Site records

Checking renovation work before anyone signs it off

Four procedures, written the way a supervisor runs them: a straight edge on plaster, a moisture reading on screed, a tapping rod on tiles, and a written register for every open item.

Section drawing of a plastered wall checked with a straight edge next to a tile setting out grid and a floor build up of slab, membrane, insulation, screed and tile — The three checks that catch most renovation defects: wall flatness, tile setting out, floor build up.

01.The four procedures

Each page below covers one trade handover. Every page gives the measuring method, the number the work has to meet, and the wording to use when the work fails. Read the page before the inspection, not after the argument starts.

01.

Checking plaster flatness

Straight edge method, deviation limits over 2 metres, raking light, and the defects that justify a rejection.

02.

Floor screed tolerances

Minimum thickness by screed type, drying time before tiling, moisture testing, and flatness by floor finish.

03.

Tiling quality checks

Lippage limits, grout joint width, hollow tile detection by tapping, and where movement joints belong.

04.

Running a renovation punch list

Room by room inspection order, what each entry records, retention percentages, and the sign off sequence.

02.Headline numbers

The table below collects the figures quoted most often during handover. Each figure is a working limit used on fit out jobs, and the contract specification overrides every line of the table when the two disagree.

Table 1. Acceptance figures used at handover

Check	Instrument	Working limit	Page
Plaster flatness, general standard	2 m straight edge	5 mm gap	Plaster
Plaster flatness, high standard	2 m straight edge	3 mm gap	Plaster
Abrupt change in a plaster surface	300 mm straight edge	2 mm step	Plaster
Screed flatness under ceramic tile	2 m straight edge	5 mm gap	Screed
Screed moisture before ceramic tile	Surface hygrometer	75 percent RH	Screed
Tile lippage, joints up to 6 mm	Feeler gauge or dial gauge	1 mm	Tiling
Adhesive coverage, wet areas and floors	Lift one tile	95 percent bed	Tiling
Perimeter movement joint at walls	Tape	6 mm to 10 mm	Tiling

Working limits collected from fit out practice. Confirm every value against the project specification before rejecting work.

Kit for a handover walk

2 m aluminium straight edge, checked against a known flat surface every month
300 mm straight edge for local steps and reveals
Feeler gauges from 0.5 mm to 5 mm
Rechargeable work lamp for raking light across walls and floors
Nylon tipped tapping rod for hollow tiles and hollow render
Surface hygrometer with sealed insulated boxes, one per 200 square metres
Camera with a date stamp and a numbered marker card
Printed register with room numbers already filled in

03.How these pages are written

Every figure on this site carries a measuring method next to the number, because a tolerance without a method is unenforceable. A gap of 4 mm means nothing until the length of the straight edge is stated. A moisture reading means nothing until the depth and the sealing time are stated. The about page explains the recording habits behind the four procedures.