Here’s D.R. Horton at it again in Georgia, requiring a ASHI or ICC certification to inspect one of their flawless homes.
InterNACHI needs to get involved. ICC certification is irrelevant to home inspection as it is defined by every state or trade association SOP. Of course, we all know that ASHI is a pathetic joke of a trade association that has lost whatever relevance it ever had.
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It must be a regional thing, because I just inspected a D.R. Horton new build a couple weeks ago here in SW Ohio and all they asked for was a copy of my state HI license.
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Nope. InterNACHI certification is approved by DR Horton. We threatened legal action and they added InterNACHI a while back. Sometimes you have a local manager who is still looking at old information. Give them: D.R. Horton, America's Largest Homebuilder, Requires InterNACHI® EVERYTHING!
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Yes, thanks Nick and others. I too inspected a D.R. Horton build in a neighboring county just a month ago and had no problem. I wrote an email to the Buyer half an hour ago, telling her that the sales agent must be working from some outdated information.
Has anyone else noticed that the quality of D.R. Horton’s new homes have improved tremendously over the past year or two? They were really struggling during 2020-2022. But they have hired some really good superintendents and managers more recently. And then, of course, we have the NACHI inspectors helping them maintain the top standards. 
I have noticed that every new construction home, regardless of builder, has improved since the shitty covid years.
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Not as many houses being built. Crews aren’t being pushed as hard as they were a few years ago.
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I’ve found that DR Hell house quality depends entirely on the crew and onsite manager/supervisor, and whatever that guy does.
The ones with a thoughtful, smart fella, tend to be good houses, The one with the manager who is out on work release and hung-over until noon tend to be more problematic. My sample size is pretty small though. The other builders tend to be better, but again, I see 2-3 pre-drywall a month, so I could just be getting lucky.
I’m doing a pre-drywall Friday with Pulte homes. First time with them. They are a large builder, so we shall see.
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This is true no matter the builder.
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We conduct regular inspections of DR Horton homes, and each time, the process seems to require an array of documentation. Specifically, they consistently request a current proof-of-insurance certificate, verification of a HI license, and a Workman’s Compensation exemption for every inspection we undertake. Our inspection area spans several regions in Florida, including North Florida, East Florida, and West Central Florida, along with notable locations like Orlando, Timberwalk, and Autumn Glen. Additionally, we coordinate with our Business Office based in San Antonio. Despite them receiving all necessary documentation annually via email, they still insist on gathering the same forms each time we inspect a new build. Just last week, I conducted two inspections for the same office, and amusingly, I received identical requests for documentation from two different sales associates. It’s a puzzling yet familiar aspect of our ongoing collaboration with them.
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I inspect DRs frequently. I’ve never been asked about Workman’s Compensation. I agree with Mark that the local quality of the site manager makes the difference in what I will see. During the boom years, the quality of most of the builders was abysmal. One onsite manager, told me that builders, including him, drove competing subdivisions offering workers higher pay. He said some guys were getting swapped weekly until they maxed out what a builder was willing to pay.
Around here, we have one builder that makes home inspectors jump through as many hoops as they can. A few home inspectors have done the jumps and are on the approved list for that builder. I am not one of them and will never be.
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You are 100% correct! If you do enough homes of any Builder you will see this also. For The DR I did two of their homes within 30 days of each other, in different, widely spaced developments, with of course different Build Supervisors. I was really surprised at how well one was built and the other well all I can say is the Supervisor should have been fired long before I got to this home!
With another very large, well known Builder I did pre-drywalls on two of their homes, exact same design and swing, exact same options, in the same development, one on the street behind the other and three houses down, both within 2 weeks of each other. The first had so many issues it was sad to even see it being built! I dreaded doing the second as I expected it to be the same Build Supervisor. The second was a very nicely built home!! That development had so many of this Builder’s homes going up they were being run by two different Build Supervisors.
What’s going on in Texas, at least my area, is something I would be interested in hearing from others around the country if they are seeing this. Big Name Builders here are not actually building their own homes like it used to be. Instead they are selling the home but contracting with someone who calls themselves a Builder (they’re actually sub-contractors) to perform the actual work. The sub-contract Builder handles everything and the Big Name Builder just sits back and waits for closing. They may send their own in house Inspectors and Engineers in for some required inspections (required by the AHJ), and possibly their own so called “Inspections” but that’s it. Not surprisingly those Inspectors/Engineers typically pass most everything.
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Same, and is true for most builders, no matter how many times I send it to them.
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On a similar note. Maronda homes no longer allows clients to have a predrywall inspection by a third party inspector. Final inspections can only be competed by a third party inspector AFTER the buyer has their orientation walkthrough and signs off on the orientation paperwork accepting the home as complete.
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Many home builders have written into the purchase agreement they will only allow a pre-closing inspection. They don’t want their schedule delayed. Their sandbox their rules.