Handover Inspection Sydney (PCI)

Once you make final payment and take possession, you move from a Building Contract dispute (which the builder must resolve) to a warranty claim (which you must chase). That distinction matters — warranty claims routinely take months to resolve, and some builders simply ignore them.

A PCI inspection places all significant defects on the builder's plate before final payment, when they have the strongest financial incentive to rectify quickly. Our clients regularly withhold final payment until the builder has completed every item on the defect list, and re-inspected.

Every PCI report contains a numbered defect register. Each item includes the room, the specific location, a photograph, a short plain-English description of the defect, and the relevant standard or contract clause. The list is designed to be copied straight into your final-payment correspondence with the builder.

We separate genuine defects (missed workmanship, contract non-compliance) from customer-service items (paint touch-ups, adjustments) so your builder can prioritise the high-impact rectifications first. Most of our clients see 30–80 items on a first PCI — the majority resolved within a fortnight of issuing the list.

A single PCI is rarely enough. Once your builder has worked through the defect list, a re-inspection verifies each item has been rectified to standard — and identifies any new defects introduced by the rectification work (paint overspray, damaged fittings, incomplete touch-ups).

Pest & Building Inspections Australia re-inspections are booked at a fixed price per visit, with an updated report showing which items are closed, which remain open, and any new items to add. Most builds close out inside two or three visits.