Is This Acceptable for Foundations

Hi everyone

I'm new to the forum and seeking help from those experienced builders out there.

My partner and I are having a bungalow build at the moment which has not come without its problems, however I'm beginning to question the quality of the work from our builder. He's already messed up the foundations which were condemned and needed to be fully excavated and re-poured (all at his costs), I'm now hit with an another possible issue regarding quality of work.

Upon returning to the land yesterday the builder claims he at DPC height ready for the beam and block to be installed. I have another contractor that's going to do this as his cost were a lot more reasonable for the work required.

The query I have is regarding the laying of the foundation blocks, they look messy with loads of gaps in various areas with very little mortar, and a few area's that are not flat, is this acceptable from the pictures attached?

I have noticed a lot of area's that have been filled with soil so you can't see the initial first row of blocks of how they have been laid on the concrete foundations, this worry's me also. Tomorrow I'm going to remove this loose soil around the blocks to get a better understanding of what has been done.

Any thoughts or help appreciated.

Kind regards

Stingray

I would first of all excavate below the fundations in several points to check he's followed the plans and poured the correct thickness.
The fact he had to re-do the fundations at his cost, makes it more likely to cut corners.

I doubt there'll be any structural problems with unfilled joints below ground level, but the work generally looks rough.
The three courses of blue brick look scrappy - though they could be cleaned with acid - but the joints are too thick and look amateurish.
As noted above, the builder is going to have to make up the loss of re-doing the base, so this job will need to be watched carefully as it goes on.
(Don't expect too much help from Building Control, though).

The unfilled gaps will be for cross ventilation, but the work is very shoddy.

What does your specification say regarding the standard required? What contact are you using?

BTW, no competent builder messes up foundations. If they do, it does not bode well for anything further up.

Charlie George said:

The unfilled gaps will be for cross ventilation, but the work is very shoddy.

Click to expand...

Presumably to stop the block and beams from rotting