Buyer's inexperience
Buyers of new homes typically have no experience or background in making decisions about the process. How can they know what needs to be monitored? How can they determine the quality of the process?
Homebuyers have to place a great deal of trust in the builder and, in most cases, that trust is well-placed. Too often, however, too much trust is placed in the builder when the reality is that the builder is focused on getting the job done and holding to a schedule. Even good and conscientious builders will make mistakes that can become costly aggravations for the buyer when they are discovered and the consequences have to be dealt with.
Finding and correcting a problem before it becomes part of a bigger problem saves money and aggravation for many years down the road, and underscores the need for independent and expert involvement in the beginning stages of the project.
Today's Building Industry
The building industry has undergone many changes in the past few years. There are pressures on today's industry that were not even serious factors in the past. First, competition is becoming more intense--it is driving prices lower and lower, and, as always, you usually get what you pay for. Then, as competition squeezes margins tighter, some builders will look for ways to cut corners, whether with materials or quality of workmanship. Schedules are much tighter than they used to be. Competition, demand, and financial obligations are driving builders to close projects in shorter
periods of time. This can lead to hasty construction with less builder oversight.
Labor issues have changed dramatically in the past few years. Today's labor force tends to be more mobile and transient and often has less apprenticed, formal training. Some workers are trained on site. If a builder has trouble making a payroll, workers can move on to another job that can create labor shortages which, in turn, affect deadlines and quality.
Even good builders have to make projections and deal with bad weather, which can have an ever-growing ripple effect on the whole project. For example, a week of rain can throw off projections, which throws off closings or the builder getting paid. If the builder is leveraged too much--and many are tightly leveraged--how does that builder make payroll and retain quality workers?
Many construction tasks such as plumbing and electrical work are subcontracted out to the lowest bidder. Again, you get what you pay for. The builder has to depend on the subcontractors, some of whom may be less than reputable. A busy builder/contractor will have a difficult time monitoring all phases of the construction when much of it is subcontracted out. A professional inspector can provide the thorough observation and oversight projects of this complexity that the homebuyers deserve. Sometimes, contractors will knowingly ignore problems with the view that it's cheaper to come back and fix a problem than to do it right in the first place. This then leads to another reason why an independent inspection is important during construction--the issue of homeowner recourse.
Limited homeowner recourse
Once a home is "finished" and everything is signed off, the buyer's recourse is limited. A builder who makes honest mistakes may not be obligated to come back and fix the problems once the project is signed off. Building industry lobbying and legislation can sometimes make it difficult to hold a bad builder accountable. Also, arbitration clauses are sometimes written into contracts, and the cost in time, money, and stress causes many people to abandon trying to remediate construction defects. Detection and remediation of problems before anything is finished and signed makes the question of homeowner recourse much less of an issue.
The cost of not inspecting
New construction horror stories are easy to find, both by word of mouth and online. Problems such as faulty work hidden behind drywall, homes closed without complete insulation, inferior-grade concrete being poured, and defective wiring often cannot be detected in the finished home and can cause homeowner nightmares and even dangerous situations years down the road. Each phase of the construction is a separate process that should be inspected and approved before the next phase begins, because the quality of the finished product is compromised by any deficiency anywhere along the way.
The solution: an independent construction inspection by a qualified inspector
Professional, qualified inspectors who monitor the construction process serve two purposes. First, they oversee the quality of the work. With just a few visits to the site, they can monitor procedures, materials, and workmanship. Questionable builders will be more careful when they know their work is being scrutinized by someone who knows the business. Reputable builders will know that the quality of their workmanship is being validated again by someone who knows the business.
Inspectors also act as advocates for the homebuyers. Problems can be discovered and corrected before they are hidden behind finished walls and emerge as serious, costly repairs in the future. As the homeowner, you will have peace of mind knowing that you have the home you paid for that is in good order. A thorough inspection is a valuable ounce of prevention that is more than a pound of cure’s worth.
Let me be your eyes in the field
To those of you who are building a house, let me say that I have extensive knowledge in the process of building a home and would love to use that knowledge to give you a peace of mind when building your dream home. I would inspect your house during the process of building as if I were building it myself. I have built homes with some of the biggest builders in the country and I am well aware of their building standards.
You would be surprised of how much can be missed by good builders because the people running the job don’t have the time to give your house the supervision. I’m not saying all builders are like that, but even the best builders miss things from time to time. The rule in the field is the more eyes on something, the better chance you have to catch something. Let me be those extra eyes. Remember: I’m working for you, not the builder so I would care more for your interest. There are so many problems that can be caught before they get covered up by drywall and cause you great inconvenience when you are in the house.
I offer a package deal for doing a full step-by-step inspection which includes:
- Foundation
- Framing (including electrical, plumbing, heating)
- Insulation
- Final walk-through inspection
Due to the fact that I would be on the builder’s site many times, please make sure with your builder that it is allowed. Some companies don’t allow outside inspectors (They are the ones you need to watch closer.). But most builders care about you and do try to provide the best product available so they understand the concerns in buying a house.
If you would like to hire me for anything else, please call me to discuss things. I would gladly give you a fair price. As a consultant, I would help you pick out extras, colors and let you know what you should get now and what you can save until after you move in. I could possible save you some money on the expensive extras.
Remember: with my experience, I know what to look for in a walk-through so you won’t miss something that you will not be able to get fixed after you move in. 
Building a new home is an expensive, overwhelming, and often confusing enterprise. Homebuyers often stake their life savings on an undertaking that they know very little about. As they endure the arduous process of dealing with builders, their enthusiasm wanes. Then, their hopes and dreams are often dashed after the closing and the reality of quality control problems hit them. Some of the factors that contribute to the need for an independent, phased, and construction inspection performed by a qualified inspector include buyer inexperience, the state of today's building industry, and the limitations of homebuyers' recourse for defective workmanship.