Practical Completion Inspection App — PCI Reports
InspectPro is the mobile inspection app built for practical completion inspections in New Zealand. Walk through the finished home, document every defect with annotated photos, and deliver a professional PCI report to your client before you leave the site — all from your iPhone.
Why NZ inspectors use InspectPro for practical completion inspections
A practical completion inspection — commonly known as a PCI or handover inspection — is the most important single inspection in the entire new build process. It happens at the moment the builder declares the home substantially complete and ready for the owner to take possession. This is the owner's opportunity to identify every defect, incomplete item, and area of non-compliance before making their final payment.
The stakes are high. Once the homeowner accepts practical completion and makes the final payment, their leverage to have defects fixed drops significantly. While the defect liability period provides some ongoing protection, it only covers defects that emerge after handover — not issues that were visible at the time of the PCI but were not documented. If a defect is not recorded in the PCI report, the homeowner may struggle to have it remedied later.
This is why a thorough, well-documented PCI report is essential. It must capture every defect with photographic evidence, describe each issue clearly, and provide a professional assessment of whether the home meets the standard expected under the building contract and the New Zealand Building Code.
InspectPro is purpose-built for this kind of detailed, photo-intensive inspection. Create a structured PCI report on-site as you walk through the home. Capture photos of every defect, annotate them to highlight the exact issue, add descriptive comments, and generate a professional PDF that the homeowner can present to the builder with a clear list of items requiring remediation.
The practical completion inspection is not a council inspection. Council inspections assess minimum Building Code compliance at prescribed hold points, and the council issues a Code Compliance Certificate (CCC) when it is satisfied that the building work complies with the building consent. The PCI is separate — it is an independent assessment of the finished home commissioned by the homeowner to ensure they are getting what they paid for. Many homes receive their CCC while still having dozens of cosmetic and minor defects that the council does not assess.
A quality PCI report examines every visible surface, fixture, fitting, and service in the home. It covers structural elements, weathertightness, interior finishes, plumbing, electrical, joinery, landscaping, and site works. The scope is broader than any single stage inspection because you are now assessing the completed product as a whole, not just the work done at a particular stage.
For inspectors, the PCI is often the most time-consuming report to produce. A three-bedroom home might generate 80 to 150 individual findings, each requiring a photo, a description, and a location reference. Using traditional desktop-based reporting methods, writing up a PCI report can take three to four hours after the inspection itself. InspectPro cuts this dramatically — most inspectors complete their PCI report, including all photos and annotations, within 45 minutes of finishing the walkthrough.
Room-by-room PCI report structure
InspectPro organises your practical completion inspection into logical sections — exterior, roof, each interior room, wet areas, kitchen, garage, landscaping, and services. Work through the home systematically, and every finding lands in the right section automatically. Add or remove sections to match the property layout, and reorder them to follow your preferred walkthrough sequence.
Defect documentation with annotated photos
Every PCI defect needs clear photographic evidence. InspectPro lets you annotate photos directly on your phone — draw arrows pointing to paint runs, circle cracked tiles, and add text labels describing the issue. Annotated photos make your findings unmistakable to builders, homeowners, and anyone reviewing the report. No ambiguity, no disputes about what was found.
Professional PCI report delivered before you leave
Generate a branded PDF report while you are still on-site. Your PCI report includes property and consent details, a section-by-section list of defects with annotated photos, an overall assessment, and your professional recommendations. Send the download link immediately — the homeowner can present it to the builder as their formal defect list without waiting days for you to write it up at your desk.
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How a practical completion inspection works with InspectPro
When does a PCI happen? A practical completion inspection is triggered when the builder formally notifies the owner (or their representative) that the building work is substantially complete. Under most NZ building contracts, the builder issues a notice of practical completion, and the owner then has a defined period — typically five to ten working days — to conduct their inspection and respond with a list of defects. This is the window in which your PCI must happen.
Step 1: Set up the PCI report. Enter the property address, client details, building consent number, and any relevant contract references. InspectPro creates a structured report template with sections for each area of the home — exterior, roof, each interior room, wet areas, garage, landscaping, and services. You can add or remove sections to match the specific property layout.
Step 2: Systematic walkthrough. Work through the home methodically, starting with the exterior and moving through each interior space. For each area, photograph and annotate every defect you find. Common PCI defects include:
- Paint and finish defects — runs, drips, missed spots, inconsistent sheen, paint on fixtures, brush marks on surfaces that should be roller-finished
- Joinery gaps and alignment — doors that do not close properly, window hardware that is stiff or misaligned, gaps between skirting boards and walls, uneven door reveals
- Plumbing fixtures — taps that drip, toilets that run, hot water that takes too long to reach fixtures, shower screens with silicone gaps, missing or loose towel rails
- Tile and grout issues — cracked tiles, uneven grout lines, hollow-sounding tiles (indicating poor adhesion), missing or incomplete waterproof membrane at junctions
- Kitchen and cabinetry — drawer runners that stick, soft-close mechanisms that do not engage, benchtop joins that are visible or rough, splashback gaps behind the cooktop
- Electrical — switches or outlets that are not level, missing cover plates, lights that do not work, rangehood ducting that is incomplete
- Exterior and landscaping — incomplete paving, poor drainage grading, fencing defects, retaining wall issues, driveway surface damage
Step 3: Review and deliver. When you have completed the walkthrough, preview the full report on your phone. Confirm every finding has a clear photo, an accurate description, and the correct location reference. Add your overall assessment and recommendations, then generate the PDF. Send the download link to your client — they can view the report on any device and forward it to the builder as their formal list of defects requiring remediation.
NZ Building Act context. Under the Building Act 2004, all building work must comply with the Building Code. The council issues a CCC when it is satisfied the work complies with the building consent. However, the CCC process does not assess workmanship quality or cosmetic finish — it focuses on structural, fire, weathertightness, and access compliance. The PCI fills the gap by documenting everything the council does not cover, giving the homeowner a complete picture of the home's condition at handover.
After the PCI, the builder has an obligation to remedy the defects listed in the report within a reasonable timeframe. Once remediation is complete, a follow-up inspection may be warranted to confirm the defects have been properly addressed. Following handover, the defect liability period begins — typically 12 months — during which the builder must fix any new defects that emerge. For a structured approach to the handover walkthrough itself, see our new build handover inspection checklist.
The practical completion inspection is one component of the broader new build inspection process. Ideally, the home has been independently inspected at every stage — foundation, framing, pre-clad, and pre-line — so that the PCI is confirming the quality of the finished product rather than discovering structural issues that should have been caught earlier.
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