Once Again, New Does Not Mean Perfect

If you have been around the block a few times, you have no doubt learned that just because you purchase something new, does not mean it may not be flawed. We live in a society that sells incredibly complicated wares. Phones, computers, and cars are just a few examples that come readily to mind. The more complex an item, the more likely that there will be a defect or a problem. All that considered, its a testament to the quality of many companies that their products perform as well as they do out of the box...

most of the time.

Houses today are very complex structures. They are put together over many months by numerous people who come and go from the job site. Most new home's come with very few problems, but are in no way flawless. It has been my experience that new home buyers more often than not choose to not get a home inspection. Some of the reasons I have heard for not getting a home inspection on new construction are;

The house is new, which in my opinion is by far the most naive reason of all.

The town has inspected it, again babes in the woods.

The builder gives a one year warranty.

Recently while inspecting a newly constructed, high end home, I found a defect that in my opinion should not be found in any new home. There are just some parts of new construction that should and I'm certain do get well scrutinized by the local inspectors, but everyone makes mistakes.

This home being large, has two electric panels. The main panel is in the basement and a second sub panel is located in an upstairs office room. Mis-wired sub panels are one of the more common defects I find in used homes. Often a weekend warrior or general contractor takes on the job of electrician for a remodeling or addition project to save money.

This however is a new house and one would assume it has been wired by a licensed electrician and or apprentices working under the licensed guy. The work should have been checked at the very minimum twice, once by the electrician and once by the town inspector.

And yet I found the wiring in the panel to have been connected incorrectly rendering this part of the house's electric system potentially unsafe. In addition to the bad wiring, one of the AFCI breakers failed to reset after testing and will need to be replaced.

New construction is very exciting for home buyers, but emotions can sometimes interfere with common sense and past life experience. New should never be assumed to mean flawless.

James Quarello
Connecticut Home Inspector
Former SNEC-ASHI President
NRSB #8SS0022
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC

To find out more about our other high tech services we offer in Connecticut click on the links below:

Serving the Connecticut Counties of Fairfield, Hartford, Middlesex, New Haven, Southern Litchfield and Western New London.