Final Darbecca Inspection 27 Feb 2018

We got Darbecca back in to do our final inspection. The inspection was scheduled for 1 pm. We had asked for 8.30 am to coincide with when we were doing our walk through but Darbecca were unavailable! Apparently they are flat out! Business is good! Any how, back to us. Did our inspection in the morning, left the site and got a call just as we were getting home at about 11.40 am, the Darbecca inspector was early! He had just missed us!! We then called the site manager who was thankfully in the area and met with the Inspector.

So back in the car to meet Darbecca!! What a way to spend my day off!! The inspector was generally happy with the inside but very unhappy with the brickwork. This is something we also picked up on. Below is a list of defects Darbecca found:

1. Roof Space – The insulation in the ceiling has the following defects.

• Large areas of ceiling batts have been left out around the ducts and exhaust fans. The batts will need to be installed snug to the ducts and just clear of the fan outlet.
• Batts have been installed over pipes wires and timber. The 90 mm plus gap between the top of the plaster and the bottom of the batts is making all installed batts that have this gap completely ineffectual.
• The R rating on the dwelling has been greatly reduced and the overall performance of the roof installing does not meet the requirements of the energy report on the dwelling. The whole roof will need to be reworked so that all batts are installed hard to the plaster with no gaps or holes to the installation.
• I noted that the ceiling installation does not continue to the very outer edges of the home. There is areas with gaps of about 100 mm or more around the home that has not been installed.
• There have been excessively wide gaps of insulation left out around the Downlights.
• There have been gaps of insulation left out around the expected down light positions.

2. I noted that the dwelling is not water tight with the following that have not been installed.

• Flashings – one area of the roof only

3. There are a number of areas in the home that exceed the allowance of 4 mm tolerance over 2 mm.

• out of plumb walls (OOP)
• bulkhead out of level (BH OOL)

4. The gutters on the dwelling all need to be fully cleaned. The roof tilers nails, pop rivets, mortar, tile mortar colour and the broken bits of tiles all need to be removed.
5. The fasteners to some down pipes appear to be damaged and presenting with rust. I would suggest that the builder has re-cleaned the brickwork with acid.
6. Garage, Entry, Alfresco – I noted the concrete slab floor has a large amount of builder’s waste on the finished slab surface. The concrete finish to the Garage, Entry, Alfresco must be cleaned, smooth and without any builders waste or markings prior to handover. The floor was new when the slab was laid and must be presented “as new” prior to handover. The builder may need to top dress the finish if the surface is damaged during removal of the waste.
7. There are some voids and small holes as well as mortar smears in the finished faces of the mortar joints around this house and garage.
8. The brickwork around the dwelling is showing a large amount of mortar damage from the brick cleaning process. I noted the joints are showing areas of missing mortar in the jointing and visible high pressure blasting damage.
9. The concrete paving has been installed at a height greater that the minimum requirement of 50 mm below the DPC/flashing.
10. As per AS 3500.3, downpipes cannot be installed within 100 mm of an electrical wire. I noted that this dwelling’s down pipe installation breaches this requirement.
11. The weep holes on the dwelling appear to excess mortar to a number of areas. It appears that the brick layer has not removed all mortar when it was soft, and the leftover has now set hard, blocking the weep holes ability to function.
12. We noted a large gap between the front door frame and the architrave, reworking is required to finish the architrave flashing against the frame.
13. We noted poorly installed or missed caulking/gapping/grouting throughout thedwelling. The Builder will need to rework all areas prior to handover.
14. The painting of the dwelling has several defects; (internal and external)

• Starved paint.
• Painting over plaster defects.
• Poor sanding of nail fillings and hence a clearly defined presentation of all nail holes.
• Runs in gloss finish.
• General paint defects as marked.
• The paintwork as a whole needs considerable reworking.

15. All toilets on the dwelling have been installed with silicon only. The toilets must be secured to the floor with screws. I refer the builder to manufactures installation instructions.
16. We noted that the track to the sliding door presents as damaged. The track will need to be replaced to present as new prior to handover.
17. All cabinet door margins that need to be reworked to ensure that all are aligned. This includes the draw fronts.
18. The powder coat finish to this dwellings aluminium frames has been scratched and or dinted. Damaged powder coat finish cannot be correctly repaired on site and may have to be replaced. If the damage in down to raw aluminium, replacement is a must.
19. There are a number of areas in the home that exceed the allowance of 4 mm tolerance over 2 mm.

• Stair void out of alignment, resulting in timber moulding presenting out of plumb

20. A water stop will need to be installed at all doorways / openings. The water stop must be returned under the sliding door and return into the wet area side of the cavity sliding door frame.
21. We noted a twisted door to the upper storey. Reworking is required.

We returned to the house 2 days later and went through the whole Darbecca report with the site Manager. He was pretty good about explaining everything as he has been on previous occasions. We examined every defect and will do so again when all the repairs have been done before settlement. Fingers crossed!!!