Your guide to our risk management site inspections

The LABC Warranty risk management process is made up of the following elements:

• Site risk assessment
• Key risk inspections
• Frequency visits

Site risk assessment

Our surveyors carry out a site risk assessment of the site based on the following criteria: 

• Ground conditions
• Site exposure
• Complexity of the design specification
• Professional input

This check enables our surveyors to judge the likelihood of any problems arising as the building work progresses by identifying the key risk areas. From this we create a bespoke inspection process unique to the site on a plot-by-plot basis.

The assessment is adjusted throughout construction to reflect the standards being adhered to which enables our surveyors to identify riskier areas of the build and plan site visits accordingly.

Key risk inspections

These inspections consider the identified higher risk areas. The number of visits required will depend upon the level of risk that has been identified.

Any number of factors can be used to determine the level of risk. However, if you are building a basement you can be pretty sure that this will be considered higher risk as it can be extremely tricky to get the construction and waterproofing elements right. As such the surveyor will highlight key areas that need to be inspected during the basement construction.

Other areas that are classed as high risk are areas where water ingress is likely to occur such as roofs (particularly when flat), windows, doors and parapets i.e. the waterproof envelope as we call it. This is not a comprehensive list by any means, simply some examples to give you an idea of key risk areas. Each site will be assessed based on its characteristics and construction.

Frequency visits

In addition to the identified risk inspections we will also carry out regular frequency visits targeting the critical stages of construction.

As with key risk inspections, these stage visits would take into consideration the whole site and typically include inspections on:

• Foundations excavations (or prior to concreting ground beams on piled sites)
• Superstructure
• First fix (or pre-plaster)
• Drains
• Pre-handover​

So what are the advantages of using risk based inspections?

Risk based inspections allow our surveyors to target areas of risk such as difficult details and unusual materials and provide the necessary technical expertise to assist you in complying with our technical standards.

Regular visits mean our surveyors have time to view and discuss all units in the build meaning inspection reports are proactive rather than reactive.

By working with you on site in this way our surveyors can identify any issues early on to avoid costly delays to your build.

Let’s face it, no one wants any defects to arise further down the line so visiting your site more frequently to assess critical stages of construction and high risk areas makes sense!