Does your country require inspections? I know that our county requires inspections all along the way. Footings, trusses, rough and final electric, rough and final mechanical, and more...

county.. sorry typo - NOT country!! LOL

Hmm good question. I will have to check on that. I did read that although building inspectors may be responsible to do periodic inspections, often budget constraints and practically they often do not happen.

Hmmm...I have never heard of a county that did not do inspections due to budget constraints. In every area I have heard of, all work stops until the required inspection passes.

you can hire your own inspector through American Society
Of Home Inspectors (ashi).
you will still have code and draw inspectons, but your inspector will be overseeing your build on another level.
If you do hire an independent inspector make sure that
he/she has experience with new construction.
keep in mind that code inspections are for the legal minimum safety requirements.

best of luck with your build.

Inspectors are typically concerned w/ safety items and tests such as water for plumbing rough outs. They spot for leaks but might not catch an elbow that needs to be a sweep fitting. They are generally not that thorough. Quality subs are an important factor that needs double checking by you as an o/b'er or your builder, but to have an onsite consultation on the most important factors such as electrical, plumbing, hvac (mechanicals) is a good idea with structural being an important factor as well.It all starts at the soils compacting, footings/foundation. Most inspectors are thorough here, but tend to get lax on the mechanicals part of the show. Nail schedules can be looked at by you concerning sheathings, wallboard, etc to make sure everything is fastened up to code, but having a pro look at the bigger end of the inspections could give you peace of mind. Many home inspectors are builders or retired builders. That would be one avenue unless you have a residential construction consulting firm in your area. If you go down to the building dept, they will give you a run down on the order of inspections, give you info on local codes, where you can get familiar w/ their m.o. and the process. All inspections are important, but some are areas where the structural integrity as well as the homes mechanical performance are affected by it being done to or exceeding codes. I think your first step would be to get educated with the process in your area and the steps in which the inspections take place as they are different in all parts of the country. Some areas are more intense than others, but you want to make sure that every phase is up to codes or up to levels that will give you a quality build w/ as little problems as possible. Hiring a pro would help out with that big time. You could get referalls to home inspectors through realtors and ask around to see if reputable builders have that as a service as well.

Hi, I have a question. My best friend bought a house that was built in the early 1940's. Her builder practically took down the old house and built a new one on the original foundation which seems to be cinder blocks. We live in MA and the house is almost done. When the building inspector came out last week, he stated that the builder needed a foundation certification or remedy. The builder used lollicolumns under the "crawl space" of the house rather than pouring a new foundation. Now he states the the inspector is stating that the lollicolumns will not pass inspection and he will have to pour a foundation. How can that be done if the house is sitting on cinder blocks???

The county we live in requires only one inspection and that was the septic! We did have the house inspected in three phases, foundation, roof and then the final. We paid for it out of pocket. Not that we did not have faith in our builder but better safe then sorry :-)

Krissy,
The only was I have ever seen a house not on a foundation put on one was to have the house lifted (there are people that do this), the foundation poured, and the house lowered. It's someone common when people convert "camps". Needless to say, it's expensive.

To the OP, you should NEVER rely on the bank and/or town inspections. I was just speaking to a guy yesterday whose 3 year old house has major mold problems (apparently due to the sofitt vents being damaged) and a central beam with a crack in it. The owner hired an engineer to inspect the house and it is full of deficiencies.

Why not trust them?? I have heard of lifting the house but I don't think that is something the builder wants to do. I really don't understand why the cinder blocks with the lollicolumns on a 4 BR house will not be enough to support it. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the engineer has to say.