New Homes and the 3rd Party Construction Inspection

If there is any doubt in your mind about the need for a 3rd party inspection of a new home, in any price range, in any neighborhood, by any builder, you should spend a day in the field with me.  You would quickly appreciate just how critical a 3rd party inspection can be.  This is not to say that all construction is bad.  While no construction is perfect, many homes do turn out to be relatively free of serious errors or omissions.

However, you would truly be rolling the dice with a major investment if you were skip the 3rd party inspection process.  Instead of wasting time attempting to convince those who do not believe there is a need to have a new home inspected, I would like to focus on helping those who realize that it is necessary.  I will try to outline the advice that I give to people who contact me with questions regarding the process and walk you through the steps.

Three Pieces of Advice With New Home Construction

• Avoid spending large sums of money on expensive upgrades.  If you are not happy with the process down the road or experience problems with the builder, you could be held hostage by the fact that you have put large sums of money into upgrades.  In some circumstances, it is necessary to have specific items rolled into the mortgage.  If at all possible, avoid putting money down on these items until after you have completed the framing inspection and determined that the builder has done an acceptable job up until that point.
  
• Keep the relationship with your builder strictly professional.  I see people make this mistake on a regular basis.  Please do not misunderstand.  Your builder is probably an honest hard working individual that deserves as much respect as anyone else.  Offering that respect is necessary in order to maintain a good working relationship.  The problem lies in getting too close to the builder.  Many people go overboard in being nice to the builder, hoping it will benefit them in some way.  This makes it very difficult to be tough when you need to be.  There will probably come a time in the process when you will need to be tough or simply tell the builder that something is unacceptable to you, regardless of how he may feel about it.

• Assume that the home will not be ready when you are told that it will be.  If you consider it an unexpected surprise that the home was finished and closed as expected, you will be much happier when it is all said and done.  Issues always seem to come up at the last minute. If at all possible, try and allow for delays at the very end of the process.  The most common delay seems to be with getting the utilities installed.  The lack of utilities can often create scheduling difficulties with the final inspection. If you are in a position to simply tell the builder that you plan to hold off on closing until after the inspection, they have an amazing way of speeding things up.

Foundation Inspection in New Home Construction

I do not do foundation inspections during the construction process. I generally refer my clients to an engineer for that inspection.

Many inspectors do provide this inspection as a part of their service. You can make the determination as to whether or not you would rather have an inspector or an engineer provide this service for you. I honestly believe that most good home inspectors are better equipped to provide framing and final inspections than your average structural engineer.  Of course there are exceptions in every case and it truly depends entirely on the individual. The reason that I do not provide foundation inspections is that there are too many unknowns related to the type of “pre-pour” inspection that is common in the industry.

The unknowns associated with a “pre-pour” inspection include a number of factors. I do not know how well the soils were prepped or even what types or geological factors may be involved. I do not know if the footings are deep and wide enough for the load that they will eventually carry. I do not know what amount of steel is needed in the concrete or how the post-tension cables are to be laid out.  Without a great deal of measurement, I do not know if the home is wide enough, if the plumbing supply and drain lines are set properly and a great deal of other issues related to the layout.  Unless I am there during the pour, I would have no way of determining if the concrete was mixed properly or watered down.  To get the most bang for your buck, I simply recommend that you let a Structural Engineer handle this portion of the inspection process.

Framing Inspection in New Homes

This is a critical time to have a professional look at the construction.

It is best to have the inspector visit the property after the builder thinks he is ready to have insulation installed in the wall cavities.  It is preferable that all city inspections and / or builder inspections have been completed, with repairs made, prior to your inspector showing up on site.  This will give the inspector a great deal of insight about the builder and the quality of construction that can be expected from that point forward.  It is common for a builder to attempt to denying repairs at this stage. This is generally the first time that it becomes necessary to put your foot down with the builder.

In most cases I have found that the issues being argued by the builder simply do not comply with any of the major codes or the manufacturer’s installation instructions.  The fact that a particular item may have been overlooked by the municipal inspector does not mean that it is acceptable.  In some circumstances, a particular item may meet code or not specifically be addressed in the code.  As an example, the codes have very little to say about flashing systems.  Instead of specific instructions as to how a particular flashing should be installed, the code may simply state that the system is to be water tight.  This leaves things wide open to opinion and interpretation.  I have found that the builder’s idea of water tight and my own often differ.  It seems many builders believe that water tight means that an area should not leak bad enough that you are aware of it during the warranty period and if it does, caulk can always fix it.  My idea of water tight construction is that it simply should not leak.

Some of the items that are often found during a framing inspection include, but are certainly not limited to, improperly installed sheer bracing, missing or poorly installed flashings, over notched joists and studs, improperly installed cross bracing at truss systems, misplaced plumbing lines, improperly installed sill fasteners, limited support for the roof or second floor, over spanned framing members and so on and so forth.  Correction of such errors is critical prior to the installation of sheetrock.  Once the sheetrock is installed, it is unlikely that the builder will remove it later for framing repairs.  At that point you will probably end up living with the defect and hoping that a significant problem does not occur.  If that happens, an item that may have cost $20 to repair during the framing stage can easily run into the thousands of dollars and involve destructive measures that you are not going to want to deal with.

Final Inspection of New Homes

The final inspection should obviously be done prior to closing.  It is preferable that the inspection be done after all utilities are turned on and the home is ready to be lived in.  Unfortunately, it is not always possible to conduct the inspection under these circumstances.  Most municipalities require the builder to have passed all of their inspections prior to allowing the utilities to be installed.  The gas is usually the last utility to be turned on.  As a result, it is common for this to be a limitation to the final inspection.  Because the gas meter is typically installed within a few days of closing, this leaves little time for rescheduling the final inspection.  I always encourage my customers to contact the builder at least 48 hours in advance of the inspection to determine if all utilities are ready.  This provides a little more opportunity for us to rearrange our schedule so that we will still be able to inspect the home prior to closing and ensures that everyone’s time is used to the fullest.

It is inevitable that we will find issues during the final inspection.  In some cases the issues can easily be taken care of prior to closing.  These types of problems include things like incorrectly wired circuits, plumbing leaks, limited or missing insulation, poor grading at the exterior, flashing issues, binding doors and windows, loose flooring, incorrectly charged air conditioners, missing safety glass, missing or incorrectly installed fire stopping and roofing installation issues.  It is always best to have all items listed on the final inspection report corrected prior to closing.

If there is anything that the builder has agreed to fix that cannot be repaired prior to closing, I strongly encourage you to get it in writing.  You should generally expect for memories to become fuzzy and incentives to fade away once a person has collected their money.  Not only should you have the items well documented, you should also have some description as to specifically how the item is to be corrected with a completion date and the builder’s signature.  If a serious issue cannot be corrected before closing and you are not in a position to delay closing, you may try to negotiate to have a portion of the builder’s funds held in escrow until the issue has been corrected to your satisfaction.

View a sample of a new home construction inspection report

1 Year Warranty Inspection of New Homes

The one year warranty inspection is necessary in some instances.  While ongoing 3rd party inspections can turn up issues that will need to be corrected during the construction process, it is impossible to catch every potential problem that could occur.  Some issues may not surface until the home has been lived in and used for a period of time.  As an example, if there is a pinhole leak in an air conditioning refrigerant line, the air conditioner may test out acceptably during the time of the inspection.  Sooner or later the air conditioner will quit cooling properly though.  As well, a minor leak in a plumbing drain line can go unnoticed for an extended period of time.

Using the home’s systems in the course of everyday living is the only way some issues are going to be discovered.  Conducting a follow up inspection after the home has been lived in for a while, and prior to the end of your warranty period, can prove to be a worthwhile expense.  If you think you may be moving in the near future, it is always best to get the problems fixed by the builder before they show up on a buyer’s inspection report.

Closing Thoughts on New Construction Homes

I realize that building a home can seem overwhelming at times.  Adding ongoing 3rd party inspections to the process may not simplify matters either.  The insight gained from a thorough inspection can prove to be invaluable though.  If it turns out that your builder has done a good job and the home is relatively free of serious issues, you will be comforted with the knowledge that you have purchased a sound home.  If the inspection turns up unexpected issues, then you should be able to work with the builder to get them resolved so that you are still comforted with the knowledge that you have purchased a sound home.  Either way, you win!

Read more about flashing in homes.