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Originally Posted by The_Jazz
Unless you're a contractor or a certified inspector, this is probably a waste of time. You most likely won't know what to look for. For instance, do you know what a properly constructed joint should look like? What is the proper rise and run numbers for the HVAC plumbing? If the slab has pretension cables, what is the proper load and what did the contractor actually use? The local building inspector will be paying lots of visits to the site, and they should catch most of the major mistakes.
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But those aren't the kind of things you're looking for. Yes, leave the construction requirements to the building inspector. You're looking for stuff like the flooring installer saying "oops, cut that vinyl floor in the wrong place. Aww fuckit, run the seam across the middle of the floor in the traffic pattern even though that means in 2 years it'll be peeling up." You're looking for crooked outlets, crooked moulding, bad paint jobs, creaky floors, off-centered fixtures, fixtures that you ordered but that have been replaced by something cheaper, the wrong color/style of material being used, etc. The building inspector isn't gonna know that you ordered fancy Kohler faucets but the plumber got a deal on Deltas and pocketed the extra money.
And if you fail to catch this stuff before closing, you're pretty much out of luck.
As for the builder being your neighbor. . .that really doesn't have a whole lot of bearing on the quality of the build. If he's a good builder who uses good subs, it's gonna be a good house no matter where he lives. If he's a crappy builder who uses bad subs, he's not generally gonna be able to suddenly turn out award-winning construction just because you're his neighbor.