Should You Get a New Construction Home Inspection?

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When you’re buying an existing house, there’s hardly any question that you’d want a home inspection. Clearly, you’d do your due diligence on its condition before you commit to purchasing it at a given price.

However, that decision might not seem as obvious when you’re buying a brand-new house: should you get a new construction home inspection? Why would you even need one if everything is in brand-new condition — and, in some cases, built just to your preferred specs, even perhaps under your own guidance?

 Experts say you really should get a home inspection on a new construction home. Pretty much every consideration falls into the “pro” column here, with the exception of the cost of paying someone to do it. (And then there’s the possibility the inspector might find an issue — but that’s intel that any informed buyer would actually consider a pro, right?) 

With a new construction sale, your contract will include a final walkthrough, but it might or might not include an inspection. Either way, you’d be wise to ask to include an inspection contingency and plan on ordering an independent inspection.

In our experience, probably two-thirds of the people will do one. It oftentimes depends on how savvy the buyer is. If they’re really involved in a new construction project, a lot of times they’ve been with the builder or they’ve contributed to the construction, and then in those cases, they know enough about what’s going on. They’re not worried.

A buyer might be moved to buy a new-construction home because it is expected to be free from issues found in aging houses — like outdated plumbing or electrical and even cosmetic flaws. But even though a home is brand new, it can still have issues; in fact, sometimes issues in a home are indeed the direct result of its status as brand-new construction.

In some cases, contractors work fast — too fast. Sometimes they’re building to the bare minimum of code. Frequently, they’re subcontracting out projects to a wide array of vendors, whose competence and diligence might range significantly. On top of all that, sometimes mistakes just plain happen.

So the main takeaway is this: buyers should definitely not assume that their new home will be flawless just because it is new construction.

Let’s consider some of the common problems that new construction homes might face, and areas that our inspectors will plan to specifically scour as part of the comprehensive process.

Common outdoor issues include:

• Incorrectly applied siding
• Gaps and cracks in decks and patios
• Driveway and sidewalk cracks
• Grading and drainage issues

Indoors, you might find:

• Cracks in drywall
• Nail pops
• Truss rise
• Humidity inside the home
• Water issues
• Flooring issues
• Doors sticking shut
• Appliances (often the last to go in) might not be installed correctly and should also be inspected
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Even though these new construction projects are approved by the city engineers, and they have their own inspection process, they’re looking for things like whether the wiring is done properly, whether it’s safe — but a lot of times, they’re not looking at the minutiae.

A real-world example: we were working with a buyer to purchase a brand-new condo; the buyer didn’t do an inspection as a way to save money. About six months later, they had problems because the ceiling fan in the bathroom was venting into the attic. Moisture from the shower was going up into the attic space, and he ended up with a mold problem and some sagging. Sheetrock had to be torn out in the bathroom, and they had to do it properly. 

This fortunately, fell under builder warranty, but it’s an example of what can — and does — go wrong with new construction. A home inspection would have avoided the nightmare that they went through later.

As this real-life example shows, even if the cost of an inspection feels like a stretch, and even if you’re eager to wrap up the whole homebuying process asap, you won’t want to cheat yourself out of an inspection.

You want to know about any issues, minute or otherwise, before you pay for the home. You shouldn’t count on the warranty to protect or save you financially. Even if you have a warranty, you’d likely rather avoid a situation in which repair people are tromping through the house constantly after you’ve moved in; that’s a hassle and a privacy and security concern. And of course, if the property has health or safety issues, you’ll definitely want to know about those before you and your family are exposed.