Has anyone had a building inspection done for a new home?

BestBuilder · Nov 28, 2006 8:11 pm

I've heard you can get people to do building inspections when you are building a new home. Has anyone had this done and was it worth it? There seems to be a few businesses that offer the service but I would have thought it more for checking old houses, not new?

Also - are these services expensive?

Dukekamaya · Nov 28, 2006 8:43 pm

These inspections are normally part and parcel of buying any home. Most lenders will not give finance without one. As for a brand new home - I'm not too sure.

Nervous 1st timer · Nov 29, 2006 2:48 pm

Hi Bestbuilder,

We were not going to get one, but someone suggested, so we ended up asking a friend who is a builder himself, to do a quick run through of the building (both interior/exterior) with us. He took many photos and made a note of defect items and within half a day emailed us a "defects list" with photos detailing what and how these items should be rectified.

At the final (handover) meeting on site, we gave the builder a copy and also emailed a copy to their office. We thought we were being picky about some minor paint inconsistencies, etc. but the builder pretty much agreed to all items and signed the form. Most of the items were rectified within a couple of weeks.

It costed us $200 (cash!) to get this report done and we feel it was very much worth spending (than some of the optional items that we picked for the house). If you can afford one, we strongly recommend to do so.

Good luck with your project. We are still stuck with landscaping...