I have inspected several houses where the foundation was designed with a brick ledge, but some or all of the brick ledge was not used. Typically when this happens Z-Flashing should be installed to prevent water from running under the wall. I have attached a free graphic I used for today’s inspection for anyone to use.
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Randy - Excellent graphic as always, however I have never seen a brick ledge which did not step down 1-1/2 inches from where the plate sites (All of them that I have ever seen were formed with a 2x6 laid flat with the top surface flush with the interior of the slab). They still need flashing and to keep the sheathing and siding up off of the concrete and lateral flange of the flashing though.
Some of the contractors add the step-down and some around here do not.
Well that would make it all the more important.
Step down is more common on newer homes but alot of older homes in different areas it is just a wider footer or slab in intended brick area.
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I have not yet seen one with a unused brick ledge, but I’ve seen similar issues on slab homes when the sill plate and exterior wall ends up recessed with respect to the foundation. I think this typically happens when the slab is poured a bit out of square. In order to make life easier for everyone else after the framing crew, the walls are framed as square as possible. This ends up making either the exterior walls overhang the foundation(less support for the walls) or the exterior walls end up recessed at some areas. Where the foundation still protrudes after the siding installation, any water that hits this protruding foundation area leaks into the house. Saw this on a recent inspection on new construction. Perfectly timed rain happened halfway through the inspection. Saw the leak on thermal and confirmed with moisture meter.