How to read a building inspection report
Progress certificates look like a stack of forms to sign. A few lines in them show the real state of the job.
The progress certificates issued by the building inspection firm are the basis for interim payments. Most owners treat them as documents to sign and skip the technical content.
Start with the concrete pour records and the sample results. The concrete class specified in the project should match the laboratory result. Check whether work moved to the next floor before the 28-day compressive strength results came back.
Second, the reinforcement quantities. The gap between the rebar specified and the rebar tied on site can be too small to show in the certificate, but if stirrup spacing was not tightened at the column-beam joints, that is a structural problem.
Third, the dates. Two consecutive stages signed on the same day means the inspection stayed on paper. That is the point to sit down with the inspection firm face to face.