Austral Building
Inspections

Slab pre-pour inspection in Austral

Cover, steel and formwork, in the last hours before any of it becomes concrete.

  • The day before the pour, steel and formwork complete
  • About 1 hour on site
  • Report within 24 hours
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Fully licensed & accredited

Stage2 of 7
When to bookThe day before the pour, steel and formwork complete
Time on siteAbout 1 hour on site
Inspected againstAS 2870, AS 3600, NCC Part 3.2, the engineer's slab design and the soil report

What is included in a Austral slab pre-pour inspection

  • Slab class and layout checked against the engineer's design and the soil report
  • Edge beam and internal beam depths and widths
  • Reinforcement size, spacing, laps and trench mesh
  • Bar chairs, cover and support so steel does not sit on the ground
  • Waffle pods, void formers and pod spacing
  • Vapour barrier coverage, laps and tape at penetrations
  • Plumbing and electrical penetrations and sleeves
  • Set-downs for wet areas, garage, porch and alfresco
  • Termite management components installed before the pour
  • Formwork alignment, level and set-out against the plans
  • Stormwater pipe cover and pit positions where visible
  • Site cut, fill and pier holes where visible
  • Hot water service and meter box slab extensions formed
  • Trench cleanliness and debris before the pour
Why it matters here

Slab pre-pour inspections on Austral builds

Cover to reinforcement short of the minimum, more than once. Edge and middle beam steel not as detailed. Mesh sitting in contact with pipework. Waffle pods needing cleaning out. Formwork incomplete. A shower recess never formed, which becomes a jackhammer job the week after the pour. Everything on that list takes minutes to fix the day before and is permanent the day after.

What we find at this stage in Austral

  • Concrete cover to reinforcement below the minimum
  • Edge and middle beam reinforcement not as detailed
  • Mesh in contact with or close to pipework
  • Waffle pods and reinforcement needing cleaning
  • Formwork incomplete, or a shower recess not formed
Cleaning required to waffle pods, recorded during a slab pre-pour inspection in Austral
Waffle pods needing cleaning before concrete
Sample findings

Sample defects found during our slab pre-pour inspections in Austral

Annotated findings from Slab pre-pour inspections.

Insufficient concrete cover, recorded during a slab pre-pour inspection in Austral
Cover to reinforcement below minimum
Edge and middle beam reinforcement, recorded during a slab pre-pour inspection in Austral
Beam reinforcement not as detailed
Slab mesh in touch with pipes, recorded during a slab pre-pour inspection in Austral
Mesh in contact with pipework
Shower recess not formed, recorded during a slab pre-pour inspection in Austral
Shower recess not formed before the pour

The other stages of a Austral build

  1. Bored piers inspection in Austral1Bored piersAfter boring and cage placement, before concrete
  2. Frame inspection in Austral3FrameOnce frame and trusses are up and the roof is on, before lining
  3. Lock-up (pre-plaster) inspection in Austral4Lock-up (pre-plaster)After roof, cladding and external doors, before plaster
  4. Fixing inspection in Austral5FixingAfter mouldings, doors and joinery, before the painter
  5. Waterproofing inspection in Austral6WaterproofingAfter the membrane is applied and before any tile is laid
  6. Pre-handover (PCI) inspection in Austral7Pre-handover (PCI)Two to three weeks before your handover date

All construction stage inspections in Austral →

Guides

Construction stage guides for Austral

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Book a slab pre-pour inspection in Austral

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FAQ

Slab pre-pour inspections in Austral: common questions

Why does cover matter so much?

Cover is the concrete between the steel and the outside world. Too little and moisture reaches the reinforcement, which corrodes and expands and cracks the slab from the inside. It is measured in millimetres and it is not recoverable after the pour.

What is wrong with mesh touching a pipe?

At that point the steel has no cover at all on one side, and you have two materials that move differently locked against each other. Both are reasons the detail keeps them apart.

A shower recess is a plumbing item, surely?

It is formed in the slab. If the set down is not there before the pour, creating it afterwards means cutting into a finished structural slab, which is exactly the sort of remedy nobody wants to be negotiating.

Is inspecting a poured slab any use?

You can look at the surface, not at what is inside it. Every finding above stops being verifiable the moment the truck leaves.

What if the concrete gets pushed back?

We move with it, at no charge. Dates moving is normal on these lots and it is never a reason to skip the stage.

How long are you on site for?

An hour to ninety minutes on a standard lot, with the report generally out the same evening so the builder can act before the pour.

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