On a resale you have a window of 10 to 15 days and you know exactly what happens inside it. A new build has four separate moments spread across the build and the first year after closing, and two of them land months before the closing table.
On a resale, timing is settled by the contract. The inspection period opens at execution, it runs 10 to 15 days, and every party in the transaction understands what has to happen inside it. You have run that play hundreds of times and you do not need us to explain it.
A new build has no inspection period in that sense. The contract is with the builder, the closing date moves with the construction schedule, and the moments that matter for an inspection are set by the trade sequence rather than by anything in the paperwork. Two of the four happen before the walls are closed. By the point where a resale-style contingency would normally be running, the slab has been down for months and the drywall is already hung.
That is the practical problem in one sentence. If the first conversation about inspections happens when the builder schedules the orientation walk, your client has already missed two of their four chances, and those two are the ones that cannot be recovered later at any price.
None of this is a criticism of builders. A construction manager running twenty lots is managing a sequence, not a client's calendar, and the dates that matter to an inspection are simply not the dates that get published. They are available if somebody asks for them. Usually nobody does.
Reinforcement, chairs, vapor barrier and under-slab plumbing, reviewed while they are still visible and can still be moved. Raise this at contract signing, before the lot is even cleared. It is the stage clients miss most often, because nothing about it appears on a closing timeline and the window is 2 to 3 days.
Framing, connectors, rough electrical, plumbing and HVAC, window flashing and roof deck, all still open to view. Ask your client to request the rough-in inspection date from their sales agent or construction manager as soon as framing tops out. The gap between passing rough-in and hanging board is often a matter of days.
A full walk of the finished home with every system operated. This is the stage that looks familiar, and the only one that maps cleanly onto a resale inspection. Raise it as soon as the closing date firms up, and try to leave a few days between the report and the closing table so your client and the builder's team have room to work through items together.
A second full look after a year of settling, heat and Florida humidity, while your client's builder warranty period is still open for what has shown up. Mention it at the closing table and put a note in your calendar for month ten. Agents who make that call are remembered, and month eleven happens to be around the time a past client starts advising friends on their own builds.
Every stage produces the same deliverable, so your client learns the format once and knows what to expect for the rest of the build. The report arrives within 24 hours as a PDF. Every item carries a photograph, a location in the home, and a plain-language note explaining why it matters. It is written to be forwarded to the builder without editing, which keeps your client out of the business of translating an inspector's language into something a construction manager can act on.
A walkthrough call follows every report. That call is where the difference between a significant item and a routine one gets settled, and it is usually the moment a first-time buyer stops panicking about a 30-page document. Your client keeps a direct line to the inspector while items are being closed out, and the report is theirs to keep as a PDF, with a copy in the online client portal.
Inspections are available in English or Spanish, and the report and walkthrough call can be delivered in Spanish on request.
A one-page four-stage explainer and a referral card, each with your name, photo and brokerage on it, so your buyer takes home a piece that explains the inspections and has your face on it. Email us your name, brokerage, phone, email and a headshot, and we send back print-ready PDFs. Print them yourself, or tell us how many and we will drop a stack at your office. These are a courtesy for your clients, not a reward for referrals.
We do. Once a client books, we contact the builder's construction manager directly, confirm the stage, and schedule at a time that suits the trade sequence on that lot. You are not asked to chase dates or relay messages, and neither is your client.
It should not. We are on site as a guest, in full safety gear, and we do not direct trades or interrupt a crew. We photograph what we see and we leave. Construction managers generally prefer a written, photographed, located report to a verbal list from an anxious homeowner, because it is something they can assign and close out. See Working With Builders for exactly how we conduct ourselves on site.
Policies vary by builder and by community, and some have specific rules about when a third party can be on site or whether a client must accompany them. We work inside whatever the policy is. Tell us the builder and the community early and we will find out what applies rather than have your client discover it the week of the pour.
No. It is an observation record written for your client. It describes what was seen, where, and why it matters, so your client and their builder can identify and address items together. It is not a code citation, and it is not a punch list issued to anyone.
We do not. New construction is all we do, which is what lets us keep up with builder plans and local practice in real detail.
Three ways, all of them short. Send your client to the contact page and have them note the builder, the community and the stage they are at. Call or text 407-863-2663 and we will follow up with them directly. Or email info@thinkhomeiq.com with the lot and the expected pour or closing date and we will take it from there.
If you are not sure which stage a client is at, tell us where the build stands and we will tell you what comes next and how much notice we need. That conversation costs nothing and takes about five minutes.
When a client you referred schedules an inspection, we will let you know. Once the inspection is complete, we will let you know that as well. The inspection report is provided directly to the client and remains their document to share at their discretion. With the client's authorization, Home IQ Inspections may also provide a courtesy copy to you.
We do not pay referral fees or provide incentives for referrals. Florida regulations prohibit home inspectors from compensating real estate professionals for referrals, and maintaining that separation helps preserve the independence of the inspection.
Buyers moving in from another state, or another country, have a problem the inspection stages do not solve on their own. They cannot see the build between visits, and nobody can tell them reliably when the next stage will arrive. ProgressCheck, same team, different service, covers that ground with On-Site Home Build Updates: a field specialist visits as the build moves and sends photographs, a walkthrough video and a written Update Report, with the pre-slab, pre-drywall and pre-closing inspections inside the Advantage and Complete programs. Same inspector, same license. It is documentation rather than inspection, so it sits alongside the stages rather than replacing any of them. How to introduce a client to ProgressCheck.
Because even a new home deserves a second set of eyes.
Tell us the builder, the community and roughly where the build stands. We will tell you which stage comes next and when it needs to happen.