Inspecting New Homes – Dallas – McKinney – Frisco
My builder told me that the home has already been inspected and approved by the city.
Of course he did. Your builder does not want an independent inspector anywhere near your new home. In the North Dallas area, municipal building inspectors are so overwhelmed that it would be impossible for them to conduct a new home inspection on every house under construction. On average, each municipal inspector in the McKinney and Frisco TX area must conduct approximately 22 inspections per day.
As professional home inspectors in McKinney, Frisco and Dallas TX, we know for a fact that it is not possible to do more than 3 thorough home inspections in one day. To be honest, 3 in one day is pushing it! Typically a thorough new construction evaluation takes 3-4 hours. Many inspectors will not do more than 2 new house inspections in one day.
If a home is over 5,000 square feet or an older pier and beam type home, we can only inspect one per day. In all fairness, the municipal inspectors are not inspecting the entire new home all at once as we are. However, it is still not possible to be thorough with such a heavy work load.
Green Tag – Seal of Approval?
Once a new house or condo has received a green tag, doesn’t that mean that everything is proper and safe?
No! I have personally followed up a number of municipal inspections that overlooked numerous items. As an example, I found one home that had a green tag stamped directly on the panel box at the exterior of home. The municipal inspector passed the installation while I was in the process of inspecting the new home. After he left, I inspected the installation and found that the electrical system’s ground wire was disconnected from the ground rod. The ground rod was installed directly below the panel in plain sight.
Inspecting a Home During Construction
Should I have my new home inspected during construction?
Absolutely! Often times many problems that would otherwise be difficult to repair can easily be corrected during construction. And completion of the building process can hide flaws – not good.
Contact Your Inspector
When is the best time to contact an inspector?
Ideally, you will start communicating with your inspector before signing a contract with your builder. The construction agreement should include provisions for inspections at key points during the process. Having these provisions in your contract lets your builder know that you intend to have your new dwelling inspected by an independent third party construction expert. An honorable builder will not object to these contractual terms and conditions.
When possible, we recommend that the buyer commission a structural engineer inspect the foundation prior to the pour. Be sure to get a follow up inspection after the foundation has set up. At this time, you will also want the engineer to map elevations of the home. These elevations provide a baseline to compare with any future movement that may take place. As part of our new construction inspections, we recommend reliable structural engineers to homebuyers.
We also recommend buyers specify a pre-drywall inspection. This enables us to catch problems that would not be apparent after the drywall is installed. If the inspector discovers electrical or mechanical issues, these can be corrected prior to the drywall application. This eliminates the requirement and expense of ripping out the finished wall to fix these. And the challenge of matching the texture and color of the repair. Nobody wants an unsightly spot on the wall of your new home.
We conduct the final new home inspections after all utilities are turned on and the appliances are installed. Our team tries to give the builder at least one week’s notice of each inspection. If you are purchasing a new home that is already near completion, the final inspection represents a good investment that can pay for itself over and over again.
Who’s Responsibility is it to Build a Quality Home?
It seems that you are asking me to go overboard with all of these inspections. Isn’t the builder responsible to build a quality home?
We are only looking out for your best interest. The list of potential hassles and problems related to skipping the new home inspection process could fill a very long book. We view ourselves as consumer advocates. Our inspectors are motivated to protect your investment.
If you were expecting to purchase a new home with problems, you would not be going through all the time consuming hard work and aggravation of the construction process in the first place. As your consumer advocate, we will do everything we can to see that you end up with a quality home.
No , most new construction contracts are written by the builder’s lawyers, and are designed to protect the builder. So the prime contractor and subs are obliged to meet minimal standards at best. In the many years we have been inspecting new houses, we have found that most developers and subcontractors are concerned with quantity of turnover vs. quality of construction.
A mediocre builder can easily deliver a home that will be relatively free of problems during the time of the builder warranty. It takes a much better developer to build a new home that will be in good condition (assuming proper maintenance) 35 years after construction. Of course, we realize you may not occupy that home 35 years down the road. However, you will probably own the home after the warranty has expired. When you go to resell in the future, the purchaser will hire an independent home inspector. We don’t want you to find yourself in the position of having to pay for builder mistakes at that time.
Other added benefits of new home inspections include:
1) Saving money, time and aggravation – Your contract with the builder should make him responsible for repairs if problems are found after you move into your new home. Every time you have to stay home from work to meet with a repair person, it will cost you money one way or the other. And you don’t want the aggravation of dealing with these issues.
2) Peace of mind – Assuming that things are found to be in good order or the builder repairs items found during the inspection, you will be confident that you have received the new home you paid for.
3) Education – The new home inspection process will teach you a lot about your house. Reviewing the results of your inspections will give you an understanding of your abode’s structure and systems. We go out of our way to provide as much information as possible about your house. Not just an assessment of the construction of your home, but tips on how to maintain it.