Phase 5 of 5: practical completion
Walk the final inspection like a professional
Thirty eight checks: the published tolerance figures inspectors and NCAT experts actually use, a full services walkthrough from light switches to the handover pack, and exactly how to record defects so they get fixed.
At practical completion, you and your builder walk the house together, and one of you knows the tolerance figures. Today it is usually the builder, which is why "it's within tolerance" ends so many arguments that the owner was actually winning.
I am Shea Cullen, a registered architect on the Central Coast. The NSW Guide to Standards and Tolerances is the document that phrase is quoting, and it cuts both ways: it protects builders from millimetre hunting, and it classifies plenty of she'll be right workmanship as defective, in numbers. Most owners have never opened it. This checklist converts it into a walkthrough you can do with a straight edge, a level and a camera.
What to bring. The warranty clocks to diarise before you leave, because many items only count within 12 or 24 months of handover. The measurable checks, trade by trade. The items with no tolerance at all. How to write a defect list that reads like an inspector wrote it, and the exact escalation ladder if the builder goes quiet.
Do the walkthrough before the final payment. That payment is your leverage, and this checklist is how you spend it well.
Free sample
Five checks you can use today
Here are five of the checks in full, free, with nothing to enter and nothing to sign up for. Take them to your next site visit or meeting. If they earn their keep, the rest of the checklist is below.
Before you walk in
Bring the tools
A 2 m straight edge, a spirit level, a small ruler, a tape measure and a set square, a camera with the date stamp on, a torch, and the contract drawings and specification.
Structure and surfaces
Walls and frames: no more than 4 mm in any 2 m
Check walls for bow and plumb with the straight edge and level, especially beside openings.
Structure and surfaces
Floors: no more than 10 mm in a room, 4 mm in any 2 m
New floors are defective if they exceed either figure within the first 24 months of handover.
Doors, windows and openings
Every door and window operates freely
Any binding or jamming caused by the builder's work is a defect, full stop, with no tolerance.
Recording defects and escalating
Write each item as a measurement against a published figure
Not "wall looks bowed" but "hallway wall bowed 6 mm over 2 m, exceeds 4 mm figure".
That is five of 38. The other 33 checks are in the complete edition, each one with the why behind it, what it costs you when it slips, and my professional figures.
What else is inside
38 checks across 7 sections, each with the why behind it and the cost of skipping it.
- Before you walk in (6 checks)
- Structure and surfaces (4 checks)
- Doors, windows and openings (3 checks)
- Linings, finishes and trim (5 checks)
- Materials and compliance (3 checks)
- Services and fittings: everything works (12 checks)
- Recording defects and escalating (5 checks)
This is for you if
- Your practical completion walkthrough is coming up and the final payment is still in your hands
- The builder keeps saying within tolerance and you want the published numbers, not the shrug
- You are inside the first 24 months after handover and want to claim what the warranty windows allow
Your investment
$29
Australian dollars, one time, instant download.
The full amount is credited toward a $220 Initial Consultation with the single use code in your delivery email, valid for 12 months.
If your download does not arrive or the checklist is not what this page describes, reply to your delivery email and I will make it right, refund included. Australian Consumer Law guarantees apply to every purchase. Terms of sale.
Questions people ask
How do I get the checklist after paying?
Instantly. Payment takes you straight to your download page and the link is emailed to you as well. It works for 12 months, which matters here, because several checks repeat at the 12 and 24 month anniversaries.
What numbers does it actually give me?
The published figures: 4 mm in 2 m for walls and frames, 10 mm per room and 4 mm in 2 m for floors within 24 months, the crack widths worth recording, the normal viewing position rules for finishes, and the no tolerance items like binding doors and water entry.
What if the builder ignores my defect list?
The checklist ends with the escalation ladder: an independent report, then a free Building Commission NSW complaint, where an inspector attends within about 22 working days and can issue a rectification order, then NCAT as the backstop. About 7 in 10 disputes resolve at the Commission.
Is the $29 credited back?
Yes. Your delivery email includes a single use code that takes $29 off the $220 Initial Consultation, valid for 12 months, useful if the walkthrough turns up something you want professional eyes on.
Walk in with the published figures and a straight edge, and the inspection becomes measurement instead of argument.