Downpipe at Front Porch - Porter Davis PCI

I'm looking to get opinions on a downpipe installed on our front porch. PCI is scheduled this Monday with Porter Davis.













As you can see from the pictures, the downpipe where it is connected at the bottom is quite unsightly (even if painted). And the rainhead doesn't look great up close. I don't think I've seen a setup like this on a house before.

Also, between the gutterbox on the porch roof and where it connects to the rainhead in the porch ceiling cavity, there are electrical wires for our outside lights in close proximity.

I'll definitely bring it up during PCI but I would be greatly appreciated any advice from you guys.

Thanks.

Is there a display home?

EDIT: Deleted reference to the possibility of an upper storey downpipe draining to the porch.

Can I ask what house you've built with what facade? Our porch is going to be plumbed in tomorrow and our site supervisor warned us that it will look ugly. As our facade wasn't on display anywhere it's hard for us to know what it will look like. We are building the Forsyth with the Belmont 2 facade. We have PCI this Tuesday.

For downpipes in a sensitive area that don't carry a lot of water, ie. porch, a chain 'downpipe' is a option. It becomes a feature rather than an ugly fixture

Flamee - We are building a Charlton 33 with the Ashford facade.

SaveH2O - Unfortunately, Porter Davis doesn't have a display home with this facade otherwise we may have reconsidered.

While I understand that water from the porch roof needs to drain somewhere, I think it could have been 'designed' better than what it is now. However, our construction drawings does show the placement of the downpipe next to the garage door as opposed to underneath the porch and I'll definitely bring this up with my site supervisor.

Harpies - Great idea! If I can't resolve the issue with Porter Davis, this is something I'll look into.

I'll post my discussion with my site supervisor after PCI tomorrow. Hopefully, it might help others with a similar predicament.

On Friday I inspected a similar home by the same builder with exactly the same problem. It looks like a mistake and a botch up right in front of someone's front entry. Fortunately for my client, he will be properly advised what he needs to do to have the problem rectified.
Australia's most professional builder? Yeah, there are still some that believe in fairies.

I really need to see a photo of the top left side of the porch from a greater distance and one of the porch roof but my current understanding is that you have a box gutter. Can you please confirm whether it is an L shaped box gutter.

There are box gutter overflow requirements but going by the photos, I am not satisfied as to whether the full regulatory requirements have been met, just remember that i am not on site and I can't say definitely.

Box gutters are NOT ALLOWED to change direction and if you do have an L shaped box gutter, it is why they have installed two drops at the corner that drains to the rain head. In a nutshell, if the box gutter is L shaped and you don't accept what is currently installed, it will require two downpipes to satisfy the regulations although certifying a Performance Solution may be possible.

Also note that a box gutter MUST drain to a rainhead or sump.

Does an upper storey downpipe also drain to the porch roof?

To me, it looks like one of the pipes into rainhead is a discharge and the other an overflow.

I am less than impressed by this installation and I wish that I was onsite but two 100 mm x 50 mm pops are attached to the box gutter's sole from what I see. Hopefully we will see a photo from above soon.





Yeah, definitely a BIG NO NO!!!

AS/NZS 3500.3
Section 4 ROOF DRAINAGE SYSTEMS - INSTALLATIONS 4.11 DOWNPIPES
"Downpipes shall be installed as follows:
(a) Locations Downpipes shall be located-

(v) at least 100 mm clear of any electrical cable or gas pipe and
(vi) at least 50 mm from any other pipework or service."

How did it go with PCI today Eleu?

You can't do this with a box gutter, box gutters must drain to a rainhead or sump.

eleu.papa, you also need to check whether the rainhead has internal mesh because some do but even if it doesn't, there isn't any maintenance access. What would happen if birds decided to build a nest in it?

Thanks for all your time and advice guys. It's been greatly appreciated.

We had PCI with Porter Davis yesterday and it was an exhaustive process.

With respect to the downpipe, we had our independent inspector chat with our site supervisor to discuss the location and problems with how it was installed. Our inspector basically reasoned that it was not positioned in accordance with our construction drawings and that it may not even be possible for us to concrete over the pipes near the slab due to its height. Our concerns with the electrical wiring was also pointed out.

Moving forward, our site supervisor agreed to move the electrically wiring and redo the downpipe to have it bend diagonally from the top. This is what it should look like when its done:



I think this is how it should have been installed the first time. I'm just thankful we engaged the services of an independent inspector to help us through these types of issues.

Rectangular downpipes always look ugly like that, will they still use rectangular? I would also paint it a colour similar to the bricks.

What about maintenance access issues with the rainhead?

Is the rainhead compliant for overflow provision?

It still looks like a botched job right next to someone's front door.