Sunday 21 September 2014

PCI Done

Firstly I would like to say "Go the Swannies" for Saturday's Grand Final.

The PCI is done and dusted so now the wait for the Interim Occupation Certificate has begun. 

The report from our private certifier found the following issues:
  • Repaint to the repaired ceiling at the top of the stairs. (Ceiling had deep scratches in it from the painters' roller)
  • Completion is required to the drainage pipe outlet at the rear balcony to bedroom 1.
  • Repairs are required for a minor leak to the hose of the shower rose in bedroom 1 ensuite, as well as removal of a minor paint mark. (Actually 3 out of our 4 shower hoses had this problem)
  • Install the trap to the basin of the first floor toilet, as well as general repainting of the wall and edges of the abutting wall tiles to the splashback.
  • The ducting for the return air grille in the first floor area needs extending as the existing is tightly curved around a roof truss member and substantially restricts air flow.
  • Refitment is required to the air conditioning outlet to the ground floor family room as it is substantially out of square to nearby walls.
  • The installation of appliances, air conditioning system and hot water system, as well as a sticker in the meter box for the termite system installed are required at settlement.
  • Cutting off is required to the excessive damp course which is exposed beyond the external wall at lower slab level, mainly to the right hand side wall. (Our SS told us that they will not do this as it is not required despite it being in the report)
  • The installation of additional Ardit, or a floor levelling compound, is required to the concrete slab to the rear lower floor as the contours are in excess of the tolerances as set out under the Guides to Standards and Tolerances.
  • Minor refitment is required to power points, mainly to the kitchen area as some are out of level.
When doing the PCI, as we had already gone over most of the inside ourselves after our inspection with our private certifier, we just pointed out all the things we had already found, although it still took us 3 hours. We hadn't been through the garage or looked thoroughly at the external walls so did find some new things there. There is a 2 metre crack in the slab in our garage which also has smaller cracks branching off it. At this stage it is within standards and tolerances measurements but we will be documenting it's measurements at regular intervals because of the extreme ponding of water around the corner of the garage part of the slab throughout the duration of the build. We are still concerned about slab heave. There was also a settlement crack through the brickwork over the rear stackable sliding doors and Wisdom will be replacing the cracked brick. The floor in the downstairs living area has finally been levelled correctly on attempt no 2. We were missing a fly screen on the kitchen stacker window.  There was a lot of paint patch ups to be done. Cornices on the balcony ceilings did not line up with the brickwork so have been replaced and now need repainting. There were lots of dents in our colorbond roof so those sheets will be replaced. 

So now we need our Interim Occupation Certificate so we can get the bank cheque for the final payment so we can get the keys. The bank will not give us the cheque unless we can give them a copy of certificate. Once the certificate is issued here will be one final inspection of the house and then we drive to Narellan to hand over the cheque for the final payment and pick up the keys. The certificate is issued by the Private Certifiers that Wisdom use and to get it there are a whole list of requirements that need to be fulfilled, some by Wisdom, some by us. One of the things Wisdom have to provide are Works as Executed Drawings for our Hydraulics system which will come from Wisdom's Hydraulics Engineer. During our PCI the SS told us the last  time they had to get such drawings from the Engineer it took six weeks. My husband and I were left deaf, dumb and blind when told this. The thought of waiting another 6 weeks was totally unacceptable to us. So here we are left at the mercy of the Hydraulics Engineer. We have given notice on our rental and have to be out by the 4th October, but have no idea when we will have our Interim Occupation Certificate. Even once we get it, then we have to wait for the bank to issue the final bank cheque. The stress is killing me and I think I have an ulcer. Think we may just break in if we don't have the keys by the 4th Oct. Apparently the penalty is only $550 for occupying without a certificate which is less than a week's rent anyway, although the cost of a locksmith might hurt a bit.

The driveway is being poured tomorrow. The layback was fixed, well sort of. Turns out the layback was put in the wrong place because someone at Wisdom Landscapes had given Council really old drawings that were different from our final drawings. Fancy that! Wisdom making cock ups right to the very end. Don't know why Council just didn't use the DA drawings they had on file.


Layback was too far to the right so was extended on the left side but is too long on the right side now.


Crack in Garage floor




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