Well, it depends why they “failed” inspection. Technically my house failed an inspection as it was still missing a sconce over the back door (it was still on order) and the laundry sink and faucet were not installed (ditto, they went in two days after the inspection). And it is also important that they fixed it. I’d be more concerned if there is a history of failing something like foundations because that may link to them needing to be more picky about their subs or having poor oversight/construction methods.

I work in a field where I see the construction process from the homeowners side, the builders side, the lenders side, and even the inspectors side (and have just finished building my own home with a builder so have my own personal perspective) and a failed inspection is not that unusual during course of build - they tell you specifically what must be fixed and then if it gets fixed, you carry on.

Honestly, I’d be more interested in the “after” build experience - how they handled post close punch lists and problems, warranty issues, etc. Inspections are targeted to ensure both things are to applicable Code etc, they don’t necessarily catch anything else from the special plumbing you wanted run to the finish quality. You can find this by talking to current homeowners or searching court records for suits - though depending on where you are these all may be handled in arbitration not the courts.

Because I guarantee you even if you do all your due diligence and do everything custom from shoveling a hole out of the dirt to the key they hand you at close there will be issues. You want to know how they will be after they have most of your money (because I hope you plan to do a holdback).

Everyone fails inspections. It’s irrelevant unless the numbers are stacked with one failing 10, and another failing 300. Even then, Mr. 10 might be part of the Good Ole Boy network that gets virtually zero scrutiny in anything he does, and objectively creates a poorer product than Mr. 300. So unless you know the local politics of who washes whose hands, it’s a completely useless metric.

Perfect! Thank you both!

Look at what failed, and how 'late' it was caught. But be aware the inspectors don't catch the majority of things, unless they are 'big'. Our inspector was quite thorough, but that's only because he replaced someone who brought threat of multiple lawsuits to our county inspector's office for missing so many things!

In our build, we complained our HVAC was totally wrong, the builder ignored us, and eventually and the building inspector gave the builder time to think it over (he kept insisting it was right) and then during the final walkthrough we showed the HRV measured numbers were totally out of whack, because as we were saying all along, the HVAC had major deficiencies. One of which was the HRV ducts being installed backwards, so that the dampers were sucked closed on the inlet air!

Go looking for bad reviews. If you find one, there's probably more, but builders learn pretty quick how to just avoid getting git with lawsuits. "It meets minimum building code" was a phrase we heard waaay too often. Also, we heard, "I've never done that, so I'm not going to [even tho your contract requires it]'.

If you are able to do a legal search, see whose filed lawsuits against them too. You'll get a sense if your builder maxes out his funds often (requiring you to pony up cash early, or stop work entirely), or whether he

I tried to do due diligence, but halfway through my build a lawsuit popped up on court of queens bench (it's Canadian, not sure what the USA equivalent is). Found out he 'ghosts' his clients and refuses to speak except through lawyers when people start trying to reign in his incompetence.

So it's always tough to ensure you have good quality.

As others have noted, there are simply too many variables to use the number of failed inspections to qualify or disqualify a builder.

In researching a builder, I recommend you do a credit check (to ensure he/she is paying his/her bills); check the contractor registration board (if your state has a licensing requirement) to see if there have been complaints, and check on the permits he/she has pulled in the last couple of years--check with the home owners to see what it was like working with him/her during and post construction.

Best wishes for a successful project.

Thank you all - really appreciate the input. I tend to over-research almost everything, but agree that there are too many variables with regard to failed inspections when researching builders.

Failed inspections are not a good indicator to pick a builder as they can happen for reasons nothing to do with the quality of build. Real life examples: subcontractor forgot and locked house after he left when inspector was scheduled=failed inspection. Inspector refuses to move ladder himself by one foot over to access attic through pull down opening=failed inspection. Inspector makes error and looks for valve on floor faucet in bathroom instead of under flooring in crawlspace=failed inspection. Anyway, you get my drift. Also, I know a lot of builders and not one is in cahoots with county building inspectors, so it's not the conspiracy people say it is. Research the builder, look at a home during construction, talk to past clients, and get a feel for how the process will go. If they want you on site meeting with them throughout process at key times, that's a great indicator. If their job sites are clean and appear like they care, that's also a good sign. If they pay their bills, carry all the appropriate insurance, then they are "stable" and more likely to be around should you need it when you've already moved in.