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Originally Posted by shakran
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crooked moulding, bad paint jobs, creaky floors, off-centered fixtures, fixtures that you ordered but that have been replaced by something cheaper, the wrong color/style of material being used, etc.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.
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All of this is stuff that should be picked up in the final walk-through(s). When we built our house, we were there 6 or 7 times in the weeks before closing. Your home inspector (pretty much required by any lendor) is going to pick up anything that you missed. Your original note would have Felicity over there every day during the construction process with no prior training or knowledge of what's right and wrong. What you're describing above are minor issues and easily fixed. Most flooring contractors are going to make sure that they don't run a seam down the middle of a linoleum floor because they're going to know that they'll just have to do it again. The entire point of both of my posts was to help everyone avoid true construction defects and major problems that can directly affect the resale value of the home.
You don't necessarily need a list of the subcontractors since it's the GC's job to arrange for them to be there at the right time with the right qualifications. Again, you need to make sure that the GC is protecting you by requiring that his subs have the right insurance coverage, because if they aren't carrying Workers Comp coverage and get injured on the job site, they can file suit against the GC and you for not providing a safe place to work. And I can just about guarantee you that if the guy is hurt enough, you will end up paying. Like it or not, it's the way the world works. Just make sure that you have your lawyer go through the contract before you sign it, and make sure that whatever version you sign has the corrections included.
Personally, building our house was a gigantic pain in the ass for me, but that's because I really didn't care which shade of white the ceiling in the upstairs guest room was going to be or whether the spindles in the stair rail were beaten iron or wood. Once we got the basic layout done with all the outlets and phone jacks noted, I was ready to be done. Unfortunately, my wife let me off easy for our wedding and she wasn't about to make that "mistake" again, so I had to suffer through paint swatches, door knobs, fixtures and ceiling fans. If you asked her, though, it was a fantastic experience. For me, it was non-revenue generating stress.