That's a waste of money, right?  It was just built, what could possibly be wrong?

The answer, anything and everything could possibly be wrong, not to say that it necessarily will, of course.  But I inspect quite a few new construction homes and I always find items that need correction, repair or need to be installed.  I've inspected custom built $8,000,000 homes to your standard cookie cutter new tract home.  It doesn't seem to matter, problems still exist.

My basic explanation is that with new homes there are a lot of sub contractors coming in and out of the project.  That's how problems start.  Bob, the guy on Monday had almost completed his assignment, but not quite.  But he called in sick on Tuesday, so Armando took over and wasn't quite sure where Bob had left off.  So that little component that needed to be installed was overlooked.  With so many sub contractors, miscommunication is common.

So here are some examples of what I've found in new construction homes:

It's hard to tell from the picture, but the weatherstripping for the door from the garage to the house was missing.  This compromises firewall protection and can allow gas fumes from the cars to enter the house.

This flue needs a minimum 1-inch clearance to combustibles (the insulation), this is a fire hazard.

This valley flashing is installed incorrectly.  The entire length of the flashing (about 24-inches) should extend past the roof edge, however, only 4-6 inches extend past the roof edge.  This could cause water to back up under the roof tiles.

The gas line was not properly supported for the furnace in the attic.  This is a hazard.

The cook top exhaust fan was leaking into the cabinet above the stove.  The moist and greasy air can cause damage to the cabinets.

Those are just a few examples.  Remember they were all new construction that had never been lived in.  I hope this gives you a little more information about a home and why home inspections are a good investment.