IF
IT’S NEW,
IS
IT GOOD?
How good is new construction
in the United States and Canada?
Generally, it is pretty good, but there are some significant areas of
concern.
Our goal is to provide
information that will allow quality-oriented builders to improve upon the
products they deliver.
For what you should do, see
back page.
The following is based on
information and opinions gathered from the more than 70 offices of Criterium
Engineers. Criterium Engineers is a
network of affiliated offices throughout North America, in 35 states and British
Columbia, Canada. The objective was
to identify problem areas that have significant impact on the functional
performance and quality “feel” of new homes. We asked our engineers just one question
– “What problems are you finding?” An item made it to our list if we
received the same response from various offices so as to consider it widespread
geographically.
We evaluate all of the
homes we look at by comparing them to what we consider to
be typical of similar construction in that geographic area. We
do not expect perfection.
In recent years, in our
experience, the expectations of some homebuyers and owners have risen to the
level of unfulfillable and unreasonable.
We believe more education is needed to help homebuyers understand
residential construction. Note, we
did not survey homebuyers or owners.
Skill and workmanship are
frequent causes of faulty construction.
Material selection is the next most common cause. Finally, inadequate or superficial
design and/or preparation is responsible for a significant portion of the
quality compromises.
From
our discussions with builders, it is increasingly difficult to find skilled and
motivated workers, let alone train them.
This may be the biggest challenge facing the building industry if the
desire is to reduce number and frequency of construction problems.
Survey
“Ground
Rules”
and
Background
This
is a summary of the information and opinions gathered from the Inspection
Engineers throughout our organization.
We adjusted for properties involving an existing dispute between the
builder and owner since those would tend to skew our overall results. Our complete survey also examines the
most probable causes of these deficiencies.
Criterium
Engineers performs approximately 25,000 inspections per year of both new and
existing construction. We have been
in business since 1957.
Survey
The
following are the highlights of our
survey. If you are interested in a
complete copy, please send us a self-addressed stamped envelope or e-mail at
yourhome@criterium-engineers.com.
PROBLEM
AREA: ROOF
INSTALLATION
EXAMPLES
CONSEQUENCES
Lack
of roofing paper
Premature roof deterioration
Poorly
installed eave,
Water intrusion
rake
and valley details
Improperly
placed shingles
Stapled
installation
PROBLEM
AREA: SIDING
INSTALLATION
EXAMPLES
CONSEQUENCES
Thin
stucco, easily damaged
Framing rot and mold
Poor
details
Water intrusion
Lack
of proper brick veneer
Visual distortion and irregularities
details
PROBLEM
AREA: WINDOW & DOOR
INSTALLATION
EXAMPLES
CONSEQUENCES
No
flashing
Poor window operation
Inadequate
attachment
Water intrusion
No
sealant or incomplete sealant
Framing rot and mold
Out-of-square
rough openings
PROBLEM
AREA: WINDOW
PERFORMANCE
EXAMPLES
CONSEQUENCES
Leaks
through window frame
Framing rot and mold
Broken
seals
Water intrusion
PROBLEM
AREA: FRAMING
ADEQUACY
EXAMPLES
CONSEQUENCES
Unbraced
roof trusses
Structural sagging
Casually
braced roof framing
Structural distortion, leaning
Cut
and compromised floor
Compromised door and
framing
(plumbing, electrical, etc)
window operation
Inadequately
attached sheathing
Unusually springy floors
and/or
shear walls
Lack
of bracing or structural
sheathing
PROBLEM
AREA: HVAC/MECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
INSTALLATION
EXAMPLES
CONSEQUENCES
Inadequate
service access
Lack of reliability
Poorly
installed ductwork
Inadequate performance
Marginal
capacity
Short service life
Inadequate
safety standard
compliance
PROBLEM
AREA: FOUNDATION
CONSTRUCTION
EXAMPLES
CONSEQUENCES
Concrete
spalling
Premature deterioration
Exposed
aggregate
Water intrusion
Significant
cracking
Compromised structural
performance
PROBLEM
AREA: SITE SELECTION/SOIL
PREPARATION
EXAMPLES
CONSEQUENCES
Poor
surface drainage
Water intrusion
Differential
settlement
Settlement and distortion
Structural
distortion
PROBLEM
AREA: USE
OF UNPROVEN MATERIALS
EXAMPLES
CONSEQUENCES
Polybutylene
(PB) pipe
Water intrusion
Hardboard
siding
Premature failure
EIFS
What You
Should Do
Here
are seven suggestions to minimize your risk if you are buying or building a new
home:
1. Know your builder. Check with the Better Business Bureau,
your State Attorney General’s office and others for whom that builder has built
homes, preferably homes built 3 to 5 years ago. Many problems in construction take some
time to develop.
2. Hire a Building Inspection Engineer to
monitor the construction for you, starting with a review of the construction
documents. For such review and
three to four visits during construction, the fee is normally $1,000 to $2,000,
a modest investment to minimize the risk of problems with your new
home.
3. If the home has already been built, hire
a Building Inspection Engineer to thoroughly inspect it and work with you to
develop a final punch list of things to be completed or corrected by the
contractor. Do not make the final
payment until those things are completed to your
satisfaction.
4. Take plenty of pictures during
construction. They may prove
invaluable later.
5. Make sure you understand the extent and
limitations of the builder’s warranty and any statutory warranties required in
your state. Be sure to notify the builder of any problems you are having before
the warranties run out.
6. Work with a builder who participates in a
third-party quality control program.
7. To find a Building Inspection Engineer in
your area, visit www.criterium-engineers.com, our Web site, or www.nabie.org,
the Web site of the National Academy of Building Inspection
Engineers.
Owning
a new home can be exciting. You
should not assume, however, that all new homes are well-built, quality homes, no
matter how much you pay. To become
a happy homeowner, you will need to be a prudent, cautious
homebuyer.