New Build Stage Inspections

Building a new home should be exciting, and stage inspections are how you keep it that way. An independent inspector checks the work at the points where it is about to be covered up, so anything that needs correcting gets corrected while the fix is still simple. By handover, you know the home behind the plaster is right.

There is one thing to sort out before you book anything: how your home is being built. The inspection sequence for a double brick home is different to the sequence for a frame home, and they are not interchangeable.

Which build type are you?

Double brick (cavity brick) is the standard way homes are built in WA. Both wall skins are brick and the walls themselves are the structure. If you are building in Perth corridors like Baldivis or Ellenbrook, this is almost certainly your build.

Brick veneer and timber frame dominate in NSW and the eastern states. The structure is a timber or steel frame; any external brickwork is a non-structural skin. Sydney growth suburbs like Marsden Park and Oran Park are overwhelmingly frame builds.

Your contract documents and approved plans will confirm which applies. If you are not sure, call us on 1300 787 327 and we will work it out from the plans.

Both paths start the same way: the slab. A pre-pour inspection one to two days before the concrete arrives is the only chance anyone will ever have to check the reinforcement, footings and vapour barrier. Once the pour happens, they are encased for good.

The double brick path: plate high, then roof frame

On a double brick build, the walls and the roof go up as separate packages, so they are inspected separately.

The plate high inspection happens when the brick walls top out, before the roof trusses are installed. This is the stage that does the heavy lifting on the double brick path. The wall cavity is still open from above, so the inspector can check cavity cleanliness, brick tie spacing, flashings and their laps, lintel bearing, weep holes, mortar joints, and whether the walls are plumb and the plates level. Once the roof frame goes on, the cavity becomes a closed system.

The roof frame inspection follows once the roof structure is erected, before the tiles or metal sheeting go on. Truss fixings, bracing and the anchor ties into the brickwork get sealed under the roof cover for the life of the house, so this is the window to confirm them. Plate high and roof frame are two separate visits. Each one covers elements that are only accessible at its own stage.

This sequence lines up with the progress payment stages in the WA Home Building Contracts Act, which is why your builder’s progress claims and your inspection bookings tend to fall at the same points.

The frame path: one combined inspection

On a brick veneer or timber frame build, the wall and roof framing go up together, so one frame inspection covers both. It happens once all framing is complete, before the roof cover, external cladding or internal plasterboard.

This is the most detailed inspection on the frame path. The inspector checks bracing against the engineer’s specification, tie-down connections, lintel sizing over openings, frame straightness and plumb, window and door openings, and the blocking and hob formation in wet areas. Frames go up fast, and small deviations are normal and easy to correct at this point. After cladding and plasterboard, none of it is visible again.

Lock-up: the pre-plaster checkpoint for both paths

Lock-up is when the house is sealed from the weather and can be locked: roof on, windows and external doors in, brickwork or cladding done, wet area waterproofing complete. The lock-up inspection happens here, before internal plasterboard or white set starts. There is no separate “pre-plaster” stage later; this is it.

The check that matters most at lock-up is the wet area waterproofing. AS 3740 requires the membrane to be continuous, correctly lapped and turned up to height, and this is the only stage where it can be assessed before tiling covers it. The inspector also takes a final look at flashings, brick ties and the roof cover before the internal linings conceal the building envelope.

Practical completion and handover

The practical completion inspection happens when the home is finished and fit for occupation. It covers everything in the finished product: paint, tiling, joinery, door and window operation, wet area function with moisture testing, services, and the external works included in your contract. The defect list goes to your builder for rectification while the contract obligations are still live, before you make the final payment.

Once the builder confirms the repairs are done, a handover inspection verifies them item by item before you accept the keys. Keeping these two steps separate means you get independent confirmation that everything raised at PCI was actually addressed.

A new home keeps settling after you move in, so there is one more useful date for the calendar: a warranty inspection at 6 to 12 months after handover in WA (the complaint window runs six years from practical completion), or within 13 weeks in NSW.

When to book each stage

Timing is the whole game. Each inspection has a window that opens when the stage is complete and closes when the next trade covers the work.

• Pre-pour: as soon as your builder confirms the pour date; we inspect one to two days before the trucks arrive
• Plate high (double brick): when the brick walls top out, before the trusses arrive on site
• Roof frame (double brick): once the roof frame is up, before the roof cover goes on
• Frame (brick veneer / timber): the day framing finishes, before any roof cover, cladding or plasterboard
• Lock-up: when the house is sealed and lockable, before internal plasterboard starts
• Practical completion: as soon as your builder gives you the PCI date
• Handover: once the builder confirms the PCI repairs are finished

Your builder is required to give you reasonable notice before each stage. Use that notice to book. In Perth’s busy double brick corridors and Sydney’s frame-build growth areas, inspectors are in demand, so the earlier the better. Current stage inspection fees are on our pricing page.

For the full sequence in detail, including the concrete stages and what the inspector checks against each Australian Standard, read our guide: New Build Stage Inspections: The Full Sequence.

Book your stage inspection or call 1300 787 327 to discuss timing for your build.