Very common question… It is still a property built by a builder with their own interest of profit, with vendors who are as low paid as possible in order to maximize profits. And many of these builders are friends with code inspectors, and sometimes the code inspections are not overly thorough.
Even still, a code inspection is for minimum building requirements, certainly not what we are all looking for if we just paid to have a new home built.
That being said a third-party home inspector is not there to verify code, or that the building was built correctly. Back to the original point, home inspectors there to ensure that the home buyer is not inheriting any problems, unknowingly. We found many things wrong with new builds, like missing insulation in the attic or the air compressors installed on the wrong side of the house and, therefore, not working. There are amazing builders that build fantastic, beautiful houses.
In addition to the home inspection, some of the inspection might include areas that aren’t visible just by walking through a home, looking inside the sewer line or testing for radon levels. It is a common misconception that many new homes do not need a sewer scope, but what we found is that on average the percentages of problems found in sewer lines is higher in new homes. This is because venders dump chemicals, concrete, and other debris down the sewer line while the house is being built. Sometimes we hear, I don’t want to spend $150 only to find out there’s nothing wrong… and we rely, that’s exactly what you want to do, spend $150 and find out nothing is wrong.
Sometimes, just the peace of mind can be very valuable.