What does this below-grade waterproofing rough-in checklist cover?

14 items across 4 sections, covering access and materials, substrate condition, wall defects, penetration detailing. Each item spells out what the person walking the job is actually looking for, not just a box to tick.

Who should run this inspection?

The waterproofing foreman checking the wall ahead of the membrane crew, or the GC's superintendent releasing the foundation for waterproofing.

When in the schedule should this walk happen?

After the wall is stripped and cured and details are patched, before the membrane goes on and while every detail is still reachable.

Why do these items ask for a photo?

8 of the 14 items call for photo evidence, 11 photos in all. A checklist answer without the photo is a claim; the photo is what makes the record worth something in a dispute and lets a reviewer approve work without re-walking the job.

What most often fails a below-grade waterproofing rough-in inspection?

Membrane applied to green concrete or a damp wall, so it never bonds and blisters off below grade. Tie holes and honeycomb patched with a quick smear instead of the detailed treatment, leaving a path straight through the wall. No cant or fillet at the footing-to-wall corner, so the membrane bridges a sharp inside angle and cracks there.

Can I use this checklist in RTI?

Yes. Start a free RTI workspace, build this list as a checklist, and the Photo Gate holds the submit button until every mandatory item is answered and its photos are attached. Approved inspections roll into a branded turnover package with a tamper evident audit trail.

Free checklist

Below-grade waterproofing

Below-grade waterproofing rough-in inspection checklist

Below-grade waterproofing rough-in is the last time the work is fully visible. Once the cover inspection passes and the walls, ceilings and slabs close, every defect left behind becomes a demolition bill. This checklist walks the rough-in in the order the work goes in, with the photo each item needs before it gets buried. Work is commonly verified against manufacturer's published instructions, the applicable building code. Confirm the edition your authority having jurisdiction has adopted.

Start free with this checklist Download as PDF

The checklist

Every item, and the photo evidence it needs

The photo count on each row is what RTI would require before the item can be submitted. Work the list here and watch the gate hold, or load it into RTI and let it enforce the real thing.

Access and materials

Protected access to the wall confirmed before the walk
Crew and phone holder reach the wall only by the sloped, benched or shored route the competent person cleared today; nobody steps into an unprotected cut for a photo.
No photo
Product labels at the wall match the approved system
Membrane rolls, fluid pails, bentonite panels or crystalline bags carry the product names on the approved submittal, with lot numbers readable on the label.
Membrane stock stored dry and off the ground
Rolls, panels and pails kept on pallets, covered and out of standing water at the laydown area, bentonite never left where rain or groundwater can hydrate it early.

Substrate condition

Substrate cured, sound and clean
Wall cured to the manufacturer's requirement, dry where a dry substrate is required, free of laitance, form oil, fins and loose material.
Cant or fillet formed at the footing-to-wall joint
Cant or fillet installed at the inside corner where the wall meets the footing so the membrane turns the corner without bridging a sharp angle.
No photo
Footing top cleared for the membrane turn-down
Mud, gravel, form blocking and sloughed soil cleared off the footing top and wall base, so the membrane runs down onto clean concrete as the detail shows.
Surface prep matched to the system type on this wall
Prep follows the approved system: primed and dry for sheet or fluid membranes, saturated surface-dry for crystalline, clear of standing water for bentonite.
No photo
Blindside sheet fastened and lapped before the wall is formed
On pre-applied walls, sheet fastened to the lagging or shoring in the manufacturer's pattern, laps sealed and fastener heads patched before rebar and forms go in.
No photo

Wall defects

Tie holes and cold joints detailed
Form-tie holes filled and cold joints treated with the specified detail material, honeycomb cut out and patched, before the field membrane.
Wall face walked and cracks marked before coverage
Each foundation wall walked end to end, cracks traced with marker along their length and the wider ones flagged against the system's crack-bridging limit.
Wall construction joints matched to the drawings
Horizontal and vertical pour joints found on the wall and matched to the drawings, with the concrete crew's waterstop confirmed there before the joint strip goes on.
No photo

Penetration detailing

Penetrations detailed and reinforced
Pipes, sleeves and conduit sealed and reinforced with the detail piece the system calls for, collars tight before the field sheet or coat laps over.
Corners and transitions reinforced
Inside and outside corners and material transitions reinforced with the specified strip or detail before the field application.
Every wall penetration in place before the membrane
Sleeves, pipes and conduit through the foundation wall set and counted against the drawings with the MEP trades, so nothing is cored through finished waterproofing.
No photo

What usually sends this back

The failures are almost always the evidence, not the work

Membrane applied to green concrete or a damp wall, so it never bonds and blisters off below grade.
Tie holes and honeycomb patched with a quick smear instead of the detailed treatment, leaving a path straight through the wall.
No cant or fillet at the footing-to-wall corner, so the membrane bridges a sharp inside angle and cracks there.

Common questions

6 answers

What does this below-grade waterproofing rough-in checklist cover?: 14 items across 4 sections, covering access and materials, substrate condition, wall defects, penetration detailing. Each item spells out what the person walking the job is actually looking for, not just a box to tick.
Who should run this inspection?: The waterproofing foreman checking the wall ahead of the membrane crew, or the GC's superintendent releasing the foundation for waterproofing.
When in the schedule should this walk happen?: After the wall is stripped and cured and details are patched, before the membrane goes on and while every detail is still reachable.
Why do these items ask for a photo?: 8 of the 14 items call for photo evidence, 11 photos in all. A checklist answer without the photo is a claim; the photo is what makes the record worth something in a dispute and lets a reviewer approve work without re-walking the job.
What most often fails a below-grade waterproofing rough-in inspection?: Membrane applied to green concrete or a damp wall, so it never bonds and blisters off below grade. Tie holes and honeycomb patched with a quick smear instead of the detailed treatment, leaving a path straight through the wall. No cant or fillet at the footing-to-wall corner, so the membrane bridges a sharp inside angle and cracks there.
Can I use this checklist in RTI?: Yes. Start a free RTI workspace, build this list as a checklist, and the Photo Gate holds the submit button until every mandatory item is answered and its photos are attached. Approved inspections roll into a branded turnover package with a tamper evident audit trail.

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Run it with the Photo Gate

A checklist nobody can submit half-finished

Load this list into RTI, stick a QR tag on the area it covers, and the submit button stays locked until every mandatory item is answered and the 11 required photos exist. Approved walks roll into a branded turnover package with a tamper evident record behind every line.