New Construction Inspections
Before Close of Escrow
-or-
Prior to 1-year Builder Warranty Expiration
What is PSR?
PSR is Performance Standard Review.
There is a minimum standards of practice that Builders are required to comply with when building residential homes.
You can find a link to these standards of practice here.
INSPECT LV inspectors are trained to have thorough knowledge of these standards and what the homeowner is owed. This type of inspection varies greatly than a typical residential resale. The inspectors are looking for everything from cosmetic defects, structural defects, and more!
View our article for 22 Reasons Why You Should Get a New Construction Home inspection.
Municipal Inspectors review the home for code compliance. Inspect LV Home Inspectors review the home for adherence to the minimum standards for workmanship and craftsmanship to be provided by any licensed contractor.
Our Performance Standard Home Inspection (PSHI) ensures the consumer receives a home that meets the minimum standards of quality that they deserve to receive.
Inspect LV is Approved for the Following Builders...
INSPECT LV is one of the few qualified inspection companies in the Valley to provide PSR inspections.
- American West
- Beazer
- Century Communities
- Christopher Homes
- Del Webb
- DR Horton
- KB Homes
- Lennar
- Pinnacle Homes
- Pulte
- Richmond American
- Shea Homes
- Taylor Morrison
- Touchstone
- Toll Brothers
- Tri Pointe
- Trilogy
- Woodside
*If you do not see your builder listed, please reach out to the Inspect LV office so we may obtain authorization to perform an independent third party inspection.
Here is a list of 22 Reasons Why You Should Get a New Construction Home Inspection and the Most Common Issues with New Construction Homes…
Here in the Las Vegas Valley desert, low-E windows are oriented to reflect heat from the sun and prevent the sunlight energy from entering the home. Reversed LOW-E windows are a very common issue in Las Vegas. You can’t see the layer of microscopic metal with the naked eye and requires a low-e meter to determine correct orientation . When oriented incorrectly, this can cause higher electrical utility costs by radiating heat into the home.
Municipal inspectors do not carry ladders and physically review insulation levels. The builder merely provides the municipal inspector with a certificate attesting that the minimum required amount of insulation has been provided. Often the certificates are inaccurate.
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As mentioned previously, municipal inspectors do not carry ladders and physically review insulation levels. Just as how insulation may be insufficient, there are several cases where it is missing altogether.
Low freon can lead to compressor damage and overall low efficiency of your HVAC unit.
When Inspect LV performs New Construction inspections, prior to closing, the property should be in “fit-and-finished” condition, the condition of which the builder intends to convey the property. This would be inclusive of all appliances and components. Typically, these inspections are performed only a few days before closing. It is not uncommon to find the property of missing appliances or disconnected appliances.
Performance Standards state, “Areas of unevenness shall not exceed 1/4 inch in any direction under a 6-foot straightedge.”
The valve should be configured to provide hot water when turned to the left and cold water when turned to the right. With reversed plumbing there is an increased risk of injury from scalding.
Nail-pops, dry wall tape and stress cracks exceeding 1/16 inch should not be visible.
Damaged trusses can lead to a
sagging roof and corrections are recommended. New homes will likely be covered under a 10 year structural warranty, this issue is covered by
the statutory structural warranty on the home. The
procedure needed to be taken to correct this issue is to:
1. Contact the builder of the property and ask to have the truss reviewed by the licensed Structural Engineer.
2. The Engineer will design a repair and provide a document referred to as a “Truss Certification” that will give the builder guidance for correcting the damaged area in a
manner that will restore the structural integrity of the member.
3. After the builder has accomplished the repair they need to provide the homeowner with a copy of the Truss
Certification stating that the repair was accomplished in
accordance with the engineer’s direction.
If the home is not connected to sewer, if designed to be, you may experience a sewage backup.
No noticeable color or shading variations should be observed. All painted areas are to have sufficient coverage with no flaking, peeling or scaling.
In addition, pain should not be on any surface for which it was not intended.
Exterior doors should shut completely. Doors should operate freely, latch firmly and keep out normal wind and rain. A small change in the spacing between the door and frame may occur due to expansion and contraction of building materials. This is normal. Warping more than 1/4 inch in any direction is unacceptable. Doors and frames must be painted or stained and sealed properly
per manufacturer instructions.
Hairline cracks may occur in grout. Cracks should not
exceed 1/32 inch.
Roof flashing is a thin material, usually galvanized steel, that professional roofers use to direct water away from critical areas of the roof, wherever the roof plane meets a vertical surface like a wall or a dormer. Flashing is installed to surround roof features, such as vents, chimneys and skylights. Contractors are to use an approved type of flashing and in required areas.
Clay roof tiles require a 3 inch overlap. Stretched roof tiles occur when not enough overlap is provided.
The components of the plumbing system should completely contain and/or transport water without leaking. There should be no leak from any soil, waste, vent, gas, or water piping.
In accordance with Residential Construction Performance Standards stucco siding is required to present a uniform appearance when viewed under natural lighting condition from a distance of 6 feet.
Overhead Garage door should be installed per the manufacturer installation instructions and create a seal with the garage floor at the time of the walkthrough. Overhead garage door should work properly and must move freely up and down the track. 1/2 inch gaps at the sides and top are the maximum acceptable measurement between the house and the garage door.
In this case, a plumbing vent is found capped. This does not meet today’s building standards or the Performance Standards guidelines.
All properly installed carpet seams are visible to some
degree depending upon the type, color, location, light exposure and installation of
the carpet. Seams that have gaps, overlap or excessive separation do not meet the
performance guideline. Excessive seams will not be accepted.
You’ve worked tirelessly to get into the perfect home and you are now in the home stretch. Open escrow, check! Appraisal, check! Home inspection, check, check! You are nearing the finish line ready to close escrow but not so fast!
Inspect LV provides you with a detailed check-list style form for completing the final walk-through. Many of the components listed are overlooked, and not tested during the final walkthrough. This is mostly due to Clients solely relying on the information contained in the home inspection report, and not knowing what they should be reviewing and looking for themselves prior to property acceptance. It is important to understand the property condition can and often does change between the time of the inspection, and the time of title transfer. We HIGHLY recommend a thorough and complete final-walkthrough inspection.
A Final Walkthrough & Release is vital at the conclusion of your escrow period. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems will fail from time to time during an escrow. Our insurance policy prevents us from providing the Final Walkthrough for you. We highly encourage Agents and our Clients to do their own Walkthrough inspection and test all systems to make sure they are running correctly. This Final Walkthrough Checklist will prove to be a resource for you and your Clients in every transaction.
Below you will find the invaluable resource of Inspect LV’s final walk-through list through the eyes of a home inspector.
You can enjoy the benefits of hiring a home inspector before or after close and before the builder warranty expires. Inspect LV will give guidance to the buyers in the event the builder is uncooperative with repairs.
We provide the new build homeowner with the following:
- A comprehensive “engineering style report” to give to the builder to perform necessary repairs before the warranty expires.
- ONE no-charge Repair Review (limited) after the builder completes repairs to verify repairs were done correct.
- Guidance to the new homeowner in the event the builder is uncooperative in regards to the repairs.
Check out Due Diligence is More Than Just a Home Inspection to for links to local utilities, very school zones and more!
