PCI – an exciting anticlimax

PCI.

Three little letters, which outside of the context of building a home, mean very little. But within the microcosm of home building, it’s quite possibly the most exciting three little letters you’ll hear.

PCI stands for the Practical Completion Inspection.

Translation: the end is nigh! After the long and arduous journey of choosing a new home plan, selecting colours and materials, setting a budget and then blowing it, making compromises that please no one, arguments with your partner, arguments with your builder, arguments with council, and of course the construction hiccups, setbacks and delays, the finish line is within sight.

Your brand new shiny house is now practically complete, but for a couple of minor cosmetic details and the installation of the appliances (which apparently happens at the last minute because theft from construction sites is common).

As a result of the understandable excitement that all homeowners would feel, all of the advice online is to curb one’s enthusiasm. It’s imperative that the PCI is used to hold the builder to account, making sure that all faults are identified and remediated before the final construction payment is made.

And so with all the internet’s knowledge on PCIs and associated horror stories downloaded into my brain, I went to the PCI armed with a plethora of materials ready to my builder to account!

I printed out the building contract, the kitchen plans, the electrical plans, colour selections and also paid the handsome sum of $4 for a PCI guidance note from anewhouse.com.au (worth a look by the way). I went to Bunnings and bought myself an electrical socket tester and a torch small enough to fit into my pocket, but powerful enough to shine a bight light on all the faults in our new home.

But when we got there, I was surprised to see the house covered in little bits of green tape. My site supervisor had already taken the time to go over the house and identify faults, marking them out with green tape. Most faults simply required some touch up paint due to scuffs etc, but there were some more substantial ones like two kitchen cabinets that required replacing due to substantial chips in the polyurethane coating.

As we went from room to room, Craig found more faults than we did. He diligently applied bits of tape to all faults that he, and on occasion, we found. Clearly, we have not got an eye of detail.

One thing that I did pick out – which I’m quite proud of – is that the electrician forgot to install a line to our back shed. They had laid the tubing to accomodate the electrical line, but hadn’t finished the job. It was something that should have been done before Craig became our site supervisor so it was one that went through to the keeper.

We also found that a couple of the fly screens in the bathrooms were missing.

One thing we were unable to check was that all the lights and electrical sockets were working. Because of delays in delivery of our chandeliers, the electricians scheduled their installation on the day of the PCI. As a result, the power had to be turned off making it impossible for us to test anything electrical. Something to do after handover I guess.

We had psyched ourselves up for the PCI, assuming that we’d need to fight tooth and nail for Eden Brae to fix things and ensure reasonable quality levels. In the end, it was somewhat anticlimactic. Craig was happy for us to point out anything that wasn’t perfect, and also pointed out the vast bulk of items that weren’t perfect to begin with.

That the PCI was such a non-event is a testament to Eden Brae’s professionalism and quality. I’ve been asked by some readers whether I would recommend Eden Brae. Based on my experience to date – yes, I do.

I went for a job the morning of the day after PCI, and noticed that our facade was finally complete with the installation of our exterior light fightings.

Might be hard to see but the lights either side of the garage door were slightly uneven – the one of the left is about an inch and a half lower than the one on the right. I called Craig to let him know. His response? I’ll get them to fix it.