When problems crop up, a building developer often claims that the building "passed inspection," so therefore the problem is not their responsibility.  The reality is that inspection by the building department has absolutely nothing to do with whether a builder is responsible for design or construction defects.  First of all, building inspectors are not guarantors of building code compliance.  In fact, for most aspects of the design, they rely on the professionals hired by the developer.  The building department might review soil reports, but they typically perform no independent testing.  The building department might review structural engineering calculations, but they are relying on the professionals to do their job correctly.  The building department does not redo the entire work of the design team to determine if it is flawed.

     Building inspectors have "sovreign immunity" with respect to their work.  This means that they cannot be sued for any errors they made in inspection of construction or in approving plans.  Most inspectors try their best, but it is common that many significant errors on projects are not caught during the inspection process.

     Many thousands of projects have been involved in lawsuits for defective construction in the past decade.  Many millions of dollars have been recovered against negligent builders and designers.  Each one of these projects was approved by a building inspector.  Keep this in mind the next time a developer tells you that nothing could be wrong because the project "passed inspection."

  Please call us at 1-866-870-2020 with any questions.