The first question that comes to mind is, what are the "errors & shortcomings" that you feel were done by the subs?

At this point in your build each respective trade inspector should have completed their code complaince inspecctions before you can commence drywalling.

If there are framing errors in the actual room dimensions, or errors in the placement of electrical, plumbing or HVAC outlets you should discuss those items with your GC & subs immediately so they can take the proper corrective action.

On the other hand, a "home inspector" has very little to no actual legal authority and regardless of what they may put on their report, it would have very little if any influence on the job.

Basically a "home inspectors report" and $4 cash will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.

But a good professional home inspector can point out those irregularities or can confirm/deny what the OP is seeing.

It's not the report will hold up in any code battle but it does provide a basis for the OP - who seem to be unsure of what they are seeing.

I say - when in doubt in the biggest investment of your personal life - hire a professional if you are not qualified to speak yourself.

"But a good professional home inspector can point out those irregularities or can confirm/deny what the OP is seeing. "

Maybe some, but not a lot.

Thus sounds like a 'rough in' inspection of things before they are closed up.

It is a lot easier to find and fix problems before they are hidden behind walls.

Home inspectors are not any type of 'code inspector' and many have no idea what would be correct in HVAC, plumbing, electrical, etc.

if you decide to do so
check with the american society
of home inspectors. ashi

make sure you hire someone who
is current on codes and has
a good bit of experience in
new construction.

best of luck.

Xclusive,

I know you have long since moved in to your home but I'm now (finally!) at the point you were when you originally posted. We're scheduled to begin sheetrock next week but I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to have an inspector come out and take a look at the bones and would love to have the name of whoever you used since we're in the same area! We're already passed our local codes inspections and I don't have any major concerns but I'm not a builder and wouldn't know if I was looking at a jacked up area or not...

A building inspector will not enforce your construction contract nor will he always catch every code violation nor will an independent inspector take the place of a building inspector; you should have all of these protections for such a large investment.

Posted by parsonse (My Page) on Sat, Oct 27, 12 at 19:24

Xclusive,
I know you have long since moved in to your home but I'm now (finally!) at the point you were when you originally posted. We're scheduled to begin sheetrock next week but I'm wondering if it wouldn't be a good idea to have an inspector come out and take a look at the bones and would love to have the name of whoever you used since we're in the same area! We're already passed our local codes inspections and I don't have any major concerns but I'm not a builder and wouldn't know if I was looking at a jacked up area or not...

I ended up not going with a home inspector because I waited to the last minute to decide I wanted one and they were all booked up at least two weeks out. Since it wasn't a custom build and the builder was on their dime (not mine) I just decided that was a battle I wouldn't fight. In hindsight I wish I would have had one for peace of mind if nothing else. I would have preferred to hire one that came in and inspected the house at the end of each phase because just having an inspection at the end of the build is pointless to me as everything is closed up and they will only catch something obvious (but thats just my opinion). The thing I have noticed with builders is if something passes codes you will have a hard time convincing the builder to do otherwise. Don't know if it helped or not but I was out at our build early on and met and talked to the city inspector who gave me his card and was happy to discuss the build with me, what they were looking for, etc. Also, I had halfway good relationship with the GC(not the people in the home office) so he did listen and address alot of my issues I had even tho they "passed" codes inspection.

I'm no expert by any means but have seen alot of house built so I was on site pretty much everyday asking questions to GC, subs and the building inspectors. I called it "meticulous", I'm sure they had another word for it (a pain in the ...) lol but oh well its our investment so I did the best I could to make sure it was done correctly.

Good luck and post more pics, I would love to see the progress :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Our home buld/sell blog

We hired our own independent inspector because we felt that any1 in the build equation: builder, construction manager, county inspector, us - can miss something or notice something that needs to be pointed out.
So another layer of eyes & ears provided us with a sense of security.

We weren't going to be the cause of our own "Blackhawk Down" situation.

I've been a custom builder for 20+ years and was just recently contacted for the first time to perform this type of oversight for a client having a home built. (Their builder owns the lot they are building upon which rules me out as GC). I still feel a little unsure about this arrangement in terms of the awkwardness of inspecting another builder's work, but the client will definitely benefit. I tried to talk them into engaging one of the several local design/build architects for this work and still think this is perhaps the best approach for others.