When purchasing and building a new home, buyers usually concentrate on the items that will directly affect their lifestyle. Typically, location, floor plan, style, colors, structural additions and budgeting will supersede any other considerations and justifiably so. We live, grow, develop, and create memories in our homes and it is no surprise that most home buying decisions are still made on emotional proclivities.
In the next few months, you will start seeing the Home Guarding Certified Inspection Pogram logo on builder’s collateral pieces, and it is imperative we talk about things that are perhaps a little less lifestyle focused but deal with an essential and somewhat assumed construction feature. It is what engineers love to talk about: structural integrity.
With the recent sunsetting (September 1st, 2009) of the Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC), we have to take a step back, educate ourselves as to what they did, how they did it, how its discontinuation will affect businesses and clients alike, and if anyone out there is doing anything to replace it.
Home shoppers and builders would rest assured that the TRCC would protect their interests by setting forth building, warranty, inspection and conflict resolution guidelines and procedures. What does this mean?
- Clients were protected by ensuring newly built or remodeled homes met these standards
- Homebuilders had clear and concise building, inspection and warranty expectations
- Both parties were represented fairly in case of a dispute through 3rd party inspections and arbitration
So beginning September 1st, 2009, the TRCC will no longer enforce these guidelines. This presents a problem for both homebuilders and buyers. For homebuyers building outside a municipality, there is no guarantee of any inspections, performance and warranty standards being enforced or given. It is unimaginable to think that any individual can claim to be a builder and erect a structure free from guidelines, inspections and warranties. Today, for most, that is the reality. A free for all. For the homebuilder, there is no longer check and balances to protect themselves from frivolous claims and lawsuits.
As a buyer or realtor, how do you then get peace of mind that your builder and home is presenting you a quality home? The Home Guardian Certified Inspection Program is exactly that. A certified third party inspection program through DPIS Engineering, LLC that engineers, inspects, and certifies the building process and performance testing.
DPIS Engineering has devised a holistic approach to engineering and inspection that encompasses all aspects of construction. This ensures all the parts appropriately dialogue with each other for maximum efficacy. For example, a frame is typically designed without taking into account AC ducts and chases. The addition after the fact can really affect the usability and flow of livable space. By looking at home design from all perspectives simultaneously, DPIS and their builder partner ensures the different parts work harmoniously. In addition, by using the same company to engineer and inspect its structural components, the inspection process is more rigorous and accurate. In essence, DPIS Engineering helps the Builder produce the highest quality product. stronger and able to better resist problematic weather conditions, at a more affordable price.
Newmark Home Houston and Fedrick, Harris Estate Homes are among the first select few leading homebuilders to partner and offer the Home Guardian Certified Inspection Program. “[Newmark Homes] has one of the best built homes out there in the Houston market” said Dale Phillips, President of DPIS Engineering, Past Board Member of the National Home Builders Association and host of the Better Homes Show, in a meeting discussing the new Home Guardian Certified Inspection Program.
The Home Guardian Certified Inspection Program is endorsed by major warranty providers including RWC, HBW, BHW, ACES, Guardian, Structure, and includes the following services and certifications by licensed and code certified inspectors:
Foundation Engineering and Inspection
- Foundation designs per address
- Plans with specified beam depths
- Pre-placement inspections
- Placement and Pour Inspections
- Elongation Inspections
- Inspections insure design parameters meet engineer requirements
Frame Net
- Fire Blocking
- Mechanical
- Electrical
- Plumbing
- Drainage Plus
- Flashing
- Ceiling joists layout and sized
- Roof design with purlin and strut locations
- Beam layout and sized
Forensic Inspections
- Infiltration
- Installation quality
- Foundation movement inspections
- Building science forensic inspections
- Structure Integrity inspections
- Building comfort forensic inspections
Performance Testing
- Energy Star Certification
- Energy Code Certification
- Plan Analysis: HERS, REM/Rate, Res Check
- Infiltration/Insulation Inspection
- Blower Door Testing
- Duct Blaster Testing
Final Code Inspection
- Quality Assurance Inspections
- Health & Safety
- Final Grade
- Slab Elevations
Is your home guarded? It should be. In this time in our economic history, buyers cannot afford to make mistakes that require costly resolutions. Is your builder backing up their product? Look for the Home Guardian Certified Inspection Program.
Homeowners of Texas (HOT) is a consumer advocate lobbying firm that endorses strict inspections to ensure that new and remodeled home comply with the latest building codes to ensure safety, structural integrity and a sound investment. We echo any homeowner warnings or advice to have homes inspected and welcome companies like DPIS Engineering. (But note that the dpis.com website was unresponsive.)
Besides inspections during the construction process, HOT always advises buyers to ALSO hire their own real estate inspector. Builder-hired code inspectors can become beholden to the builder for repeat business and overlook shoddy workmanship or code violations. In any case, HOT recommends that inspectors be both certified AND licensed. This would offer a level of accountability that was NOT there with TRCC inspections.
As the group responsible for convincing lawmakers to abolish the TRCC, HOT wants to clarify some statements in your post about why this agency was considered a builder-protection and buyer-abusive agency. A bill we proposed would have replaced TRCC builder “registration” with builder licensing, administered by the TDLR (Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation), a state agency impendent of industry with over 100 years of regulatory experience. We encourage support from DPIS Engineering and others as we prepare for the next legislative session.
PEACE OF MIND? – Established by homebuilders in 2003, the TRCC gave buyers a FALSE sense of security with its warranties and dispute resolution process. You can read about it in the TRCC Eulogy section of http://homeownersoftexas.org. The home page highlights our state and national legislative agendas.
WARRANTIES – The TRCC replaced the “implied warranty of habitability” (i.e. buyers expect a safe and livable home) with statewide “warranty standards.” Builders were allowed to offload their warranty responsibilities to a 3rd party, with standards that included exceptions for “soil conditions” (e.g. expansive soil that cracks foundations) and “work or materials supplied by 3rd parties” (i.e. subcontractors). In general, a warranty provided as a “gift” at closing usually isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. It may even force buyers into binding arbitration should any dispute arise. That’s why HOT strongly recommends that buyers have legal representation to review ANY document they sign before or during closing.
STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY – Too many builders learned that buyers judge quality based on what they see and found ways to cut corners to reduce costs on what they couldn’t see. Buyers were impressed by well-decorated models, spacious floor plans, granite countertops, marble tile entries, textured walls with rounded corners and crown molding, high-end faucets, etc. But they couldn’t see the substandard materials or workmanship hidden behind walls or the improperly engineered foundations, framing, plumbing and other structural elements.
DISPUTE RESOLUTION – The TRCC was established to shield builders from “frivolous lawsuits” and had no real enforcement authority. Without licensing and the threat of losing their license or criminal prosecution, there was no accountability. As shown in overwhelming public testimony and two major reports from different state, third party TRCC inspections and arbitration were only benefits to builders, not homeowners. The inspection process was time consuming and costly to homeowners, and the TRCC-assigned inspectors were often the same ones used by the builder and usually NOT licensed. So, to improve their chance of a good outcome, homeowners had to hire their own attorney, inspectors and engineers anyway. Even when serious defects were obvious, the agency couldn’t force builders to fix them. Arbitration is a whole other issue discussed in depth on HOT’s website. It may work well as an alternative to a court trial in disputes between companies of equal size, but it almost always favors builders in disputes with homeowners.