Pre-Clad Inspection Software for NZ Builders & Inspectors

New Zealand's leaky building crisis — which affected an estimated 42,000 homes built between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s — was caused primarily by failures in the building envelope: missing or incorrectly installed flashings, inadequate wall underlay, absent cavity drainage systems, and poor sealing of penetrations. The remediation cost has exceeded $11 billion and continues to grow. The pre-clad inspection exists specifically to prevent these failures from recurring. It is, without exaggeration, the most consequential weathertightness check in the entire construction process.

Building Code clause E2 (External Moisture) requires that buildings be constructed to prevent external moisture from causing undue dampness, damage to building elements, or conditions detrimental to health. The acceptable solution E2/AS1 provides detailed requirements for wall underlay systems, flashing details at window heads, sills, and jambs, cavity ventilation and drainage, and the sealing of all penetrations through the building envelope. Compliance with E2/AS1 is verified at the pre-clad stage — after the weather-resistive barrier and flashings are installed, but before cladding covers everything.

Council inspectors conduct a pre-clad inspection as a prescribed hold point, but their assessment is necessarily limited by time and access constraints. An independent pre-clad inspection is far more thorough — systematically checking every window and door opening for correct flashing installation (head, sill, and jamb flashings), verifying that wall underlay laps are correct and sealed, confirming that cavity battens provide adequate drainage and ventilation, and documenting the sealing of all pipe, cable, and duct penetrations through the envelope.

Common findings at the pre-clad stage include missing head flashings above windows (a primary entry point for moisture), incorrect underlay laps (laps must shed water downwards and be a minimum width), absent or insufficient cavity drainage at the base of walls, unsealed penetrations where plumbing or electrical services pass through the envelope, and incompatible materials where different metals or products are in contact. Each of these findings, if not corrected before cladding is installed, creates a potential moisture entry path that can cause concealed timber decay, mould growth, and structural damage over the following years.

For inspectors conducting new build inspections across New Zealand, the pre-clad inspection demands meticulous photographic documentation. Every flashing detail, every underlay lap, every penetration seal must be recorded — because once the cladding is on, the only evidence of what lies beneath is the inspection report. InspectPro is purpose-built for this level of documentation, with structured sections, photo annotation tools, and instant PDF reporting that creates an unambiguous record of the building envelope's condition before it is concealed.