Remember that this is not an "inspection" and it doesn't transfer any of the builder's responsibility for construction quality to you. If you miss something it is still his problem, not yours. Of course, if you are worried about the work you could hire a professional inspector but talk about it with the GC first to be sure he understands your intentions. A house inspector will double the length of the punch list for sure but if the GC disputes the items you will be required to mediate. You need to balance future good will with catching small deficiencies. Maybe the house inspector could visit the house with you at another time and we could sort out the issues with you before you give them to the GC. On projects where a professional (architect/engineer/project manager) represents the owner, the contract will require the GC and his subs to inspect all aspects of the house and create a punch list before the professional or the owner does a walk-through to see if there are any other obvious issues. Managing the punch list is the responsibility of the GC, not the owner or the owner's representative. When the GC writes the contract these responsibilities can get muddled. Ask if the HVAC system has been balanced, checked, and tested by the installer and the GC. Ask if the plumbing system has been checked and tested by the plumber and the GC. Ask if the electrical system has been checked and tested by the electrician and the GC. You will be able to see cosmetic issues but trying to think of everything will distract you enough that you will miss even obvious mistakes. Try walking through looking for cosmetic things after you walk through looking for functional things. You can't think about everything at once. Disregard any reference to building department inspections/approvals; they are not a party to the contract and their "acceptance" of the work establishes nothing more than allowing you to legally occupy the house. The GC should be responsible to you for Quality Control AND Quality Assurance. Make him earn his fee. Don't let him transfer responsibility to you or anyone else for anything he contracted to do for you. Ask for all the warranties, instructions, etc. They should be in a nice clean notebook labeled so you can find it again someday. Good luck. Pray for rain. Take lots of photos.

The SOP's and the COE's esentially mirror those of the national home inspection organizations...such as ASHI, NAHI, NACHI etc...the practice and scope of a home inspection in itself has not really changed...it is now regulated..meaning that there is recourse to the consumer if the law is violated. If you could explain what your expectations were..or are... I could perhaps explain better. Consider that the HI is in the home for a few hours. They can't be dismantling homes, opening up any or all of the walls, pulling up flooring, etc...so, they are limited to only what can be VISUALLY seen on the day of inspection. That said, think of the HI as you would of a general practitioner....who provides a general diagnosis...and refers you on to a specialist for any a particular system that is not functioning correctly. A good, through professional HI will be able to spot many warning signs of problems that are not obvious to the average home buyer. They will also be able to spot things that should be there...but are missing...which is harder than just spotting deficiencies. That info is then used to obtain estimates from the licensed professionals for repair. That dollar amount can then be used to negotiate with the seller on the price of the house...and you can either come to terms, or pass on the deal. Hope this helps.

We live in a [gasp] tract home that we bought when it was in the framing stage. Every Friday on my way home from work I would stop and walk through, and take photos (so I have photos of where all the plumbing, electrical, etc., is). When I would notice things that weren't done properly I would point them out, and it was rarely graciously received. Even though the builder allowed a certain amount of customization, all customization had to be fully paid for in advance, in cash, before it would be done. Nonetheless, an often-heard reply to what I would point out was, "until you close escrow, you don't own the house." I would always reply that there was no way in hell that we weren't going to close escrow because we had sold our other home and had loan approval, and we weren't going to walk away from all the money we had paid for customization. And then I would say they could either fix it now when it was easy to fix, or they could deal with me after escrow when we were still within the warranty period and those fixes would be more difficult, and more expensive for them, to do. Everything I wanted fixed was fixed. So, be nice, but firm. And good luck!

I agree with the observation that all home inspector reports I've seen lately have pages and pages of boilerplate. I think this is for three reasons: 1) many things are pretty common from house to house; 2) it makes it easier to produce a superficially impressive document by pulling up standardized sections that are available in their report software; and 3) a lot of the language relates to enumerating all the things they didn't do or can't know (like take off the electrical panel cover to inspect the wiring, or inspect plumbing in the walls, or provide assurances that there are no insect infestations anywhere, etc.). I get this...they don't have X-ray vision, they don't want to take things apart, and they can't see hidden defects. The problem is that people think that a home inspector will ferret out most/all of a home's problems, when in fact many inspections are more limited than people realize. This is further underlined by the many disclaimers in most reports, and by a statement in most contracts that the maximum liability of the inspector is the cost of the inspection. I've had both good inspectors and those who knew less than I did...so I always approach these reports with a level of skepticism