NHBC Chapters 6.4, 8.1 and 8.2, BS 7671, Approved Documents F, L and P · 28 checks · proplot.co.uk
Carcassing, studwork, first fix electrics and plumbing, notching and drilling zones, noggins and duct routes — everything that has to be right before insulation and boards go on.
28 checks · Reviewed by the ProPlot site team · How we write these guides
In short
The first fix inspection covers everything installed inside the structure before it is closed up: stud partitions and carcassing, cable runs and backboxes, hot and cold pipework, heating pipe drops, waste routes, ventilation ducting, and the notching and drilling of joists and studs that carries them.
First fix is where a plot stops being a shell and becomes a house. It is also the point where most of the work that later gets blamed on second fix is actually decided: whether the sockets land where the kitchen needs them, whether the boiler has something solid to hang on, whether the shower waste has enough fall, and whether anyone has cut through a joist in the wrong place.
Run this inspection room by room with the drawings in your hand, not from memory. Every trade that follows — insulation, boarding, plastering, second fix, kitchens — assumes what is behind the wall is correct and in the right place. None of them will check it for you.
The two items that generate the most expensive rework are notching and drilling outside permitted zones, and services that clash with a fitting shown on a drawing nobody on site has seen. Both are found in ten minutes at first fix and cost a day of opening up afterwards.
When it happens
When carcassing, studwork and all first fix services are complete, before the insulation and airtightness layer goes in and well before boarding.
Who inspects
Site manager or quality manager, with the electrical and mechanical contractors present so anything found is corrected the same day.
If it fails
Defects found later come out of a boarded, skimmed and often decorated wall. A single misplaced waste run can mean lifting a floor deck that has already had partitions built off it.
Concealed work cannot be re-photographed later. Take these before the element is covered and file them against the plot.
A Reportable Item (RI) is a defect the inspector records against the plot. NHBC weigh each one by its Damage Potential, and the score feeds your site's Construction Quality Review. These are the ones raised most often here:
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Check stud partitions are plumb, straight and set out to the drawing, with head and sole plates fully fixed (NHBC 6.4)
NHBC 6.4Confirm stud centres, board thickness and any acoustic quilt match the separating or partition wall specification (AD E)
AD EVerify door openings are set out to the correct structural opening size, square and plumb (NHBC 6.4)
NHBC 6.4Check noggins are fitted for boilers, radiators, sanitaryware, wall units, brackets and grab rails (NHBC 8.1)
NHBC 8.1Confirm floor decking is fully fixed, unsprung and free of damage before loading out (NHBC 6.4)
NHBC 6.4Verify all notches and holes in joists fall within the manufacturer’s or engineer’s permitted zones (NHBC 6.4)
NHBC 6.4Check engineered joists have not been cut, notched or drilled outside the approved web opening positions (NHBC 6.4)
NHBC 6.4Confirm holes drilled in studs are on the centreline and no larger than permitted for the stud size (NHBC 6.4)
NHBC 6.4Check no truss member has been cut, notched or drilled for any service run (NHBC 7.2)
NHBC 7.2Confirm cables in walls run in permitted safe zones, or are mechanically protected where they do not (BS 7671)
BS 7671Check cables are supported and clipped at the correct intervals, with fire-resistant supports where required (BS 7671)
BS 7671Verify backbox positions and heights against the layout drawing and the accessible-height requirements (AD M)
AD MConfirm cables passing through timber studs are protected by steel plates where cover is insufficient (BS 7671)
BS 7671Check consumer unit position, height and enclosure type are as specified (BS 7671)
BS 7671Confirm smoke and heat alarm positions and interlink cabling match the fire strategy (AD B)
AD BVerify hot, cold and heating pipework is complete, clipped at the correct centres and free to move at penetrations (NHBC 8.1)
NHBC 8.1Check the system has been pressure tested and the reading recorded, with all joints left accessible (NHBC 8.1)
NHBC 8.1Confirm heating pipework in unheated voids and screed zones is insulated as specified (AD L)
AD LVerify waste runs achieve the required fall and that trap positions suit the sanitaryware selected (AD H)
AD HCheck the soil and vent stack is supported, correctly connected and fitted with fire collars at floor penetrations (AD B)
AD BConfirm shower and bath framing is level, rigid and detailed to accept the waterproofing system (NHBC 8.3)
NHBC 8.3Check duct routes match the design, using rigid duct where specified and avoiding flattened or kinked runs (AD F)
AD FConfirm ducting through unheated space is insulated to prevent condensation forming inside the duct (AD F)
AD FVerify duct terminations, back-draught shutters and external terminal positions are as designed (AD F)
AD FCheck the MVHR unit position allows access for filter changes and has a condensate route (AD F)
AD FConfirm service penetrations through compartment walls and floors are sealed with a tested system (AD B)
AD BCheck no service run has been chased into or penetrated a separating wall in a way that breaches the acoustic detail (AD E)
AD EVerify downlight positions do not compromise the ceiling’s fire or acoustic performance (AD B)
AD BNothing on this list is a compliance requirement. All of it decides whether second fix takes a day or a week per plot. No inspector will fail the visit on these — they are the difference between a plot that passes and a plot that hands over clean.
Label every cable and every pipe at both ends
A labelled circuit is a five-minute connection. An unlabelled one is a continuity test, two trips to the board and an argument about who pays for the time.
When: As each run is pulled in.
Set a single datum height for sockets and switches per plot and check it with a laser
Backboxes set off different floor levels look wrong on a finished wall and cannot be corrected once plastered.
When: Before backboxes are fixed.
Fit noggins for everything that will ever be screwed to a wall
Boilers, radiators, TV brackets, curtain poles, grab rails, wall-hung WCs, kitchen wall units. A £2 timber is cheaper than a plasterboard fixing failure at handover.
When: While the studwork is still open.
Photograph every wall elevation before insulation goes in
The photo tells the second fix joiner and the kitchen fitter exactly where it is safe to drill, and proves the notching zones were respected if a joist is ever questioned.
When: The day first fix is signed off.
Leave the system under pressure with the gauge visible and the reading written on the plot board
A dated pressure reading is the fastest way to show a leak was caused by a later screw rather than a first fix joint.
When: On completion of the pipework.
Cap and protect every open end
Pipe ends and backboxes fill with plaster, dust and screed. Protectors cost pennies and save re-terminating the point.
When: Before boarding is booked.
Walk the kitchen and bathroom drawings against the actual services with the fitter
The fitter will spot a clash you will not, and they are the person who has to live with it.
When: Before the inspection is closed out.
145 inspection points that apply at the first fix stage, each written in our own words from openly published guidance, with how to check it on site and what counts as acceptable. Use the checklist above on the day and this register when you need to settle a detail.
Waste run notched through a joist to make the fall work
The bathroom layout changed, the waste no longer lined up, and someone solved it with a saw. This is a structural repair, not a snag.
Usually a Reportable Item and often needs an engineer’s repair detail.
Backboxes set at inconsistent heights
Each fitter worked off a different floor level or their own tape mark. It only becomes visible when the walls are painted and the sockets are on.
Cosmetic but not correctable without patching and redecorating.
No noggin behind the boiler or the wall-hung WC
Discovered by the second fix plumber, who then has to open the finished wall to fit one.
Flexible ducting used on a run designed as rigid
Airflow rates fail at commissioning and the ceiling has to come down to correct it.
Fails Part F commissioning and delays handover.
Pipework never pressure tested before boarding
The first anyone knows about the joint is a stain on a skimmed ceiling after the heating is filled.
ProPlot's audit tool includes these first fix checks as interactive helpers — tick items off, attach GPS-stamped photos, and share the report with your inspector in one tap. Free while in beta.
The key stage inspection sequence on a typical UK housing plot.
Excavation & foundations
21 checks →
Drainage
20 checks →
Basement / lower ground
28 checks →
Ground Floor & Slab
19 checks →
Superstructure
22 checks →
Timber Frame Erection
21 checks →
Roof
22 checks →
Windows and External Doors
24 checks →
Insulation & Airtightness
23 checks →
Fire Stopping
22 checks →
Pre-Plaster
21 checks →
Second Fix
31 checks →
External Works & Pre-Handover
23 checks →
Pre-handover
22 checks →
General Quality
20 checks →
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