Working with builders An inspector who is easy to have on site.
We schedule with the construction manager, we work around the trade sequence, and we photograph and leave. The report goes to the homeowner in a form your team can read, assign and close out.
An inspection is a record, not a dispute.
Two people commonly arrive at this page. One is a construction manager who has been notified that a third-party inspector will be visiting the home. The other is a homeowner who wants an independent inspection but does not want it to create unnecessary friction with the construction team they will be working with throughout the build. Both perspectives are understandable.
A phase inspection is an independent review of the visible construction at a specific point in the build. We observe accessible components and conditions, photograph and document our findings, and provide the homeowner with a written report. Our role is to identify and document visible conditions that may need attention while the work is still accessible. We do not direct trades, manage the construction process, replace the builder's quality-control procedures, or perform municipal inspections.
New homes are built by many people across multiple trades, often while working through demanding construction schedules and changing site conditions. Items can be missed. Identifying a missing fastener, incomplete connection, or other condition during pre-drywall is not a judgment of the builder or the people performing the work. It is the benefit of having another set of eyes on the home while those components are still visible and can often be addressed before they are covered.
Home IQ specializes in new construction, and we regularly work alongside builders and construction teams throughout the communities we serve. We approach every inspection professionally, respect the construction site and the people working on it, and document what we observe without creating unnecessary conflict. The homeowner receives an independent record of the home at that stage, while the builder remains responsible for managing the construction and determining how identified conditions are addressed.
How we schedule, and how we behave.
Scheduling is coordinated with the construction manager so our inspection aligns with the appropriate stage of construction. Once a client books a phase inspection, we contact the construction manager to confirm the home, discuss the anticipated schedule, and coordinate access for the appropriate inspection window. Construction schedules can change, so if a phase moves, we adjust with it. Our goal is to complete the inspection at the right point in the build while respecting the construction schedule and minimizing disruption on site.
- The visit is arranged with the construction manager, at a time they choose
- We confirm the day before and again if anything on our end changes
- Full personal protective equipment on every visit, without being asked
- We work around crews rather than through them, and wait if a space is in use
- No direction is given to any trade, subcontractor or crew member
- No findings are discussed with crews on site, and nothing that identifies a home, lot or builder is posted publicly
- Photographs are of the work, not of people
- We photograph, take our notes and leave. 1 to 5 hours depending on the stage
- We let the construction manager know when the inspection has been completed
What the report is, and what it is not.
See a sample reportThe report is an observation record written for the homeowner. Every item carries a photograph, a location in the home, and a plain-language note on why it matters. It is delivered within 24 hours as a PDF the client can forward without editing it.
It is not a code citation and it is not a punch list issued to anyone. It carries no authority, it is not sent to a municipality, and it does not tell a builder's team how to sequence a correction. Where an item relates to a manufacturer instruction or to the approved plans, we say so and reference it plainly, because a homeowner deserves to know why something was flagged. What happens next is between the client and their builder.
Here is the genuine case for a construction manager. The alternative to a written report is not silence. It is a nervous homeowner standing in a garage on a Saturday, pointing at three things they half-remember from a video, none of them located, none of them photographed, one of them not actually an issue. That conversation takes forty minutes and produces nothing you can assign to anybody.
A report gives you an item number, a photo, a room, and a sentence. You can forward it to the right trade, close it out, and have a record that it was closed. Several of the construction managers we work with regularly ask for a copy for exactly that reason.
Asking us for a copy
Construction managers ask us for copies fairly often, and we understand why: you cannot assign what you cannot see. The report belongs to the homeowner, though, so we do not send it ourselves.
It is built to be forwarded exactly as delivered, and most clients pass it to their construction manager the day it lands. Ask them and you will usually have it the same afternoon. If a client would rather we send it directly, they tell us so in writing and we forward the complete report with them copied on the message.
Since the construction manager coordinates the inspection, we will let them know when the inspection has been completed.
Questions builders ask us.
What if we disagree with something in the report?+
That happens, and it is a normal part of the process. We document what was visible on the date we were there, with a photograph. Your team responds to the client with your position, whether that is a correction, a note that the item is scheduled for a later phase, or an explanation that the detail is by design or by engineering. If something was in progress or staged for the next day, say so and the client will understand it.
Where a correction is made and the client asks, we will come back and look at it. A reinspection is a separate visit, scheduled and billed as one. We document what we see the second time with the same neutrality as the first, including when the item is resolved. We are not looking to be right. We are looking to have the record match the house.
Are you citing code violations?+
No, and we could not if we wanted to. A home inspector is not a code official. We inspect against the Standards of Practice, the manufacturer instructions and the approved plans, and we make no determination of code compliance. We have no enforcement role, we do not contact the building department, and nothing in a report of ours speaks to what a municipal inspector would conclude.
Will your inspector talk to our trades?+
Only to say good morning and to stay out of the way. No findings are discussed with a crew, no instructions are given, and nothing is pointed out to a subcontractor on site. Everything goes in the report, and the report goes to the client. If a crew asks what we are doing, we say we are photographing for the homeowner and we leave it there.
What are your insurance and licensing?+
Florida home inspector license HI17732 and InterNACHI Certified Professional Inspector.
We carry general liability and professional liability at limits builders in this area commonly require of trade partners. We are happy to put a certificate on file with your risk or compliance department before we ever come to a lot.
Send us the certificate holder name, address and any additional insured wording your process requires, and we will have our agent issue it. Most requests come back within a business day.
How much of the construction manager's time does this take?+
A text to confirm the day, and the time it takes to unlock a door if the lot is secured. We do not need an escort, a walkthrough, or a debrief. If you would rather accompany us, you are welcome to, but nothing about the visit requires it.
Do you post findings online or tag builders?+
No. Photographs from a client's home belong to that client's file. Anything used as an example elsewhere on this site is scrubbed of the community, the lot, the address and the builder, and is used only to explain a general condition.
For buyers reading this page
If you are hesitant to book because you do not want to start your build on the wrong foot, that instinct is worth taking seriously, and it is also solvable. Tell your builder early and plainly that you are having phase inspections done. Most builders in this area have seen dozens of them and will simply ask who and when.
What creates friction is not the inspection. It is a surprise inspector at the gate on pour day, or a homeowner relaying secondhand findings with an edge in their voice. Neither of those is how this works. We schedule through your construction manager, and the report is written so it can be forwarded as it is, which keeps the conversation on the document rather than on anyone's tone.
See the four inspection stages
Because even a new home deserves a second set of eyes.
Construction managers, get in touch.
If we have an inspection coming up on one of your lots, or you would like our schedule preferences and insurance on file before we do, call or email and we will send what you need.