Are you concerned that the builder you have, or possibly one of his subcontractors is taking short cuts? It happens more times than you know. Most of the southern United States does not require a license to be a contractor or to operate as a tradesman. The only defense is knowledge.

Many areas have no building inspection requirements. Many ruthless contractors work in these areas specifically because they know there is no building code enforcement. Do you know if your future home is in an area with no protection from one of these people? Are you willing to take a little time to help protect your family from a failure caused by simple oversights, mistakes or just plain laziness?

These are items covered in You and Your New Home:

• Site work and utilities
• Plumbing ground work
• Foundation
• Framing
• Electrical rough-in
• Plumbing top-out
• Mechanical rough-in (duct)
• Drywall and fire protection
• Final inspections
• Energy Conservation

I don't cover the following items in this book:

• Your contract between you and your builder. This is a legal issue and should be treated as such.
• Any permitting information.
• Designing your home. There are minimum requirements for designing homes which are so small that it is difficult to mess this up. You need to be happy with your lay out, if you need help with this, an architect would be a better source than me.
• Choosing your lot. I have a couple of tips in the section about site work. Other than that, well, there are too many things to cover. An architect may help you here if you need it. I think you probably have your place already if you have bought this book.
• Basements. This subject would take an entire book by itself. There are a lot of them out there.
• Swimming Pools
• Decks and Porches
• Cabinets and trim. These are not structural and vary to an infinite degree.

When building contractors make mistakes or overlook flaws, you need to be able to recognize them. This book will help you do just that!

If “You and Your New Home” prevents just one mistake from occurring, you have more than paid for the book. It is possible that catching a common mistake could prevent a serious injury from occurring in your home.

If you are a building inspector, check out this FREE STUFF.