Frequently asked questions What new-construction buyers actually ask.
Twenty-two questions, answered in full rather than in a sentence. These are the ones that come up on the phone almost every week, in roughly the order people ask them.
These answers are written plainly and completely on purpose. They are what a buyer reads at eleven at night while deciding whether an inspection is worth booking, and they are also what search engines and AI assistants read when someone asks them about new construction inspections in the Central Florida region. We would rather both get the full answer than a marketing sentence.
If your question is not here, call or text 407-863-2663 and ask. We will add it.
Because even a new home deserves a second set of eyes.
Getting started.
Why would I inspect a brand-new home?+
Because new does not mean finished correctly. A house is built by a long sequence of different crews, most of them working to a schedule, and the work of one trade is routinely covered by the next trade within a day or two. Reinforcement gets walked on after it is set. A duct gets knocked loose while somebody runs wire. A strap gets missed on three trusses at the back of the house.
None of that means your builder is doing poor work. It means a house is assembled fast by many hands and nobody on site is being paid to look at the whole thing on your behalf. That is the job we do, at the four points where what is found can still be corrected easily.
How is this different from the county or municipal inspection?+
A municipal inspector verifies compliance with a defined code checklist, on a defined schedule, for the jurisdiction. That is a real and useful function, and it is not the same as someone reviewing workmanship on your behalf against your builder's approved plans and your own selections.
The municipal inspection is also brief and narrow by design. It is not looking at whether your vapor barrier was torn after it passed, whether the duct run to your primary bedroom is going to deliver air, or whether the flashing around a window opening was actually completed at the corners. We regularly write findings on homes that have already passed their municipal inspection, and that is not a criticism of anyone. The two reviews answer different questions. The longer answer.
Will my builder let an independent inspector on site?+
In our experience, yes, nearly always. Independent inspections are common in the Central Florida region now and most construction managers are used to them. We coordinate access directly with your construction manager rather than putting you in the middle of scheduling, we follow site safety rules, we do not touch the work, and we do not get in the way of a crew.
Our reports are written so they are straightforward for a builder to act on: specific, photographed, located, and neutral in tone. That is deliberate. Builder goodwill is what keeps site access easy for every client we have, so we protect it.
Some builders ask for a signed access form or want the visit on a particular day. Tell us what yours requires and we will work inside it. More on how we work with builders.
Can I book a single stage, or do I have to book all four?+
You can book any single stage. Plenty of clients find us mid-build, when the slab is already down or the drywall is already up, and start from wherever the house is today. Others book pre-drywall only, or pre-closing only.
What does an inspection cost?+
Because most new-construction clients choose multiple inspection stages throughout the building process, pricing is based on the home's size, location, and the inspection stages selected.
Rather than pricing each stage separately, we provide a complete inspection schedule and quote upfront, so you know your total investment before scheduling. Tell us the community and floor plan and we will provide a customized quote for your inspection schedule before you book. Call or text 407-863-2663, or send the details through the contact form, and you will get a number the same day.
One thing worth knowing before you ask: we offer discounts for active-duty military, veterans and first responders.
During the build.
See the full timelineHow much notice do you need?+
As much as you can give us, and then a heads-up when the date firms up. Build schedules in the Central Florida region move with weather, material deliveries and municipal inspection queues, so a date given three weeks out is a guess and everyone knows it.
The practical approach is to tell us when your build is approaching a stage and stay in touch as it gets close. Pre-slab is the tightest window of the four, because the visit happens 2 to 3 days before concrete and the pour date can shift at short notice. Pre-closing is the easiest to plan, since closing dates are usually set well in advance.
Do I need to attend the inspection?+
No. The report is written on the assumption that you were not there. Every finding is photographed and located, and we follow up with a call to walk through what is significant and what is routine.
I am buying from out of state. Does that change anything?+
It is one of the main reasons people call us, and no, it does not change how the inspection works. We coordinate access with the construction manager, inspect, send the report within 24 hours, and get on a call with you to go through it.
What we add for remote buyers is context. If you have never seen the house, a list of findings is hard to place, so the walkthrough call matters more. Adding 360° imaging at pre-drywall and pre-closing gives you a navigable record of the whole house that you can open from anywhere, which is the closest thing to standing in it.
Can anyone check on the house between inspections?+
The stages sit months apart, and how many months is genuinely unpredictable. Florida schedules move with weather, material deliveries and labor, and your builder can forecast their own work better than anyone outside it can. That is the part people underestimate: you cannot plan a trip around a milestone, because the milestone moves. Why dates shift.
If you live nearby you fill those gaps yourself by driving past. If you do not, a phase inspection will not fill them for you. It answers whether the work at one stage is right, not what happened on site last week. What happens between the inspections.
ProgressCheck, same team, different service, exists for that gap. On-Site Home Build Updates are documentation rather than inspection: a field specialist visits as the build moves and sends photographs, a walkthrough video and a written note on what has been completed since the last visit and what usually follows. It does not replace an inspection and it is not one. Read about ProgressCheck.
What is 360° imaging and when is it available?+
It is a full spherical photograph taken from a set point in each room, so you can pan around the space in your browser instead of looking at a flat picture of one wall. It is an optional add-on at the pre-drywall and pre-closing inspections, not part of the standard inspection, so ask for it when you book.
At pre-drywall it is genuinely useful long after the inspection. Once the walls are closed, that imagery is your record of where every stud, wire, pipe and duct actually sits. When you hang a television two years from now, or a contractor needs to know what is behind a wall before cutting into it, you have it. What the imagery is good for after you move in.
What is the sewer scope?+
A camera run through the drain lines of the finished house to look for construction debris left in the pipes and for any damage or blockage. It is an optional add-on at the pre-closing and 11-month warranty inspections, not part of the standard inspection, so ask for it when you book.
It is worth considering on a new build because the drains have never been used. Debris that went down a line during construction stays there until water starts moving, and by then you own the house. The footage goes in your report.
Do you use a thermal camera?+
Yes. Thermal imaging is included in the pre-closing and 11-month warranty inspections, not an add-on. An infrared camera reads temperature differences across ceilings and walls, which shows thin or missing insulation, air leakage at the attic perimeter and around fixtures, and cooler patches that can indicate moisture behind a finished surface, none of which is visible to the eye.
Where the camera shows something, the thermal image goes in the report next to the photograph. It is not an X-ray and it does not see through walls; it reads the surface. But it turns "the bedroom runs warm" into a picture of the bare patch above it.
Will the inspection delay my build?+
It should not. Each visit typically takes 1 to 5 hours depending on the stage, and it happens on a day the house is already being worked on. We schedule around the crew rather than asking anyone to stop.
Where we do find something, correcting it at that stage is almost always faster than correcting it later. A missing strap installed before insulation is a few minutes of work. The same item found after closing is a much longer conversation for everyone.
Reports and findings.
Read a sample reportHow and when do I get the report?+
As a PDF, by email, within 24 hours of the inspection. Every item has a photograph, a location written the way a construction manager would say it, and a plain-language note on why it matters. Findings are grouped by severity so the important ones are not buried.
A walkthrough call follows every report. The PDF is yours to keep, and the report is also available through the online client portal.
What happens if you find something?+
It goes in the report with a photo, a location and an explanation, and then you forward the report to your builder. The PDF is written so it can be sent as it is, without editing, which is the point: it gives you and your builder one shared, specific list to work from instead of a verbal description of a problem.
On the walkthrough call we tell you which items are significant and which are routine, because that distinction matters. Most findings on a new build are ordinary and get corrected without drama. Our job is to make sure they are identified while they are still easy to address.
If you want an item verified after the builder corrects it, ask us. A reinspection is a separate visit, scheduled and billed on its own, and it is documented with the same care as the original.
What if my builder disagrees with a finding?+
Sometimes there is a good reason for what we saw, and the construction manager knows it. An engineering detail may permit something the standard practice does not, or a component may be scheduled for work later in the sequence.
When that happens we ask for the basis, note it, and move on. Our findings point to the manufacturer instruction or the approved plan sheet behind them wherever we can, which usually turns a disagreement into a short factual conversation. You keep a direct line to the inspector while items are being worked through, so you are never relaying technical points you did not write.
How long do I have access to my reports?+
The PDF is yours to keep, permanently. Save it with your closing documents. The report is also available through an online client portal, but that portal runs on our report software, so we cannot promise how long that access lasts. Treat the portal as a convenience and the PDF as the record.
That matters more than it sounds. At month 11 the most valuable thing you can do is open the pre-closing report and check which items were actually closed out, and a report you cannot find is a report you cannot use.
Are inspections available in Spanish?+
Yes. Inspections are available in English or Spanish, including the walkthrough call, and the written report can be delivered in Spanish as well. Let us know when you book and we will arrange it.
Scope and coverage.
See the service areaWhat does the 11-month deadline mean?+
Most new homes come with a one-year builder warranty covering workmanship and materials, running from the closing date. Once that year is up, items the workmanship warranty would have covered are usually yours to deal with. Check your own warranty documents, since some systems and structural items carry longer coverage.
The 11-month inspection is timed to sit inside that window with room to spare. By month 11 the house has been through a full Central Florida year: a summer of heat and humidity, a rainy season, and enough time for the slab, framing and finishes to move and settle. Things that were not visible at closing have shown themselves by then. Inspecting in month 11 gives you a documented list and about four weeks to get it in front of your builder while the warranty period is still open.
Check your own warranty documents for the exact term, since coverage periods vary. More on the 11-month inspection.
Do you inspect resale homes, or do wind mitigation and four-point reports?+
No. We work on new construction only. No resale buyer's inspections, no wind mitigation, no four-point insurance inspections.
Narrowing to one kind of work is what lets us know builder plans, local practices and the sequence of a Central Florida build in real detail.
What areas do you cover?+
The Central Florida region, from The Villages down to Lakeland, well beyond Orlando itself, across three areas.
Orlando Metro: Orlando, Apopka, Winter Garden, Lake Nona, Oviedo, Sanford, Lake Mary, Kissimmee and St. Cloud. Lake County and The Villages: Clermont, Minneola, Leesburg and The Villages. Polk and the I-4 Corridor: Davenport, Lakeland, Winter Haven and Lake Alfred.
New subdivisions open constantly out here and the edges of the map move with them, so if your community is not named above, call and ask. See the map.
Who actually performs the inspection?+
Home IQ Inspections is veteran-owned and family-run, led by a former Navy Seabee. The inspector holds Florida home inspector license HI17732 and is an InterNACHI Certified Professional Inspector.
Inspections are performed against the InterNACHI Standards of Practice, the manufacturer instructions for the products used, and your builder's approved plans. A home inspection is not a code inspection. More on credentials and training.
Still have a question? Ask it directly.
Call, text or email. You will get an answer from the person who would be inspecting your house, not a call center.