New construction in Michigan typically comes with a builder’s warranty covering the first twelve months. It is a real piece of protection, and it is also the easiest one in the world to let lapse, because nothing arrives in the post to remind you that it is about to.
New construction
An 11-month builder’s warranty inspection exists to put a written, photographed list in your hands while that warranty still applies.
The inspection itself takes a few hours. Everything after it does not. You need the report, time to read it, time to put a claim together, and then the builder needs time to respond — and all of that has to happen inside the warranty term, not after it.
Booking at eleven months leaves roughly a month of margin. Booking at twelve leaves none, and a claim submitted the week after the term ends is a conversation about goodwill rather than a warranty claim.
A new house moves. Framing dries out, foundations settle, caulk and grout shrink, and everything gets used for the first time. Much of what an 11-month inspection finds had simply not happened yet on the day you closed.
A Michigan winter and a Michigan summer both pass inside that first year, which is what puts the heating and cooling through their full range and shows whether they actually reach every room.
It is a full inspection of the house you already live in, carried out to the InterNACHI Standards of Practice: roof, flashing, gutters and downspouts; grading and drainage; foundation, framing and visible structure; attic insulation and ventilation; heating, cooling and the balance between rooms; electrical service, panel and protective devices; plumbing supply, drainage and water heater; windows, doors, trim and interior finishes; and built-in appliances and safety items.
The same standard we would apply to a resale home. What changes is the purpose of the report.
A written report with photographs, delivered within 24 hours, with each item described plainly enough that somebody who was not there can find it and act on it. That matters more than it sounds: a list that says “crack in basement” invites a debate, and one that locates the crack, shows it and describes it does not.
What your builder is obliged to repair is set by your warranty document, and those vary. Our part is to make sure nothing is missing from the list you bring them, and that every item on it is specific.
It is still worth having, and it is still worth reading your warranty first. Structural coverage often runs considerably longer than the general first-year term, and some items may sit under a manufacturer’s warranty rather than the builder’s. An inspection after the fact tells you the condition of the house either way.
It is the same standard and largely the same scope, but a year apart and for a different purpose. The pre-closing inspection informs your purchase. The 11-month inspection produces a documented list to bring your builder while the warranty still applies.
A builder walkthrough is the builder assessing their own work. This is an independent inspection carried out on your behalf, following a published standard, producing a report you own. They are complementary, not interchangeable.
Most homes take a few hours depending on size. You are welcome to be there and it is usually worth it — things are easier to understand in front of you than in writing — but it is not required, and the report stands on its own either way.
Yes. Radon testing and mold inspection and testing can be added to the same visit rather than booked as a second appointment.
The warranty is the deadline, not the inspection. Month eleven is simply the last point at which finding something and doing something about it are still the same conversation.
Scheduling is easy, and we are here to help.
