Waffle pod beams on a Beveridge slab
The beams between the pods carry the house. Pods that move narrow them.
In short: A waffle pod slab is a grid of concrete beams. If the pods shift before the pour, the beams lose width the engineer counted on.
How the slab works
Polystyrene pods sit on the ground in a grid and concrete fills the gaps between them, forming beams. Those beams, with the steel inside them, carry the house.
What we measured in Beveridge
An internal beam pinched by a pod to less than its required 110mm width, and on another slab, pods sitting out of line so the middle beams came out uneven in size and spacing.
How it happens
Pods are light and get nudged while steel is fixed and walked on. Without spacers, they drift into the beam space and nobody notices from above.
Fixing it before the pour
Realigning pods and placing spacers takes the crew minutes. After the pour there is no practical fix, only an engineering assessment.
What to ask your builder
Ask when the pre-pour is booked and make sure we can attend the day before concrete.
Written by our local inspection team from work carried out in Beveridge. Licensed building practitioners, Building & Plumbing Commission registration CDB-U 53425.
