Call your Licenced Building Inspectors today!

Call your Licenced Building Inspectors today!

PCI (Practical Completion Inspection)/Building Handover Inspection

Ready for the keys to your new home? Get a Building Handover inspection completed first from CTP

A new build handover inspection or PCI (Practical Completion Inspection) is completed when a property is ready to be handed over to the new owners after the building contractors have finished their work. At CTP Pest & Building Inspections, we inspect your new home to ensure that it meets minimum building standards and is up to scratch before you move in. A PCI/Handover inspection allows new property owners to return to their building contractors to have issues corrected in line with the NSW Guide to Standards and Tolerances 2017 and the Building Code of Australia.

PCI Handover Inspection – Newcastle
PCI Handover Inspection – Newcastle

What is involved in a PCI Handover inspection?

Your new home needs to be fully functioning and ready to move into when you get the keys, so a PCI Handover inspection ensures that this requirement is met. Our experienced and licensed building inspectors will undertake a thorough inspection of your new property, assessing the structure for major and minor defects that will need attention prior to you getting the keys. CTP inspectors will assess:

  • Cracking
  • Level
  • Damage
  • Finish
  • Expansion joints
  • Washed/clean
  • Sealed
  • Windows and doors are plumb and square
  • Brickwork doesn’t hang over slab edge 
  • Consistent mortar
  • Level & plumb
  • Adequate flashing and damp proof
  • Termite management programme installed
  • Articulation joints
  • Workmanship of the face brick
  • Weep holes installed 
  • Wall cladding
  • Bracing & tie down points
  • Ceiling joists, trimmers, hangers
  • Timber/metal roof battens
  • Ridge, rafters, under-purlin and struts
  • Trusses – plumb, ribbon plate, tie downs and adequate spacing
  • Eaves –  trimmers, lining and fascia
  • Roof beams
  • Insulation
  • Ventilation
  • Fire/party walls
  • Back blocking to ceiling linings
  • A/C ducting
  • Electrical installation
  • Vents
  • Tiles – installation, fixing-spacing
  • Adequate use of pointing –  hip and ridge tiles 
  • Roof sheeting including fixings, ridges and hip
  • Gutters
  • Downpipes
  • Eaves linings
  • Undulation of roof line
  • Seal flashings
  • Labelling and safety markings
  • Restricted opening for two storey dwellings
  • Flashings
  • Fly screens
  • Glazing
  • Clearance around the frame 
  • Number of smoke alarms
  • Floor wall junctions
  • Shower
  • Floor wastes
  • Workmanship
  • Tile lippage
  • Consistent grout size
  • Silicone seals
  • Expansion joins
  • Hot/cold taps
  • Drain clearage
  • Operation of plumbing fixtures
  • Shower screens and mirrors
  • Lights
  • Power points
  • Exhaust fans and rangehoods
  • Water pressure
  • Tread widths
  • Stairs – riser and going dimensions
  • Balustrades and handrails – height and spacing
  • Internal plaster – level 4 finish
  • External render/acrylic – ground level finish and workmanship
  • Ceiling and wall plasterboard linings – fixings, back blocking, workmanship, cornices, cracking and level 4 finish
  • Internal walls
  • Ceilings
  • Doors – top and bottom edges
  • Door frames
  • Window frames
  • Skirting
  • Architraves
  • External walls
  • Eaves fascia gutter and downpipes
  • Joinery workmanship
  • Joinery fixing, install level and plumb, even gaps, doors closed and no exposed fixings 
  • Joinery penetration sealing 
  • Benchtop sealing
  • Carpentry – internal and external doors, gaps/alignment and door furniture
  • Carpentry – skirting and architraves
  • Patios/pergola, other exterior structures – workmanship
  • Fences and gates
  • Garage Door
  • Stormwater drainage 
  • Retaining walls
  • Rain water tanks – sufficiently draining and footed
  • A/C unit – footed and installed
  • Surface water drainage
  • Landscaping

This list is not exhaustive. 

What happens after a PCI Handover inspection?

After your inspection has been completed, your CTP inspector will provide you with a comprehensive report with photographic evidence of their findings. Once you have read the report, you are able to approach your contractor supervisor to have major and minor defects correct prior to you moving into the premises.