Rebar records before concreting
Rebar inspection checklist before concreting: what a photo or video record should show
A rebar record is useful only if someone who was not on site can check it against the approved plans. That takes four things. The record identifies the structural element, shows the arrangement of the bars clearly enough to read, carries its date, time and the people who took and verified it, and can be found again from the drawing. The Buildings Department has not yet published what its planned record must contain, so this checklist is Kodifly's working practice, not BD's rule.
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What the record is for
The Secretary for Development told the Legislative Council on 11 November 2026 that contractors will be required to take photographs or videos to record the arrangement of steel reinforcement in the structural elements inspected, before concrete casting. Technically competent persons verify all the records, and all of them go to the Buildings Department for spot checks.
That sets the test for a record. A person who was not on site, weeks later, must be able to tell which element it shows, see the bars, and know when it was taken and who verified it.
BD is consulting the industry on the implementation details and has not yet said what each record must contain. Until it does, the checklist below is a working practice. The approved plans and the engineer's instructions govern what is checked on site.
The checklist
Four groups. A record that misses any one of them is hard to verify.
1. Identify the element
- The level, grid lines and element reference used on the approved plans, such as a slab bay, beam, column or wall.
- The drawing number and revision the element was checked against.
- The pour the element belongs to.
- A wide view that shows where the element sits, so the location can be confirmed from the picture itself.
2. Show the steel
- The whole element in one or more overall views, with nothing hidden by formwork, materials or people.
- The arrangement of the main bars and of the links or stirrups.
- Wire mesh, where the element has it.
- Close-ups where bar size, number and spacing need to be read, with a tape or scale in the picture.
- Laps, starter bars and the junctions with adjoining elements.
- Spacers and bar chairs, which show how the concrete cover is kept.
3. Show it can be trusted
- The date and time, recorded by the device at capture.
- The person who took the record.
- The technically competent person who verified it, and when.
- Any correction asked for, and a new record after the correction and before the pour.
4. Keep it findable
- One place for all the records of the project, not phones and chat groups.
- Records filed by level, grid and element, so they can be found from the drawing.
- Every record for a pour kept as a set, ready to submit.
- The laboratory's audit report after the pour filed with the same element.
This is Kodifly's working checklist. It is not the Buildings Department's requirement, which had not been published in detail when this page was written.
Photo, video or 360 walk
The reply says photographs or videos. Each form shows a different part of the picture, and they work together.
| Form | Shows well | Shows less well |
|---|---|---|
| Photographs | A chosen detail, such as bar size and spacing against a tape | Where the detail sits in the element, unless a wide view is added |
| Video | The element continuously, with nothing left out between shots | Fine detail, unless the camera stops on it |
| 360 walk | The whole bay and what surrounds it in one pass, placed on the plan | Fine detail, which close-up photos add |
How Kodifly delivers it
On the plan
SpatialSense places every capture on the floor plan by level and grid, with its date, time and capture ID.
With the inspection
The record is linked to the inspection request, which carries who inspected and who approved.
Rebar record checklist questions
What should a rebar inspection record show?
Which structural element it is, the arrangement of the steel reinforcement clearly enough to read, the date and time, and who recorded and verified it. The aim is that a person who was not on site can check it against the approved plans.
Has the Buildings Department said what the record must contain?
Not in detail. The Secretary for Development's reply of 11 November 2026 says photographs or videos must record the arrangement of steel reinforcement in the structural elements inspected. BD is consulting the industry on the implementation details.
Are photographs enough, or is video needed?
The reply says photographs or videos, so either form is named. A video or a 360 walk shows the whole element without gaps, and photographs show the detail. Most records will use both.
How many photographs does one element need?
Enough to show the whole element and to read the details that the approved plans specify. A slab bay usually needs overall views plus close-ups at the points where bar size, spacing and laps are checked. BD has not set a number.
When should the record be taken?
After the steel is fixed and before concrete casting, at the inspection. If a correction is made, a new record is taken after it, so the record shows the steel as it was concreted.
Who verifies the record?
Under the planned measure, technically competent persons under the project's registered structural engineer verify all the records (LCQ1, 11 November 2026, reply part (1)).
Related guides
More rebar records guides
- Requirement explainedBD plans to require photo or video records of rebar before concreting in Hong Kong, by January 2027. Who records, who verifies, what goes to BD and what is still open.
- Public and private worksDoes DWSS apply to private projects in Hong Kong? DWSS and body-worn cameras are for public works. The Buildings Department's rebar record measure is separate.
See the checklist as a working record
Tell us the project and the pour programme. We will show a rebar record on a site like yours, from the first photo to the signed-off set.