Does this look normal?

Frame has been completed before Christmas and the state of the slab is giving me lots of worries. In some areas the slab has what is called 'honycombing' and it has started to crumble into pieces and there is also frame overhanging in few areas.
Is this something to be worried about??

That slab is pathetic! The amount of frame overhang is way above the limit! Get an independent inspector to come and investigate then give their report to your builder. The workmanship is terrible.

Gee, what are they going to put bricks/cladding on in last pic? Who is your builder? You better call them and complain. Even Council will fail that.

tlblhayward, Not only one I had two private inspection done one pre-slab and the other after frame was completed.
Pre-slab inspection was a total joke the inspector came snaped a few photos and left within15 mins after having a chat with me and the concreter. Later on he told me that he didnt detect any major defect. He sent me report about 20 pages with photos and mere two sentence specific about my house . When i questioned further about it to my surprise he said he was not there to audit the builders work. Are u kidding me why did i pay you $550 for? As a result I have protruding slab in one area and a short slab in another. So I decided to go with another company for the frame. This inspector was pretty good and had picked up a number of defects he probably have missed this i will email and ask him.

Tomcat; Building with one of the volume builders in melbourne. The concreter has done such a poor job the floor is out of level in so many places. Slab is long in one area and short in another areas. This is after inspection by two builder sureveyors and two private inspectors.
What to do?

I will be complaining when the builder comes back from break

How stressful. The exposed reinforcing mesh scares me the most. I don't want to make you feel sick ... But if my builder gave me that, I'd be demanding they rip the whole thing up and start over -- properly. Blind Freddy can see that is terrible I just read somewhere you're building with Porter Davis. They will rectify (how they are going to do that beyond starting again I don't know) or their reputation will be ruined and they will deserve to be shut down. It will be interesting to know how they respond and what they do. Good luck with it

Thanks TomCat, the builder is not actually Porter Davies. I am building with Burbank and it is my hope and prayer that they will agree to rectify it.
My SS (so far who is a pleasant guy to deal with) will be away for the whole of Jan I guess i might have to deal with construction manager. I am thinking to arrange a second frame inspection.

It is in your best interest to have this type of thread in the Building Standards sub forum where it will be seen by the industry professionals.

To me it looks like slab edge could have crumbled away from same day formwork removal

Have you got more photos?

Yes good idea. Though I think of Alfred Hitchcock's 39 steps: Protaganist goes to police for help - finds out their corrupt. He goes to police head - he's corrupt. You go to your building inspector - he's incompetent ... Bashworth who contributes in here a lot has been very helpful with other people's builds too.Pat, I'm curious: What was the temperature during pour and the days after? Was it raining during pour? And how many people were tending to it?

It is your builder's obligation to fix all the defects.

After viewing your photos and reviewing mine I think this was my pre slab inspection

Firstly at the time of inspection late in the day preparations for pour were not complete, there were concreters working and remained working after I left. That was reported.

After viewing preparations and builder's set out lines I was satisfied.

Secondly the issues you talk about relate to the quality of the pour on the day. I am not your project manager to attend the pour. We don't provide that kind of service.That is what your builder is paid for.

Complete audit of slab preparation would have to start with site set out, slab set out, set out of all services, all levels. It would require two men on site for 2hrs as your contractors on builder's site. We don't provide that kind of service.

Thirdly, pre slab inspection is an overview of preparation by expert in the hope of discovering defects or things that have been missed (as we frequently find) and is not a guarantee that builder will do a good concrete job. We charge $600 for the service.

Many of my clients have been happy with the service
Many of my clients are desperately unhappy they did not get it done

Just a reminder to all that despite independent inspections there are blind spots and risks.
Unless you are prepared to sign up on special conditions and employ full time clerk of works on site (as they do on major projects) there will always be a risk that something will slip by. But it sill is builder's defect to fix.

Thanks TomCat I understand what you are saying but I have no choice except to cling on the little faith I have. Call me optimistic but surely there are some decent people in the industry. We are humans and all of us make mistakes but the key is to rectify the issues and I hope the builder wont sweep these issues under the carpet.

Building expert,

Just to set the record straight, what you said is not correct. The slab preparation was complete by 4pm (the time that was scheduled to be inspected ) @4pm the workers were leaving the premise and the last person who remained was purely there to amend any faults that you may find. As you said there are blind spots and we copped it. We were unlucky.
I am sorry but from a person of your calibre, expertise and experience I expected more detailed inspection similar to the sample pre-slab inspection prepared by Newhomeinspection
You can find it here
http://newhomeinspections.com.au/files/ ... e_pour.pdf

This is an excerpt from the sample report.
“The vapour barrier is short to the edge and boxing across the front of Bed 1.
The relevant Australian Standard AS 2870 Slab & Footing Construction, clause 5.3.3
Vapour Barriers and Damp-proofing Membranes, requires that ‘Vapour barriers shall be
installed so that the bottom surface of the slab and beams, including internal beams, is
entirely underlaid. The membrane shall extend under the edge beam to ground level.’
The vapour barrier membrane in this area will need to be properly extended, lapped and
sealed prior to any concrete being poured

“The bottom mesh along the right hand side of the Garage, within the deepened edge beam is
not being properly supported on chairs or cradles and is currently sitting hard down on the
vapour barrier in a number of areas, which it requires a minimum 30mm of clearance from.
The placement of this mesh will need to be properly rectified, prior to any concrete being
poured.”
The crack control bars (re-entry bars) at the internal corners at Bed 1/Porch and Bed
1/Ensuite are only 1400mm and 1600mm long respectively.
The approved engineers design requires these bars to be 2000mm long, which is also a
requirement of the BCA and AS 2870 Slab & Footing Construction.
The crack control reinforcement bars will need to be extended or replaced with ones of the
correct length, prior to any concrete being poured.”

unfortunately, none of these things were checked at the pre-slab inspection

I will just leave it by saying I was not happy or satisfied with the inspection that was conducted. It will be counterproductive and time consuming to go on further.

Thanks SaveH2O I will try to move it there

stop payment until they fix it for u! I built with burbank last year too, my slab looked rough and seems that when poured the concrete mix was quite dry, and that was done on a 40 degrees day, so it could be the weather.... but at least no shorts... I think u need a good discussion with your SS and ask them to fix it and the structure will be sound.

Thanks Trambay, I have been reading your posts and looking at your photos before we started building.
Unfortunately, I have already paid the frame invoice perhaps I should not have rushed. So far my experience with the SS and liason has been great and I hope it will continue that way. I just can not wait for the builder to get back from Christmas and new year break.
I hope you are enjoying your brand new house? how did you go with your three month inspection? any major issues?

What was the temperature during pour and the days after? Was it raining during pour? And how many people were tending to it?

@TomCat
The slab was meant to be poured on Saturday but it was delayed until Tuesday due to rain. The day they poured the concrete it was actually around 24°c and it was similar for the rest of the week and it didn’t rain till the end of the week. They were about 5- 7 people working.

IMO they will fix it for you when they see it or u point it out to them, it's a problem that too obvious to ignore.
My house is fine, no problem so far, actually they didnt contact me or I did t contact them for the three month inspection, by three months there was no problem that made me worried, so I didnt bother to call them neither... now its been over 6 months, basically still no problem so I guess it's it.
Talk to your SS, if you have a responsible SS, the chance is your new house will be in good quality too, I remeber my SS was quite good, I was happy.

Ideal conditions and team size.
i recommend no more money for them until its sorted properly. And don't let them do anymore work. You don't want that covered up.