New Home Construction: Types Of Inspections (Explained)

New Construction is hot right now. With supply chain pressures and manpower shortages errors are being made. Mistakes can and do happen and if caught early, are easier to correct. Building Codes have nothing to do with Build Quality. Your builder will have control of when these inspections can take place. Making sure to have access to them in a contract and scheduling them is important to protecting this investment and ensuring quality work takes place. A quality built home should be everyone’s goal.

PrePour Foundation & Post Pour Foundation

These two inspections primarily look at plumbing, electrical, foundation support, and structural systems before and after the pouring of the main slab of the home.

PreDrywall

Focuses on framing, plumbing, HVAC, and electrical systems before drywall goes up and the walls are closed making it too late to catch errors. The images taken are also valuable should you decide to make changes or additions to your home in the future - allowing you to know what is present in the walls you are considering altering.

Final (or PreClosing)

This is done usually 24-48 hours prior to your Walk Through Date with your builder. It focuses on structural, mechanical, operational, plumbing, and safety issues of the home. Having this inspection completed at this time means that the construction company will pay for the corrections that need to be made.

PostClosing

Although not as common, this inspection is usually done just after the buyer has closed on the property. Often this is due to the buyer not knowing that they have to give notification to the builder that they intend to have a third party inspection company complete a Final inspection just before they close. Due to this a buyer is denied the Final inspection and then will need to complete the inspection after closing has taken place.

Builder’s Warranty

This is usually completed about 10 1/2 months after the buyer takes ownership of the home. The buyer schedules this inspection and then sends the results to the builder so that corrections can be made. Completing this inspection and getting the information to builder at about the 11th month allows the builder adequate time to complete repairs prior to the warranty ending at the end of the 12th month of ownership.

Bottom Line

While buying a new construction home can be an exciting venture, it's not without its challenges. The above inspections help protect your investment by making sure you have someone acting on your behalf to help catch mistakes before they are covered up or are very difficult to correct. During your contract discussion, make sure you are allowed access to good quality inspections throughout the build of your new home. It is essential. Builders are required by law to have city or county inspectors take a look at certain parts of your home as they are completed. These inspectors are stretched thin and mistakes, some major, are not being caught. This is the biggest or one of the biggest investments that many of us will make. Be involved throughout the build of your home, make sure you have access to quality inspections in your contract, and follow up with your builder to make sure that corrections are being made before moving on to the next phase of the build. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and nowhere is this truer than in the realm of new home construction.

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New Home Construction: Types Of Inspections (Explained)