a mark of 98.3% - which is a great score - I can't help feel like I was copying the paper of the student next to me and really deserve a score less than awarded....

I must say M fixed all remaining items without fuss (although at their leisure), so we are really happy overall with our house but the question remains - QA vs Independent Inspector ?

Cam

Put 'em in the LOCK-UP!

We finally received our lock-up invoice yesterday. We thought that the accounts department at M had forgotten (LOL...) but we were never going to say anything...the money's better in our pocket than theirs.

So as you can see there's lots getting done. We have almost finished Fixing stage too so I guess that invoice will be here soon too.

I have just spoken with our SS. The plumbers have finally been back to fix the waste on the powder room toilet, hopefully it is right! 

Chippies have fixed the balcony and attached all of the internal door furniture. I'll swing by later to see if the entry cladding is done.

GOOD NEWS on the waterproofing front. M gave absolutely NO objection to our Inspector telling them that ALL of the floor upstairs needs to be waterproofed to meet building code! I wonder what that means for all of the other double storey homes around that have only been waterproofed partially and aren't up to building code? Water-proofers will be back in tomorrow and Monday to finish the job!

Following that, the tiler starts and we are going to meet with him prior to beginning to make sure we are all on the same page.

We are quite happy with the progress but as the title suggests, we have been locked out of our place (and I have a sick 4 year old today) so i don't have any photos. Awwwww.... maybe this weekend?

Kirst

PS - I haven't forgotten about the little surprise or the Red Door Reveal! They're coming soon... I promise!

Painting = TICK...

THE PAINTERS FINISHED THE JOB IN 5 DAYS! 

So impressed! 

Workmanship is quality too :)

The colours are..

 Ceiling, skirts and architraves - Dulux Lexicon White

Walls - Beige Royal Quarter

Feature Walls (sitting, main) - Dulux Raku and Dulux Champignon

Study looking fabulous!

The colour isn't as dark as it appears in the above.  I'm not totally sold on this yet. We kinda stuffed up the selection on this wall. We thought initially that the Jetmaster would be on a small wall jutting out and that only that part would be painted. Not so and before we realised and got to let the painters know to stop at the stairs, they'd already done it.

I think it will improve with charcoal coloured carpet and certainly with some lovely sheer curtains!

Closer inspection of the stairwell. There will be charcoal carpet up the stairs.

Lovely kitchen!

Rumpus...

Top of the stairs. We love the natural timber with clear finish for the handrail and top of wall. It looks sensational!

Lachie's bedroom

Master Bedroom Feature Wall Number One - Dulux Raku (only one coat on here so a bit patchy but I've seen it since the second coat and it rocks!)

Master bedroom feature wall number two - Dulux Champignon

The same feature wall number two from the other angle.

Next Week

Things are most certainly moving. This week the following is planned!

• Chippies back to finish balcony, front entry, eaves to outdoor room, door handles etc.
• Plasterers back to plaster garage roof and fix offending stairwell joint (see previous post HERE...)
• Electrician to fit-off lights, power points and switches.
• Waterproofer to return to complete the job (see below...)

Then all going according to plan... (huhhmmm) the following week the tiler is booked to begin!  Problems are the waterproofing needs to be finished and the plumber has to be back to resolve Powder room toilet waste pipe issue that has been lingering for 5+ months. So my best guess is that tiling will be delayed.

Independent Inspection

We had a meeting last Thursday with our SS and our Independent Building Inspector. Our SS was happy to have the Inspector there and lets face it, he doesn't really have a choice.  That said, Cam was present for all their discussions and found it was quite productive and flowed very well.  The major point to come from the meeting was all about WATERPROOFING!!!  This confirmed Cam's initial thoughts.

ALL bathrooms on the second floor need to have the WHOLE floor waterproofed as per the building code (see our previous post on waterproofing HERE...) UNLESS the building contract specifically notes that waterproofing is to be done via an alternative method - effectively overriding the code. 

We have looked... our standard Metricon contract doesn't mention waterproofing and therefore the building code stands. RESULT = Metricon will now need to waterproof the whole floor in the bathroom and ensuite instead of just the shower and bath! This revelation will probably hold up the tilers so lets see what happens there...

Our inspector came up with a few other smaller items that he will note within his report with his recommendations - mostly 'nice to have' rather than a construction/finish issues.

Future Reveal

The front door has also been painted a beautiful bright gloss red (Dulux Red Box) but I want to wait until the balcony etc has been finished before the big reveal! I can however say, that given it was one of the choices that I was most nervous about...I am absolutely in love with the front door!!! It looks amazing :)

Kirst

ps.we went shopping today and are on the verge of a BIG purchase... details later in the week when all is confirmed :)

All about waterproofing…..

Could someone out there in the blogger world help me out?

One very quick question regarding wet areas waterproofing.

I’ve been told the BCA’s 8.3.1.1 or something similar requires all wet areas to be fully waterproofed including the entire floor area especially where bathrooms (wet areas) are upstairs on timber flooring – not just the shower recessed area. What has been your experience?

This is a questions well ahead of where we are up to in our build but keen to get an idea of what is the correct process and what is the approach / experience of others.

Thanks in advance.


Cam