Homebuyers purchasing new construction need to educate themselves on the building process and products/systems that are selected to go into their home. Having knowledge before you select your Builder, researching products and systems before you break ground, and making sure there are quality sub-contractors, will make the process go smoother and leave you with a much better finished product.
Builders are quick to point out that their homes are "built to code". So what does that mean? If you are within the city limits of Omaha, Bellevue, Papillion, Elkhorn, Gretna, etc., then the city's Code Enforcement Officer will be the one to perform the code inspections. If you are outside the city limits, then the county's Code guys will be the ones checking up on the building process.
Once you understand who is inspecting the building process, then you need to understand what the building inspection process is. Around here, the city or county Code Enforcement Officers need to inspect the footings, foundations, concrete flatwork, rough-in electrical, rough-in plumbing, framing (pre-drywall), final electrical, final plumbing, and final mechanical before a Certificant of Occupancy is issued. Without the Certificate of Occupancy, the build is not finalized and you can't move into the home.
During every phase of the construction process noted above, the Builder has to have the Code Officer signoff. If there are issues found by the Code Officer, they can red-tag them and prevent the Builder from proceeding until the issue(s) are corrected. In larger cities, there are multiple Code Enforcement Officers that have their area of expertise. You can have a Code Officer that only inspects the electrical, another that only looks at framing, and another that tackles only plumbing. In smaller jurisdictions, you may have 1 officer looking at it all. If you've ever seen the Code book, having 1 person being an "expert" on every aspect is pretty much impossible.
The experience & workload of each Code Enforcement Officer weighs heavily on their ability to identify problems. If they have 20 years experience and are tackling 10-15 phase inspections per day, they should be able to do a pretty solid job. If they are brand new or spread too thin, I wouldn't rely too heavily on them to find the problems. I met a Code Officer during an inspection and that person had 37 inspections to do that day!
So when the Builder states "the house met code", it means that the Code Enforcement Officers performed their various inspections, any red-tag items were corrected, and the inspections all passed their review. Does this mean that there are no problems? No. Does this mean the Code Inspectors found everything? No. Does this mean the Code Inspectors inspected everything? No.
There are thousands of items the Code guys don't look at, because it's not their job. For example, I can't tell you how many new houses with hardboard siding I've come across that had a majority of the nails overdriven. These are not installed per the manufacturer's specs and can be prone to blowoff during high winds or rot out much faster. I've seen hundreds of new homes where the Painter never painted the bottom edge of the hardboard siding. House wrap needs to be wrapped into each window and doorway opening, not cut off flush with the outside of those openings. I've seen drywall installed throughout an entire house without any drywall tape at the seams! The builder decided to use expandable caulk instead. The poor lady's house had cracks from the ceiling down to the floors in every corner of her brand new house. To see examples of new construction problems we've ran across, go to http://www.omaha-home-inspection.com/new-construction-nightmares.htm
Building a house to code also means that the Builder built the home to meet the minimum requirements of today's building standards. The sign of a good builder is when they build above and beyond those requirements. For example, many of the tract built homes have only 2x4 exterior wall construction. That meets code for our area. Those homes are not as structurally sound or as well insulated as ones built with 2x6 exterior walls. Some builders put higher quality windows in, while others (even higher end homes) put in cheap windows. There are homes with Geo Thermal heat pumps that typcially cost in excess of $25, 000 on up depending on their square feet. These builders are looking out for the long-term savings of the homeowner and to protect the environment. In comparison, a majority of our housing stock has natural gas furnaces. It drives me nuts to see low-grade furnaces installed in any house. I know the heat exchangers will crack out within 10 years, but the builder made a poor or "economical" decision to keep the expenses lower. Cheaper options still meet code. Not everybody realizes this.
One huge benefit to having your new construction inspected prior to close is the issues a home inspector finds can be written into an addendum to the purchase agreement for the Builder to fix prior to close. This makes the repairs contractual. If you wait until after your closing to do the home inspection, then you're at the mercy of the Builder or the 3rd party home warranty company to decide if they want to fix the problem and when. It's much less of a headache to get the issues found up front and addressed, than it is to try to force the Builder to address them later after they've already been paid.
So does your home meet Code? If the Certificate of Occupancy was issued, technically the answer is yes. Based on what we typically find on new construction, it's a wise choice to have a professional home inspection performed on top of the Code inspections. We aren't there to quote code and we don't red-tag items. We are, however, an unbiased fresh set of trained eyes taking 4-6 hours to look over your home with a fine-toothed comb. Think of us as another line of protection in your home purchase adventure!
Check us out at www.omaha-home-inspection.com
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