In short: If you inspect once, inspect the frame. If you inspect twice, add the pre-pour. Everything after that is finish quality, which you can partly judge yourself.
Pre-pour, because it is permanent
Reinforcement placement, concrete cover, service penetrations and the vapour barrier are visible for a matter of hours. After the pour they are a permanent condition of the house that nobody will ever inspect again. It is the shortest window and the least recoverable.
Frame, because it is where things hide
Tie down hardware, bracing, bearing and connections all disappear behind plaster within days. The findings we record most around Catherine Field are hardware items - missing washers, triple grips, bracket fixings - which are trivially cheap at frame stage and require opening walls afterwards.
Handover, because leverage ends
Practical completion is the last point at which unfinished work is the builder's to fix rather than yours to claim. In NSW you then rely on statutory warranties under the Home Building Act - six years for major defects, two years otherwise - which work, but slowly.
Written by our local inspection team from work carried out in Catherine Field. Licensed building practitioners.
