How to Check the Quality of Construction?

While we are searching for a house, a few pointers are standard across every home buyer's checklist like location, neighbourhood, return on investment, etc. But if you want to be a smart homebuyer, add checking the quality of construction as part of your checklist. 

How to check the quality of construction? It could be a big question at the moment. To make this easy, we have curated a list of points to check to understand and validate the quality standards in construction. Here are those:

  1. Determination of soil type

Soil type is different from each location. The first step toward checking the construction quality is to check the ground soil's characteristics to build the structure. Checking the soil is considered important because it plays a significant role in the building's construction and strength. A few soil types will not be able to support high-rise buildings and would drastically affect the building's foundation, resulting in a building collapse. The general formula to enhance the stability of the soil is by mixing adding sand to foundation soil. Soil types like loamy soil, chalky, sandy soil are some of the selected soils for construction as they let water drain out and remain firm. While trying to get the soil checked, it is better to take professional construction expert help and accordingly go ahead.

  1. Structural design

Another essential factor to consider while checking the quality standards of construction is inspecting the building's structure. While reviewing, you have to include walls, beams, columns of the construction, and roof to understand and determine the strength and stability. Ensure that the design ensures safety and firmness to the building. While checking all these parameters, it is advised to seek a qualified architect or construction engineer. They would be able to assess if the building can withstand environmental disasters.

  1. Inspection of wall thickness

Walls are equally essential to build a more substantial building. So, when you pose the question, how to check the quality of construction – make sure that you also ask about the strength, quality, thickness, and wall measurements. While inspecting this, you need to cross-check the wall measurements to the one mentioned in the property's legal documents. Again here, you can take the help of a professional architect and get the wall measurements. Another inspection of the wall quality can be checked by inserting a sharp object against the wall. If the walls are not healthy or thick you there will be a hole or crack created. To check if the walls are solid or hollow, tap the walls with your knuckles. A particular sound will determine the state of the wall. Another check that you can individually do is by checking if there are any cracks on the wall. This again is not a good sign of a strong wall.

  1. Quality of the plastering

Wall plastering is also a determinant of the quality of construction. Most of the home buyers tend to overlook small cracks on wall plastering. It could be either on the wall or the lower part of the wall, or the corners. Any place that consists of these cracks and is being covered by paint, and then you have to double-check the property's age. Usually, these cracks happen in old buildings, or poor-quality plastering is used, or the worst is the water leakage.

Learn More: Building Permissions in Hyderabad

  1. Condition of Fittings and fixtures

Buying a home is a massive deal for any buyer. Being ignorant of specific nuances or ignoring some points in quality standards in construction might bring in more significant problems. One of these quality checks that you should not overlook is the fittings and fixtures. When this part of the building construction is in progress or later, you have to check the accessories and switches are of good quality and are functioning well. You have to also check the fittings in the kitchen, bathroom, and other places like shower-heads, washbasin, drainage pipes, and others are in good condition.

  1. Validate the concrete mix

Another element that comes as part of the quality of construction is the strength of the concrete mix. As a home-buyer, you may not understand the concrete mix used in the building construction and the importance of the load-bearing capacity it bears. So, to individually check the builders' concrete quality by drilling a nail in the wall. If the nail inserts easily, then the concrete quality is not to the standards. 

  1. Safety features

Although not many builders follow it but are home-buyers, you need to check for the building's safety measures. You have to see if the construction is earthquake resistant, has an emergency evacuation route, has a fire exit, and many other points. 

The checklist mentioned above is one of the most important points one must remember while investing in a property.