Missing window flashings at lock-up in Clyde North
Why brick veneer homes need flashings at every window, and why lock-up is the last time to check them.
In short: On a Clyde North lock-up inspection the window openings had no flashing installed. In brick veneer that is a leak waiting for the first wet winter.
Brick veneer lets water in
A brick wall is not waterproof. Rain soaks through and runs down the inside face of the bricks in the cavity. The design handles that: flashings above and below each window catch the water and send it out through the weep holes before it reaches the frame.
What we found
At a July 2025 lock-up inspection in Clyde North, flashings had not been installed to the window openings. A separate November 2025 job had sill flashing fitted, but not properly. Both are recorded against the NCC's requirements for flashings at openings.
Why it is a lock-up item
Window flashings go in as the bricklayer reaches each opening. By the time plaster is on, the only way to check them is to remove bricks. Lock-up, with the cladding complete and the inside still open, is the window for seeing them from both sides.
What else lock-up shows
On another Clyde North lock-up the tiled roof had gone on without sarking. Sarking is the second line of defence under tiles against wind driven rain and dust. Where it is specified or required and missing, it is a defect.
What to ask for
Ask your builder to confirm flashings are installed at every head and sill before the plasterer is booked, and book the lock-up inspection in that gap so it can be checked.
Written by our local inspection team from work carried out in Clyde North. Licensed building practitioners, Building & Plumbing Commission registration CDB-U 53425.
