Would you recommend that a buyer who buys from a builder (in this case, a builder who is constructing 500 new homes in a new subdivision, who has a pretty good reputation and offers a 10-year homeowner warranty) still hires their own home inspector to check out the home upon completion? Do inspections routinely catch things that a builder did not do properly?

I take it it is brand new construction that no one has ever lived in. As a former employee used to say, "The Trojan Horse was brand new, but someone should have inspected it."

The whole purpose of a home inspection is so you'll know what you have. There is no such thing as a perfect building because they are built by people. And some of those people are new in their respective professions. Some of those people are very well experienced but complacent. Some are out for revenge because they just got a pick slip (lots of that happened here after 9/11).

Additionally, many city building and code inspectors are overworked. Many of them just do spot checks. In fact, I'm familiar with a builder here who has a good reputation, but he knows where he can cut corners, and he does. The city inspector comes out and inspects every fifth home, so the builder cuts corners on the second, third, and fourth homes. And I know when I go into that subdivision exactly which homes were inspected and which were not.

A builder offering a 10-year warranty is great, but don't put all your faith into the warranty. There could be some serious problems that could cause you significant damage to valuable possessions, property, and even personal injury or death. A Client a couple of years ago had a brand new home but the heater wasn't working. They called me based on a referral from a friend of theirs. Gas was pouring into the attic because the gas pipe had not been connected to the furnace but the valve was on. So when the gas got turned on at the meter, it just filled the attic with gas. The homeowners were lucky that the house didn't explode.

Thanks for the quick response. While you were answering I was clarifying my earlier post to indicate that this is a large-scale builder of new construction. But, as you touched on, the quality of an individual house is only as good as the crew that worked on it.

Probably the smart thing is for the buyer to pay for a full inspection. If the buyer only wanted key systems inspected -- HVAC, hot water heater and electrical systems -- would a general inspector still be the right person to call or should the buyer hire specialists? Lastly, for something newly constructed, can an inspector really tell much about the plumbing system since most of it is concealed?

Most inspectors only do one type of inspection, regardless of what their Client might need. There are some who will inspect whatever you would like inspected. However, in all the things that you pay for to buy a new home, I think the one thing that you should not skimp on is the home inspection. Charge it to a credit card, get a personal loan, have the parents give you an early birthday or wedding present, anniversary gift, etc. Considering all the things that a home inspection can uncover--maintenance issues, safety concerns, health concerns, etc.--and the resulting money saved to you because of those discoveries, I hope you'll go the full route.

I know you're in California, but I don't know where. I'm in San Diego and I offer eleven different types of inspections for my Clients. My BASIC inspection would fit your needs and is less expensive than my STANDARD, PREMIUM, and TECH inspections.

I can probably find you a good inspector regardless of where you are if you need one. Email me privately and I'll help you out.

Thanks. I'm in northern California. I phoned a local home inspection company to get prices and asked if they offered limited inspections if you wanted only certain things looked at. Their rep indicated they only do full inspections but then said they were not "specialists" regarding HVAC or any sub-systems. Is this a standard disclaimer in the industry? This company has about 20 property inspectors on call.

I guess I am a little thrown off by the "non-specialist" disclaimer. Will "general" inspectors usually know enough about HVAC, electrical, hot water and plumbing systems to give a homeowner adequate information about the condition of those systems, or should a homeowner be calling specialists for those systems?

It is a standard disclaimer, which is why you will find very few inspectors who offer "specialized" inspections. We are, first and foremost, generalists. If you think about that, here in California we have no licensing for home inspectors, yet we have licensing for roofing contractors, HVAC, plumbers, chimney sweeps, electricians, structural engineers, and even landscapers. So we, as generalists, have to know all that but there's no licensing for us? How stupid is that? So because of how carefully we have to tread due to the type of insurance that we carry, very few inspectors will do specialist inspections. Most of the time, though, it's because they don't know how, or don't want to take the initiative to learn how or to determine how, to offer their Clients the specialized services that the Clients want, such as in your case.

Think of the situation like this: You have a family doctor that you visit every six months. This month he finds some nodules on your lung x-ray. So he refers you to a lung specialist. The family doctor is a generalist. He knows something about everything but everything about nothing. Home inspectors are the same way. We know enough to determine if there are any major problems, and if there are, we refer you to the specialist. But we simply can't know everything about everything due to the tremendous volume of information that one would have to learn (just look at the National Electrical Code and then multiply that by all the other industries involved in building a house). If plumbers occasionally make mistakes, and electricians occasionally make mistakes, and roofers occasionally make mistakes, etc., how could one reasonably expect a home inspector to know everything about all those different systems? One shouldn't. And, indeed, we don't know it all. And any home inspector who claims that he does is, in my opinion, a little less than truthful.

If you were to hire the HVAC technician, an electrician, and a plumber, just the show-up fees for those three is probably a lot more than the home inspector charges for a full inspection (regretful, but true; a result of no licensing for home inspectors). So if you're looking to save money, your best bet is to go with the home inspector's full inspection.

For whatever inspector you hire, make sure that he has errors & omissions insurance.

Thanks!!!

Better late than never on a post hopefully this can be of use for the future.

New Construction Inspections
“Why?”

It is unfortunate that I get phone calls all the time from people who have trouble with a new home. As soon as he/she tells me about the problem they are having, I always wonder why they didn’t have the house inspected during construction. New construction is supposed to be without problems, right? After all, there is a code official who oversees the project and a bank inspector. The sad truth is that new construction buyers need someone who represents them during the construction process.

Before construction ever begins, just after you sign the contract with the builder, detailed plans (blueprints) are submitted to the local building inspector for what is called “Plan Review”. What this does is allow the inspector or authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) to review those drawings to make sure that the structure planned will meet the building code. It is during this phase that all of the requirements of the municipality are shared with the builder. Pennsylvania has a statewide building code called the PA-UCC or Uniform Construction Code. This code is based on the International Residential Code (IRC) for one and two family dwellings. Each municipality can have requirements that go above and beyond the PA-UCC but never below. Pennsylvania adopted a statewide building code on April 9, 2004 so the requirements are not new to builders or inspectors.

After construction begins the AHJ comes out in phases to inspection the structure. They usually come out about five to seven times to approve the footer, foundation, framing, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, energy, and last but not least issue a certificate of occupancy. Everything is covered, right? Wrong, everything is not covered. Most AHJs are on a strict schedule therefore limited on the amount of time they can spend at the jobsite. In addition, most are multi-certified in many areas and only strong in one or two. Gone are the days when you had a different inspector for each system of the house. Some have no construction experience at all; they just took some courses and passed an open book test. Yes, I said open book. Just like all of us, the AHJ is human and will not catch every defect. This does not mean that all AHJs are incompetent. Many if not most are very competent as code officials. But remember, they are limited on time.

Next we have the bank inspector. I still cannot figure out for the life of me why the bank calls them inspectors. Inspectors they are not. They should be called verifiers for the bank. All that the bank wants to know if what percent of the job is done so they know how much money to release to the builder. Many of these inspectors have absolutely no training or experience in construction. They are low paid picture takers, nothing more and nothing less. I can attest to this because a very small portion of my business is working for banks doing these very “inspections”. I use them as a filler if they are conveniently located between regular inspections to pay for gas money. At one time when construction was at its peak I had three people on the road taking pictures for banks. There were times when I did see problems and reported them to the bank, only to fall on deaf ears. The moral of this paragraph is to let you know that the person sent out by the bank is there for the builder.

Every single new construction inspection that I performed defects were found. Whether it is during a particular phase, or at the end for a final inspection, there were always problems. Not all problems are big ones and just about all of them are easy fixes since the home is still under construction. Once in awhile there are big problems that need extensive repairs. There was one instance where the home and foundation needed to be torn down and started from scratch. That one ended up with the builder being fired and eventually ended up in litigation. Yes, you read right, the home and foundation had to be torn down. Things can get that bad. A case like that is an exception, not the rule. Most of the time the builder and code official are happy to have another set of eyes.

It is advisable to communicate and hire your inspector as soon as you can, preferably prior to the start of construction. Get an extra set of blueprints made for your private inspector to keep. If you are near the end of the construction process then try to hire an inspector prior to the certificate of occupancy being issued and most definitely before closing. Once you close and release your money to the builder, you just lost your power of persuasion. There have been cases where buyers were successful in getting a certificate of occupancy rescinded with our help, but you don’t want to be past that point. A proactive approach during construction is the best way to go. Plan, think ahead and don’t sign off on anything until you are satisfied.

Make sure you keep in contact with your builder, let them know you hired an inspector and make sure they keep you up to date on all progress or lack of progress. A red flag should be raised whenever a builder resists when the buyer wants to use a private inspector. Make sure there are no restrictions on the use of your own inspector in your contract with the builder. Avoid builders who want to control every aspect of construction other than what their insurance company requires. Finally, get all changes in writing and signed by the builder and you. This will make for a smoother process for all involved.

For a direct link to the article above that I just wrote, click here: http://www.remasinspections.com/NewConstruction.html

To answer your question - "Do inspections routinely catch things that a builder did not do properly? - Yes!

Unfortunately many contractors will often cut corners. For example we hired an insulation contractor for a small project several years ago; when he ran short of insulation to complete the project, instead of buying more insulation (which he could have easily used on future jobs) he took insulation from other areas. This caused gaps and a lack of energy efficiency for our client. Needless to say, we had him fix his work and never hired him again.

But there is the issue of some problems not being noticed for many weeks, months, and sometimes years down the road. A small leak in the attic may cause severe water damage in a out of sight area and go unnoticed for a while, if not properly inspected.

It is not always cutting corners. If you read my article you will find out that sometimes it is pure ignorance of the building code along with poor code enforcement.