Why Can’t Builders And Home Inspectors, Just Get Along?

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Why Can’t Builders And Home Inspectors, Just Get Along?

Frankly, most Custom Home Builders are insulted when they are building a $1,000,000 home and the homeowner hires a $300 home inspector to do a walk through prior to closing. You’ve been a State of Florida licensed contractor for over 30 years, only build a couple of homes per year and on-site supervising your homes every day. I get it, nobodies perfect and what harm can a second pair of eyes do?

It doesn’t happen often but when it does it’s a bitter pill. It’s almost like a vote of no confidence in the Builder’s abilities. What makes matters worse are some of the items the home inspector notes:

• No paint on the top of the door trim that can only be seen with a telescoping mirror.

• No paint behind the door hinges because the manufacturer warranty specifies that all surfaces on the door must be painted. Even though the manufacturer purposely creates warranty specifications that are impossible to fulfill like placing the doors in a continuous air conditioned environment when the home has just been drywalled and power wont be available for months.

• Scratch on window glass when you can find a scratch on any pane of glass if you look hard enough.

After all, it’s easier to find fault than it is to actually do the work. You can take 10 different Home Inspectors and each will come up with a different list.

I’m not writing this post to start a war with Home Inspectors, really I’m not. I understand the need for a Home Inspector in the new home market. If I were having a home built by a Production Builder I would definitely hire a Home Inspector. They put some unlicensed, young kid, right out of school in the field and make him responsible for 30 homes. The person holding the license is in the main office and never sees a home while it’s being constructed. How much loving care and supervision do you think your new home is going to receive? To make the situation even worse, production builders aren’t just constructing “Box Shaped” homes anymore they are trying to build complicated $1,000,000 homes too. A sure recipe for disaster that even has local County Building Inspectors concerned and they only inspect for minimum standards.

If a Production Builder was constructing my home, I would have a Home Inspector watching the details from the day they cleared the lot until the day I turned the key in the door and still be worried. After all, you can’t inspect quality into a home it has to be built into it by experienced craftsmen and not by the lowest bidder.

Realtors love Home Inspectors too as it provides a layer of liability protection if something goes  wrong with the home down the road. After all, it’s not my fault there is a quality issue because the home was inspected by a Certified Home Inspector. Frankly, it’s smart business to recommend a Home Inspector if you are a Realtor.

Quality Custom Home Builders are state licensed, attend continuing education classes and supervise their homes. They periodically, hire the toughest Home Inspector, Architect and Structural Engineer they can find to go over one of their new homes just to make sure they are on top of all the details.

The relationship between Custom Home Builder and Home Inspector doesn’t have to be adversarial it should be cooperative. We can both learn something from each other. Builders are incorporating all the latest technologies into new homes and Home Inspectors need to be aware of the latest trends. Builders on the other hand need feedback from Home Inspectors as to what they are seeing years down the road so Builders can incorporate new quality standards. Frankly, it’s a “win, win” for everyone.

Have an awesome day!

Mike