WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.759 Welcome back to Trust the Process, podcast where 00:00:02.759 --> 00:00:05.360 we talk about new home construction, the housing 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:09.619 market, and everything in between. Today we're 00:00:09.619 --> 00:00:12.060 going to dive into the topic of third party inspections. 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:16.519 Michael will go into a lot more detail, but I 00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:18.500 kind of wanted to just give a quick reference 00:00:18.500 --> 00:00:21.039 for what that means so that we have sort of a 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:23.079 starting point or a place that we can pivot. 00:00:23.789 --> 00:00:26.010 rest of the discussion. So we've got first party 00:00:26.010 --> 00:00:28.250 inspections, which is typically the builder. 00:00:28.510 --> 00:00:31.429 So that in our case is a trust GC. Second party 00:00:31.429 --> 00:00:34.170 inspections would often be the buyer. Most of 00:00:34.170 --> 00:00:36.750 our homes start without a buyer. So that buyer 00:00:36.750 --> 00:00:39.149 then is our owner. And so then that inspection 00:00:39.149 --> 00:00:41.710 is done by our owner. At some point the buyer 00:00:41.710 --> 00:00:46.350 comes into play. We'll do on a true custom, one 00:00:46.350 --> 00:00:48.289 of our built to suit homes, obviously there's 00:00:48.289 --> 00:00:51.140 a buyer in place. And then third party is the 00:00:51.140 --> 00:00:53.659 one we're going to talk about today. So third 00:00:53.659 --> 00:00:56.340 party inspections really are the big one. They're 00:00:56.340 --> 00:00:59.100 the ones that we are relying on a third party 00:00:59.100 --> 00:01:01.579 entity. So it's not anybody who's affiliated 00:01:01.579 --> 00:01:04.900 with us as a builder or any builder. They don't 00:01:04.900 --> 00:01:07.980 have any monetary ties to the company or any 00:01:07.980 --> 00:01:10.879 bias. They're simply grading the work that's 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:14.579 being done based on code. And they're measuring 00:01:14.579 --> 00:01:16.760 the quality of the work against building standards. 00:01:17.209 --> 00:01:21.090 So it's completely unbiased, just compliant. 00:01:21.829 --> 00:01:25.129 So there are different points throughout the 00:01:25.129 --> 00:01:26.870 build process, and Michael's going to touch on 00:01:26.870 --> 00:01:29.170 this a little more, but where everything kind 00:01:29.170 --> 00:01:32.129 of comes to a screeching halt until we get that 00:01:32.129 --> 00:01:34.950 inspection. So we can't build any further until 00:01:34.950 --> 00:01:37.370 that inspection is completed. And it's often 00:01:37.370 --> 00:01:40.109 a municipality, be it the city, the county, the 00:01:40.109 --> 00:01:42.530 state, maybe it's a utility company, or maybe 00:01:42.530 --> 00:01:59.280 an independent agency. But whatever it is, Yeah. 00:02:12.619 --> 00:02:19.939 Ways that this is used on our bills. Yeah Yeah, 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:22.580 I love the way that you broke it down I think 00:02:22.580 --> 00:02:24.960 it is important to talk about primary and secondary 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:29.060 You know first what happened to first and second. 00:02:29.139 --> 00:02:31.599 It's a good point I actually never stopped to 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:34.900 consider that that we are the first party inspection 00:02:34.900 --> 00:02:38.039 So yeah, our GC is out there walking the projects 00:02:38.039 --> 00:02:41.699 and that happens daily We've hired a subcontractor, 00:02:41.719 --> 00:02:43.919 even the electrician, they come in, they send, 00:02:44.199 --> 00:02:46.800 and then their foreman, they're supposed to inspect 00:02:46.800 --> 00:02:49.419 it. We still go behind them and do our own first 00:02:49.419 --> 00:02:51.759 party inspection on behalf of Trust Home Builders 00:02:51.759 --> 00:02:54.060 to confirm that we know what went right, how 00:02:54.060 --> 00:02:57.840 well it was done. And that's kind of daily. Yeah, 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:00.240 that's the threshold of do they want to get paid 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:04.180 and do we want to pay them? So if it's good work 00:03:04.180 --> 00:03:06.740 and it's what we agreed upon, then we're good. 00:03:06.780 --> 00:03:09.639 Let's go ahead and cut the check. and move on 00:03:09.639 --> 00:03:13.139 to the next stage. And also many times it's, 00:03:13.419 --> 00:03:15.319 can we send in the next stage? The installation 00:03:15.319 --> 00:03:19.020 company said they're done, they want to get paid, 00:03:19.219 --> 00:03:21.520 and the drywallers are right behind them. Usually 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:23.360 there's another inspection in between the installation 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:26.419 and the drywall in most jurisdictions. But let's 00:03:26.419 --> 00:03:28.240 say, all right, well, is it time to send the 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:30.900 drywallers in? Can we send the third party inspector 00:03:30.900 --> 00:03:32.580 in? Which I want to talk about a distinction 00:03:32.580 --> 00:03:34.599 between the third party and a special inspection. 00:03:34.780 --> 00:03:36.139 These are two different things, but they're both 00:03:36.139 --> 00:03:39.569 third party. So I love the idea of us, you know, 00:03:39.629 --> 00:03:42.110 Trust Home Builders being, you know, first party 00:03:42.110 --> 00:03:49.270 inspection. That's great. Yeah. Then I'm the 00:03:49.270 --> 00:03:53.969 buyer. Yeah, because I'm the one. Yeah. Right. 00:03:55.460 --> 00:03:58.560 Right, I'm still the owner, and I'm the one with 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:00.439 the purse strings, so I'm the first party and 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:02.379 the second party. But I agree with you, the GC 00:04:02.379 --> 00:04:03.780 and the project manager's kind of more of the 00:04:03.780 --> 00:04:05.319 first party, and I would come in as the second 00:04:05.319 --> 00:04:08.319 party inspector, you know, technically. And now 00:04:08.319 --> 00:04:11.180 if we have a buyer, then of course, throughout 00:04:11.180 --> 00:04:15.379 the course of the transaction slash build, they're 00:04:15.379 --> 00:04:17.379 gonna be in there and trying to micromanage us. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:20.079 It's a tale as old as time. They're always gonna 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:21.879 be in there trying to micromanage you as a builder, 00:04:21.939 --> 00:04:25.860 even though you're the expert. Yes, exactly. 00:04:26.439 --> 00:04:28.079 Unless it's your custom where they go to contract 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:31.139 and they're a slab or whatever, if they're far 00:04:31.139 --> 00:04:36.540 upstream. Yeah, we try to keep them kind of more 00:04:36.540 --> 00:04:39.639 downstream. And then also when we sell the house, 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:43.379 there is a second party buyer who's, are they 00:04:43.379 --> 00:04:44.680 going to purchase the home? And they're kind 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:46.639 of inspecting it when they view it with one of 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:50.980 our salespeople. So that's kind of... And then 00:04:50.980 --> 00:04:52.560 once it's in, they make sure that it's laid the 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:54.459 way they want it or that it isn't. Yeah, exactly. 00:04:54.579 --> 00:04:57.620 All of that stuff. Right, right. Yeah. Again, 00:04:57.879 --> 00:04:59.600 we don't always have a buyer when we start, but 00:04:59.600 --> 00:05:02.060 at some point, once they get looped in, then 00:05:02.060 --> 00:05:04.300 obviously they may have to pay as well. Right. 00:05:04.300 --> 00:05:08.279 In many cases, the buyer is a tougher, they're 00:05:08.279 --> 00:05:10.279 a tougher inspector because they have their own 00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:12.500 sense of what should and shouldn't be. And we 00:05:12.500 --> 00:05:14.980 know industry standards and we know what's in 00:05:14.980 --> 00:05:16.560 the contract and we know, I mean, we do our best 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:19.439 to try to meet people's expectations, but ultimately, 00:05:19.850 --> 00:05:21.629 They'll keep sending the food back to the kitchen 00:05:21.629 --> 00:05:24.050 if you let them. You have to at some point say, 00:05:24.829 --> 00:05:27.509 okay, these are industry standards. Okay, this 00:05:27.509 --> 00:05:31.009 is not a piano. This is a house that was built 00:05:31.009 --> 00:05:37.050 by hand with natural materials. Right? Right. 00:05:40.129 --> 00:05:48.480 They're not classically trained. They're necessarily 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:50.680 the most valued and they don't know industry 00:05:50.680 --> 00:05:52.519 standard and they don't know code compliance 00:05:52.519 --> 00:05:55.379 and they haven't been trained. So it's, you can 00:05:55.379 --> 00:05:57.759 take it with a grain of salt. As a builder, especially 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:01.180 most of our product luxury custom, not super 00:06:01.180 --> 00:06:04.360 $15 million luxury, but you know, 1 .8 to 2 .8, 00:06:04.500 --> 00:06:06.980 somewhere in that range. That's pretty custom, 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:08.759 you know, that's pretty pretty luxury in most 00:06:08.759 --> 00:06:11.300 markets. And we're talking four or five times 00:06:11.300 --> 00:06:13.879 the median sales price. Yeah. So and there's 00:06:13.879 --> 00:06:15.180 a certain expectation that comes along with that. 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:16.899 So even though industry standards might govern 00:06:16.899 --> 00:06:18.980 anywhere, anything from an apartment building 00:06:18.980 --> 00:06:21.519 to a 20 million dollar house, it kind of has 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:23.379 that gray area to say, well, what kind of builder 00:06:23.379 --> 00:06:25.779 do you want to be? So we always, you know, build 00:06:25.779 --> 00:06:27.920 above industry standards. So that being said, 00:06:27.939 --> 00:06:30.709 that kind of parlays us into the third party. 00:06:31.069 --> 00:06:33.250 So a third party inspector, I love the way you 00:06:33.250 --> 00:06:35.430 said that, they have no financial ties, they're 00:06:35.430 --> 00:06:37.470 not a principle of the contract between buyer 00:06:37.470 --> 00:06:39.149 and seller, builder, client, whatever. Third 00:06:39.149 --> 00:06:40.850 party is generally like a city jurisdiction, 00:06:41.250 --> 00:06:42.850 Department of Building and Safety, and they're 00:06:42.850 --> 00:06:47.290 kind of there to enforce and to prevent you from 00:06:47.290 --> 00:06:49.990 going on to the next step. So I mentioned briefly, 00:06:49.990 --> 00:06:52.750 you know, a minute ago that they will come by 00:06:52.750 --> 00:06:54.589 and look at the installation. before they let 00:06:54.589 --> 00:06:57.250 us drywall. You get permission to drywall at 00:06:57.250 --> 00:06:59.350 certain steps. You get permission to wrap, meaning 00:06:59.350 --> 00:07:02.750 wrap the house on the outside. Permission to 00:07:02.750 --> 00:07:05.790 pour, permission to insulate, that is one of 00:07:05.790 --> 00:07:07.730 them. So there's quite a few thresholds throughout 00:07:07.730 --> 00:07:10.170 the, I would say in general, the Department of 00:07:10.170 --> 00:07:12.949 Building Safety will come to our sites. If we 00:07:12.949 --> 00:07:15.149 don't have a pool also going in concurrently, 00:07:15.209 --> 00:07:17.740 probably come to our sites around... around 15 00:07:17.740 --> 00:07:19.620 times if we were to pass every single inspection, 00:07:20.079 --> 00:07:21.819 you know, on the first try. There's roughly about 00:07:21.819 --> 00:07:24.480 15 if you count the final certificate of occupancy 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:27.100 inspection. There's some QA that the city sends 00:07:27.100 --> 00:07:29.240 where they're checking for things like addresses, 00:07:29.500 --> 00:07:31.139 or the address is the same. That's not a building 00:07:31.139 --> 00:07:33.459 inspector, that's QA. A lot of times it's a third 00:07:33.459 --> 00:07:36.060 party company that's been hired. Some of these 00:07:36.060 --> 00:07:38.379 are, as you can imagine, as I'm listing them 00:07:38.379 --> 00:07:40.459 off, cash grabs, right? I mean, they really are. 00:07:40.500 --> 00:07:43.160 Some of them are just... okay well this that 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:45.019 keeps a qa company in business because they have 00:07:45.019 --> 00:07:47.399 to check every single rooftop are the addresses 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:49.699 right is the driveway in is the pitch of the 00:07:49.699 --> 00:07:52.579 driveway those types of things gate returns so 00:07:52.579 --> 00:07:56.079 third party is there to enforce code and building 00:07:56.079 --> 00:07:58.360 standards kind of that are concurrent with where 00:07:58.360 --> 00:08:01.160 the state is but generally they're looking at 00:08:01.160 --> 00:08:03.000 what are the codes that the city follows so if 00:08:03.000 --> 00:08:05.560 they follow international residential code 2021 00:08:05.560 --> 00:08:08.879 and what's on the plans They're checking for 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:11.600 that. Go farther upstream. The plan checker is 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:14.000 checking all of your architectures and engineering 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:16.180 to make sure you're compliant with zoning, make 00:08:16.180 --> 00:08:18.699 sure that you're following and calling out for 00:08:18.699 --> 00:08:20.959 international building code standards or the 00:08:20.959 --> 00:08:22.939 city building overlays. We talked about how many 00:08:22.939 --> 00:08:25.779 pages of code in an earlier episode of staggering 00:08:25.779 --> 00:08:28.220 them on a code. So the plan checker is checking 00:08:28.220 --> 00:08:30.699 those things to make sure that you're going to 00:08:30.699 --> 00:08:33.360 build a decode so that when they fail you in 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:35.440 the field, you can't say, well, you approve these 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:37.039 plans and they're letting me build up for these 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:39.830 plans. they're preventing that because then technically 00:08:39.830 --> 00:08:42.470 the city can't enforce you if they've stamped 00:08:42.470 --> 00:08:44.210 the plans and said yeah these are good to build 00:08:44.210 --> 00:08:47.610 off of and you follow those plans you're pretty 00:08:47.610 --> 00:08:50.350 much good to go right so there's a lot that falls 00:08:50.350 --> 00:08:52.149 on the plan checker now if it came down to something 00:08:52.149 --> 00:08:54.070 about safety or whatever they're going to of 00:08:54.070 --> 00:08:56.230 course say this is obvious you know an obvious 00:08:56.230 --> 00:08:58.789 oversight by the plan checker or everything else 00:08:58.789 --> 00:09:00.830 i mean it's pretty much we build to the plans 00:09:00.830 --> 00:09:02.830 there's not much you can say so when if we don't 00:09:02.830 --> 00:09:06.529 pass an inspection it's either a really particular 00:09:07.350 --> 00:09:09.909 building inspector like oh your seismic tie downs 00:09:09.909 --> 00:09:11.990 are every 18 inches and they're supposed to be 00:09:11.990 --> 00:09:14.169 over 16 inches or whatever on this particular 00:09:14.169 --> 00:09:17.129 wall or your sheer wall has to have supposed 00:09:17.129 --> 00:09:19.549 to have you know sheeting to this point and you 00:09:19.549 --> 00:09:23.190 stopped it here so he's kind of number one checking 00:09:23.190 --> 00:09:25.289 what's being called out on the plans and number 00:09:25.289 --> 00:09:27.289 two also just using his own cognitive ability 00:09:27.289 --> 00:09:28.870 and you're not going to fight with him even if 00:09:28.870 --> 00:09:30.450 it wasn't called out of the plans because you're 00:09:30.450 --> 00:09:34.539 not going to win that fight. a retro Tidon seismic 00:09:34.539 --> 00:09:37.200 strap tied on right here, then you're gonna go 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:39.700 ahead and do it, right? So that's the biggest 00:09:39.700 --> 00:09:42.320 thorn in my side, those third party inspections. 00:09:42.919 --> 00:09:44.820 Then there's something called a special inspection, 00:09:44.919 --> 00:09:47.340 which is also a third party. So you'll retain 00:09:47.340 --> 00:09:50.419 a third party company because either the structural 00:09:50.419 --> 00:09:53.320 engineer, the civil engineer, the department 00:09:53.320 --> 00:09:56.559 of building and safety at plan check called out 00:09:56.559 --> 00:09:59.200 a special inspector. So they're saying you're 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:02.669 moving too much earth. to adequately compact 00:10:02.669 --> 00:10:04.970 this. We don't trust you to compact it. So we 00:10:04.970 --> 00:10:07.570 want you to retain a third -party company to 00:10:07.570 --> 00:10:09.549 test the compaction. Let's say you're going to 00:10:09.549 --> 00:10:12.350 add five feet of compaction. We want to test 00:10:12.350 --> 00:10:15.090 it every foot. So every time you do it and compact 00:10:15.090 --> 00:10:17.690 it, we have to come out and you just have to, 00:10:17.710 --> 00:10:20.009 let's say it's Southwest Geo or whoever geotech, 00:10:20.090 --> 00:10:21.470 they're going to come out and they're going to 00:10:21.470 --> 00:10:24.129 have that on file to say, we checked it. We checked 00:10:24.129 --> 00:10:25.950 lift one, lift two, lift three, lift four, lift 00:10:25.950 --> 00:10:28.590 five. And they were all good. They were all compacted. 00:10:28.669 --> 00:10:30.450 And then that kind of takes its way into the 00:10:30.450 --> 00:10:32.830 file for the perm. They're not on site the whole 00:10:32.830 --> 00:10:36.049 time. They come in between. So we work for the 00:10:36.049 --> 00:10:37.570 day, they come, they check, or we work for the 00:10:37.570 --> 00:10:39.370 week, whatever it is. Yeah, whatever it takes 00:10:39.370 --> 00:10:41.909 to your next threshold. There are some special 00:10:41.909 --> 00:10:45.110 inspections that they will watch you do it. Something 00:10:45.110 --> 00:10:49.029 that's really kind of really intense. Maybe if 00:10:49.029 --> 00:10:52.149 it's some sort of... Usually it would be probably 00:10:52.149 --> 00:10:54.289 with grading compaction. That's what I can think 00:10:54.289 --> 00:10:55.940 of most where they might... You might have to 00:10:55.940 --> 00:10:58.120 hire an engineer to watch you. You know what's 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:01.220 a good example? Screening. Screening fill. So 00:11:01.220 --> 00:11:03.159 if you have a bunch of native soil, they're going 00:11:03.159 --> 00:11:05.820 to want to watch you screen that fill through 00:11:05.820 --> 00:11:08.220 those little filter looking things, a big metal, 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:10.759 yep. They're going to want to watch you screen 00:11:10.759 --> 00:11:14.000 out all the spoils. So there's certain things 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:17.120 where you might have to have that. We have a 00:11:17.120 --> 00:11:19.860 utility issue at Serene where the utility's kind 00:11:19.860 --> 00:11:22.600 of intersected. We have to pay... for a special 00:11:22.600 --> 00:11:24.980 inspector to watch them do the six hours worth 00:11:24.980 --> 00:11:27.139 of work connecting the sewer because they have 00:11:27.139 --> 00:11:29.679 to make sure they get to turn the water off in 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:31.259 the middle of the night. The crew has to work 00:11:31.259 --> 00:11:35.509 from midnight to six a .m. we have to pay the 00:11:35.509 --> 00:11:37.629 special inspector to be there during that time 00:11:37.629 --> 00:11:39.990 to watch them do it and to sign off on it in 00:11:39.990 --> 00:11:41.610 real time because we have to turn off water to 00:11:41.610 --> 00:11:43.570 the street. So we're gonna do it at midnight 00:11:43.570 --> 00:11:46.250 and turn it off, do the valves, make sure all 00:11:46.250 --> 00:11:47.610 the valves, make sure all the joints are good 00:11:47.610 --> 00:11:50.370 because this is controlling the entire street. 00:11:50.450 --> 00:11:53.289 So if we mess up, if our vendor messes up, the 00:11:53.289 --> 00:11:55.809 whole street loses water and for who knows how 00:11:55.809 --> 00:11:57.250 long because they gotta turn it off. Now you 00:11:57.250 --> 00:11:59.419 gotta troubleshoot it, find where it is. Because 00:11:59.419 --> 00:12:01.000 in 10 years, I'm not going to remember that we 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:02.899 did that little elbow. There's a lot of other 00:12:02.899 --> 00:12:05.039 elbows maybe in the area. So they're going to 00:12:05.039 --> 00:12:07.159 have to know that it was done 100 % correct. 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:13.980 We do. Yeah, we do usually give them like a 48 00:12:13.980 --> 00:12:16.399 -hour notice of a little postcard mailer. I think 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:18.820 we have to mail it and post it on their house. 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:24.059 So we're already so popular in that area, so 00:12:24.059 --> 00:12:25.559 I'm sure they're going to love us after that. 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:42.299 I hope so, until then. They do, we're always 00:12:42.299 --> 00:12:45.639 the bad guy. So those are good examples. Yeah, 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:48.279 so let's say for instance that was a condition 00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:50.659 of our building permit. Let's say that we have 00:12:50.659 --> 00:12:53.320 a large home in South Shore that has spans that 00:12:53.320 --> 00:12:55.940 are so great that the structural engineer called 00:12:55.940 --> 00:12:58.799 out structural steel. So we have a massive four 00:12:58.799 --> 00:13:02.120 by four steel pylon that is anchored into the 00:13:02.120 --> 00:13:05.659 foundation. It goes 24 inches to earth, basically 00:13:05.659 --> 00:13:07.820 to bedrock, because we've compacted it to more 00:13:07.820 --> 00:13:10.320 or less bedrock. So it compacts it and it sits 00:13:10.320 --> 00:13:12.639 down there in a template and it's bolted down 00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:14.940 like it would be in a high rise. So it's pretty 00:13:14.940 --> 00:13:17.740 crazy. That requires obviously special inspections 00:13:17.740 --> 00:13:20.820 or a call out for the steel. So that's really... 00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:23.759 kind of the majority of where you'll see those 00:13:23.759 --> 00:13:26.639 third party, it's almost always something structural, 00:13:27.620 --> 00:13:28.940 right? Where they're gonna want some sort of 00:13:28.940 --> 00:13:31.919 sign off. And then another special that you're 00:13:31.919 --> 00:13:33.820 always gonna have would be your pad certs. So 00:13:33.820 --> 00:13:36.590 your pad... elevation and compaction. So did 00:13:36.590 --> 00:13:38.090 we put it where we said we were going to put 00:13:38.090 --> 00:13:40.590 it? They come out and we call it shoot our elevations. 00:13:40.950 --> 00:13:44.370 They shoot it to say it had to be 2 ,663 feet 00:13:44.370 --> 00:13:47.470 above sea level. It's 2 ,363 feet above sea level. 00:13:47.509 --> 00:13:49.649 They're good to pour. So that's one of the things. 00:13:49.870 --> 00:13:52.450 So the third party inspector, I call special 00:13:52.450 --> 00:13:53.830 inspections third parties, but you're right. 00:13:54.049 --> 00:13:55.750 Jurisdictional inspections are third party inspections. 00:13:55.870 --> 00:14:00.409 So the special inspector will shoot the pad for 00:14:00.409 --> 00:14:03.580 pad elevations. the city inspector will be checking 00:14:03.580 --> 00:14:06.940 rebar, will be checking footer depths, will be 00:14:06.940 --> 00:14:09.779 checking rough plumbing to make sure all the 00:14:09.779 --> 00:14:11.340 plumbing that runs through the slab is done correctly, 00:14:11.980 --> 00:14:14.440 and then you get permission to pour. So that's 00:14:14.440 --> 00:14:17.539 a great example of a special inspector and a 00:14:17.539 --> 00:14:19.679 jurisdictional inspector coming together, and 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:22.419 those two nuclear keys need to turn before you 00:14:22.419 --> 00:14:26.309 can pour the slab. And then, you know, Beyond 00:14:26.309 --> 00:14:28.769 the build process we'll have sometimes special 00:14:28.769 --> 00:14:32.070 inspectors like special inspections for energy 00:14:32.070 --> 00:14:36.169 star Air air tightness. So like duct blower, 00:14:36.350 --> 00:14:38.009 so they'll kind of mask everything off and make 00:14:38.009 --> 00:14:41.370 sure that Not too much air is escaping the house 00:14:41.370 --> 00:14:44.070 So are there holes in the duct work in the attic? 00:14:44.669 --> 00:14:46.929 Are the sliding glass door sealed or the windows 00:14:46.929 --> 00:14:49.029 sealed and that's called a duct blower test and 00:14:49.029 --> 00:14:51.769 that's also a third party special inspection 00:14:51.769 --> 00:14:56.740 that required It's a it's a third party company. 00:14:56.740 --> 00:14:59.080 Yeah, it's part of the Department of you know, 00:14:59.139 --> 00:15:04.500 there's a lot of energy What? No, there's a lot 00:15:04.500 --> 00:15:07.500 of energy codes. So it's just part of that, you 00:15:07.500 --> 00:15:09.580 know Yeah, somebody maybe Department of Energy 00:15:09.580 --> 00:15:12.779 lobbied the state the city to mandate duct blower 00:15:12.779 --> 00:15:15.120 test But ultimately it's a city code that you 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:17.039 have to pass a duct blower test before you can 00:15:17.039 --> 00:15:18.840 get a certificate of occupancy To make sure the 00:15:18.840 --> 00:15:22.139 house is tight enough And now houses are so tight, 00:15:22.259 --> 00:15:24.580 they have exhaust fans running in the laundry 00:15:24.580 --> 00:15:27.659 rooms to get some sort of air movement because 00:15:27.659 --> 00:15:29.320 they're so tight now. If you were to, God forbid, 00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:31.399 have a gas leak or something, it will fill up 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:34.259 quickly because the house is hermetically sealed, 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:37.620 right? So there's - And the attic has no ventilation 00:15:37.620 --> 00:15:41.139 in the attic. They've cut a lot of that out in 00:15:41.139 --> 00:15:43.740 New Zealand. Which is a great, I mean, you've 00:15:43.740 --> 00:15:47.299 got less exchange of controlled air versus extra 00:15:47.299 --> 00:15:55.350 air, but at the same time, you're - It can be 00:15:55.350 --> 00:15:58.149 and an anecdotal story is I just happened to 00:15:58.149 --> 00:16:00.750 decide to have my whole HVAC system replaced 00:16:00.750 --> 00:16:03.730 in my house in the winter because I didn't want 00:16:03.730 --> 00:16:05.990 to be part of the spring and summer rush with 00:16:05.990 --> 00:16:08.710 the HVAC companies and when he was up there I 00:16:08.710 --> 00:16:11.429 had natural gas leaking from my furnace into 00:16:11.429 --> 00:16:14.210 my attic. Now my house is built 2004 I didn't 00:16:14.210 --> 00:16:18.559 build it. So the attic is is seepy. It's loose, 00:16:18.620 --> 00:16:21.100 right? So is able to that natural gas is able 00:16:21.100 --> 00:16:24.460 to kind of escape But if that were a cocoon insulation, 00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:27.659 I don't know it would have Because drywall and 00:16:27.659 --> 00:16:30.779 insulation is not gas resistant, right? It's 00:16:30.779 --> 00:16:32.899 heat resistant. So gas can seep through those 00:16:32.899 --> 00:16:35.059 areas. I mean, it would take a lot, but you'd 00:16:35.059 --> 00:16:37.159 have to fill the volume of the attic. But it 00:16:37.159 --> 00:16:40.460 was kind of alarming because I was about three 00:16:40.460 --> 00:16:43.059 weeks into the heating season, right? So my furnace 00:16:43.059 --> 00:16:44.879 had been running for about three weeks. Usually 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:47.039 in Las Vegas, it only kind of kicks on at night. 00:16:47.779 --> 00:16:49.960 But it was a little scary. Yeah, like, oh, OK. 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:52.320 Carbon monoxide detector might have picked it 00:16:52.320 --> 00:16:53.860 up, though. It would, and I would probably smell 00:16:53.860 --> 00:16:56.519 the natural gas. but what if i weren't home what 00:16:56.519 --> 00:17:00.500 if yeah i mean it's just not so slow you know 00:17:00.500 --> 00:17:02.360 kind of the frog in boiling water right if it's 00:17:02.360 --> 00:17:05.660 exactly you're just you know taking it in because 00:17:05.660 --> 00:17:09.400 it's you know slow see right exactly just nose 00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:11.220 blind to it or something yeah it's just yeah 00:17:11.220 --> 00:17:14.019 so just interesting how important this kind of 00:17:14.019 --> 00:17:17.579 stuff is but um and it's when it's control too 00:17:17.579 --> 00:17:21.200 so For instance, I just did an inspection and 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:24.740 they found that the vent fan out of the laundry 00:17:24.740 --> 00:17:28.680 room wasn't connected to the exterior port. So, 00:17:28.839 --> 00:17:30.660 whenever that home was built, it's a resale. 00:17:31.099 --> 00:17:32.660 So, whenever it was built years ago, the builder 00:17:32.660 --> 00:17:34.460 just didn't ever connect that. Well, we live 00:17:34.460 --> 00:17:37.099 in Las Vegas. There's never been a condensation 00:17:37.099 --> 00:17:39.940 issue. It's plenty warm. Everything evaporates. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:42.799 But, you take that so home, they save conditions 00:17:42.799 --> 00:17:45.640 to, you know, East Coast where it's way out. 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:48.839 It is moist, it is humid, and there isn't any 00:17:48.839 --> 00:17:52.140 escape for that. It's a really hard time, a condition 00:17:52.140 --> 00:17:57.000 that could be created. Right, it is, yeah. In 00:17:57.000 --> 00:18:00.039 some ways it's forgiving, right? Because, right, 00:18:00.500 --> 00:18:03.440 in other ways not, right? So we don't really 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:05.319 have to worry about moisture here because it's 00:18:05.319 --> 00:18:07.519 so forgiving. It dries out even if there is something. 00:18:08.140 --> 00:18:10.200 Florida, different story. I mean, given enough 00:18:10.200 --> 00:18:13.230 time, I'm sure every house has mold, right? So, 00:18:13.329 --> 00:18:14.990 yeah, these things are important. There's just 00:18:14.990 --> 00:18:17.549 a good anecdotal thing to say, you know, there's 00:18:17.549 --> 00:18:19.630 sometimes a downside to having everything so 00:18:19.630 --> 00:18:23.890 tight and sealed off, so. So those are our main 00:18:23.890 --> 00:18:27.829 special inspections. We don't, we don't do Energy 00:18:27.829 --> 00:18:31.650 Star at, you know, in our company. That's not 00:18:31.650 --> 00:18:34.769 something that I value. I know we build a tight 00:18:34.769 --> 00:18:37.490 home. We do great insulation. We do great duct 00:18:37.490 --> 00:18:41.549 work. We do Sear 16 HVAC, and our windows are 00:18:41.549 --> 00:18:43.769 low -E, and I don't need Energy Star to come 00:18:43.769 --> 00:18:45.890 in and say, yeah, you did everything right for 00:18:45.890 --> 00:18:49.029 another fee. And it's something that the Energy 00:18:49.029 --> 00:18:51.890 Star looks really good on a production builder's 00:18:51.890 --> 00:18:53.950 model home, right? But we don't have, that's 00:18:53.950 --> 00:18:57.490 not gonna give our homes any more value to tell 00:18:57.490 --> 00:18:58.970 us that we built a great home when we already 00:18:58.970 --> 00:19:01.509 know we built a good home, so. But that's another 00:19:01.509 --> 00:19:10.549 example. Almost everywhere, yeah, exactly. It's 00:19:10.549 --> 00:19:33.579 kind of, it is. Right Right It is they're not 00:19:33.579 --> 00:19:37.299 doing anything special really Right 20 years 00:19:37.299 --> 00:19:39.619 ago 10 years ago even that would have mattered 00:19:39.619 --> 00:19:41.099 more and that's why you're seeing a lot of builders 00:19:41.099 --> 00:19:43.380 dropping the Energy Star and the LEED certification 00:19:43.380 --> 00:19:46.539 because Codes have gotten so robust that it's 00:19:46.539 --> 00:19:49.980 no longer market driven, and it's no longer individual 00:19:49.980 --> 00:19:52.299 builders saying, this is our edge, this is our 00:19:52.299 --> 00:19:54.920 competitive advantage. They're just, they have 00:19:54.920 --> 00:19:57.119 to do it. It's part of code. And now there's 00:19:57.119 --> 00:19:58.980 third party inspectors anyway. If you have a 00:19:58.980 --> 00:20:01.420 duck blower test, that's basically all Energy 00:20:01.420 --> 00:20:04.720 Star did anyway. They looked at your specs, right? 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:07.940 So your model could be Energy Star on spec, and 00:20:07.940 --> 00:20:09.299 as long as you build to those specs, and then 00:20:09.299 --> 00:20:12.539 they came in and tested for the air seepage, 00:20:12.700 --> 00:20:16.430 and that was it. It was quite a racket, and it 00:20:16.430 --> 00:20:18.809 mattered 10 years ago, 15 years ago, even 20 00:20:18.809 --> 00:20:21.450 years ago, so. And I think it matters less to 00:20:21.450 --> 00:20:24.289 buyers. Yes. I think buyers understand that it 00:20:24.289 --> 00:20:27.809 doesn't really change their energy bill at the 00:20:27.809 --> 00:20:29.630 end of the month. No, it doesn't, and it's assumed 00:20:29.630 --> 00:20:30.950 that when you're buying new construction, you're 00:20:30.950 --> 00:20:34.970 getting it anyway, so. Yeah, other than that, 00:20:35.109 --> 00:20:40.339 that's pretty much it for third party. I... personally 00:20:40.339 --> 00:20:42.720 like having third -party inspectors, because 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:47.039 as a builder, it does shift liability. Not that 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:49.259 I'm trying to skirt liability, but it is nice 00:20:49.259 --> 00:20:51.660 to know that, okay, well, I don't have to make 00:20:51.660 --> 00:20:53.420 sure my vendor, I mean, obviously we would, but 00:20:53.420 --> 00:20:55.299 I don't have any way of testing compaction. I 00:20:55.299 --> 00:20:58.819 don't have a lab. I have all the documentation 00:20:58.819 --> 00:21:00.819 to say, here's our past inspection, you know, 00:21:00.940 --> 00:21:04.240 past, past, past, past, and that's now on Southwest 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:07.930 Geotech, or whoever did it, right? Whoever did 00:21:07.930 --> 00:21:09.789 your structural steel inspections or whatever 00:21:09.789 --> 00:21:13.869 so And honestly, I mean even a little deeper 00:21:13.869 --> 00:21:15.950 than just the liability because obviously that's 00:21:15.950 --> 00:21:17.890 a big piece of it But just the second set of 00:21:17.890 --> 00:21:21.630 eyes. Yeah, do we do something? Simple where 00:21:21.630 --> 00:21:23.569 where you've looked at it for so long. You just 00:21:23.569 --> 00:21:28.049 can't see it anymore. And then Hey, did you mean 00:21:28.049 --> 00:21:37.750 to spell that this yeah, exactly It's just verifying 00:21:37.750 --> 00:21:40.269 that not that anybody's being sloppy or careless, 00:21:40.849 --> 00:21:43.690 but we're all human, and when it's built by human 00:21:43.690 --> 00:21:46.210 hands in a human environment with other external 00:21:46.210 --> 00:21:48.869 things, the weather, the time. Distractions, 00:21:49.109 --> 00:21:53.230 yeah, right. It's always good to have another 00:21:53.230 --> 00:21:55.829 set of checks. Yeah, I agree. Overall, I like 00:21:55.829 --> 00:21:59.309 it. The third party, I mean the special inspections, 00:21:59.630 --> 00:22:01.690 you're pushing off all the liability. The city. 00:22:02.039 --> 00:22:04.319 You don't really get to push off a ton of liability 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:06.359 unless it was something really gross negligence. 00:22:06.740 --> 00:22:09.519 But it's kind of nice if we have a dispute. I 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:11.579 don't like to say that we do, but we have them 00:22:11.579 --> 00:22:14.279 with our home buyers and our homeowners every 00:22:14.279 --> 00:22:16.559 now and then because people have different expectations. 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:20.579 We can lean on and say, look. city inspectors 00:22:20.579 --> 00:22:23.960 were in here 15 times they said it was okay you 00:22:23.960 --> 00:22:26.059 saw it when you bought the home you said it was 00:22:26.059 --> 00:22:29.559 okay uh the engineer said it was okay we have 00:22:29.559 --> 00:22:33.599 a home uh from a few months ago where he's insistent 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:38.039 that the hva system system is not correct and 00:22:38.039 --> 00:22:39.839 multiple people have been in there and said okay 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:42.180 well the engineer designed it this way the builder 00:22:42.180 --> 00:22:46.730 built it this way the third party inspector signed 00:22:46.730 --> 00:22:51.009 off on everything. Everything's right. And it's 00:22:51.009 --> 00:22:54.230 built to industry standards. So unfortunately, 00:22:54.230 --> 00:22:57.049 I'm not buying you a new HVAC. I'm not re -engineering 00:22:57.049 --> 00:23:02.910 your HVAC system because... Exactly. That's right. 00:23:03.849 --> 00:23:08.230 Exactly. So I like having that. It's kind of 00:23:08.230 --> 00:23:10.650 nice to say, look, I don't fly by the seat of 00:23:10.650 --> 00:23:13.960 my ass here. I... follow plans and I lean on 00:23:13.960 --> 00:23:16.200 engineers, I lean on Department of Building and 00:23:16.200 --> 00:23:18.519 Safety, I lean on our special inspectors, I lean 00:23:18.519 --> 00:23:20.640 on those things and the professions and trades 00:23:20.640 --> 00:23:22.680 themselves. You know, they are professionals 00:23:22.680 --> 00:23:25.200 and I lean on those guys as well. So there's 00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:27.119 very little when they say, is that a good builder? 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:30.000 It's really built by an amalgamation of a lot 00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:31.819 of people and then checked by other people and 00:23:31.819 --> 00:23:34.700 then signed off, right? So it's kind of, kind 00:23:34.700 --> 00:23:37.599 of, you know, hard to label what makes you a 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:41.839 good builder, but so. I think that's all I have 00:23:41.839 --> 00:23:43.839 for you for special inspections and third -party 00:23:43.839 --> 00:24:34.000 inspections. Right. Any general home inspector 00:24:34.000 --> 00:24:43.869 that sees seven houses a day. That'd be a good 00:24:43.869 --> 00:24:47.029 thing to maybe put up on the screen. You could 00:24:47.029 --> 00:24:50.670 clip in a PDF of that inspection matrix. It'd 00:24:50.670 --> 00:24:52.849 be cool for people to see that, oh, this is at 00:24:52.849 --> 00:24:55.549 least what we do when we're verifying everything. 00:24:58.889 --> 00:25:01.869 yeah and it's on our website so if you ever wanted 00:25:01.869 --> 00:25:03.849 to know that it's one of the references on our 00:25:03.849 --> 00:25:06.509 website if you go to the bottom under the resource 00:25:06.509 --> 00:25:08.529 tab you can go there and look at that and it's 00:25:08.529 --> 00:25:10.769 got you know a place for us as a team to fill 00:25:10.769 --> 00:25:12.690 in which inspection was done on which station 00:25:12.690 --> 00:25:14.869 so as we get to the end of that homeowner can 00:25:14.869 --> 00:25:18.430 now see back and know what we did over time and 00:25:18.430 --> 00:25:21.930 the journey of their home specifically good all 00:25:21.930 --> 00:25:24.490 right well thank you we appreciate your insights 00:25:24.490 --> 00:25:28.930 and thank you of course Hope you learned something 00:25:28.930 --> 00:25:31.170 and we will look forward to seeing you next time 00:25:31.170 --> 00:25:32.109 on trust the process