A weep hole asked for at practical completion
The right finding at the wrong stage.
In short: A weep hole recorded as required at an Austral handover inspection.
What a weep hole is for
Draining the cavity. Water crossing the outer brick skin runs down the inside face, lands on a flashing, and leaves through the weep hole. Take away any part of that and the water stays in the wall.
What was recorded
Weep hole required, at high severity, on an Austral practical completion inspection about eight kilometres north of Catherine Field.
Why the stage is the story
At lock-up this is a bricklayer and a chisel. At practical completion the brickwork is finished, sometimes rendered, and putting it right means cutting into completed work.
How the conversation goes
The builder resists, for exactly that reason. What moves it is a report citing what the detail fails, with a dated photograph attached, rather than a description of how the wall looks.
What to do about it on your build
Book lock-up. Every envelope item we see arriving late belongs at that stage, and it is the cheapest inspection in the sequence relative to what it can save.
Written by the Owner Inspections team from inspections carried out in Catherine Field. Licensed building practitioners, NSW Fair Trading licence 366177C.
