Construction Quality Checklists

Column shuttering

• Kicker (50–75 mm) cast, set and aligned — shutters clamp to it
• Shutter faces cleaned and oiled (form oil, not burnt engine oil on exposed faces)
• Column verticality checked with plumb bob on TWO adjacent faces
• Cross-section matches drawing (inside-to-inside tape check)
• Clamps/tie bolts at ≤ 600 mm spacing; extra clamp in bottom third (max pressure zone)
• Joints taped/sealed — slurry loss = honeycombs at corners
• Cover blocks tied to steel on all faces (reinforcement checks)
• Base cleaned of sawdust/wire through the cleaning window; window then closed tight
• Pour height planned: drop > 1.5 m needs a tremie/chute to avoid segregation

Beam & slab shuttering

• Props: steel props or sound ballies at ≤ 1.2 m grid, on base plates/sole boards — never on bare soft ground
• Beam bottoms level-checked; camber ~2 mm per metre of span on long beams
• Beam sides plumb and braced; depth verified against drawing
• Slab sheets tight-jointed, gaps ≤ 3 mm or taped
• Level transferred and checked at slab corners + centre (string/level pipe)
• No prop rests on a lower cantilever or weak slab without back-propping
• Slab edge/stop-end boards secured for concrete pressure
• Electrical conduits/sleeves fixed BEFORE steel checking, openings boxed out
• Steel checking done AFTER shuttering sign-off (cover, chairs, laps per drawing)
• Back-propping in place under any slab younger than 28 days below this pour

During and after the pour

• A carpenter stands by during casting, watching for bulges/leaks with spare clamps
• Vibration near shutters controlled — over-vibration blows joints
• Nobody standing on the slab top mat; walkway boards laid over the steel
• Post-strip inspection: honeycombs repaired with mortar/grout, not just plastered over
• Stripping days counted from CASTING, not from when the surface looked hard
• Curing started the moment the shutter came off, not the next morning