The town's only inspector didn't show for a framing check for six weeks. How long until closing now?
A buyer of a new, roughly 2,000-square-foot house in central Massachusetts has been in escrow since July 7 while the builder keeps moving the closing. The main delay, the buyer says on Reddit, was a six-week wait for the town's only building inspector to check the framing.
Insulation started on Oct. 21, the buyer wrote in the r/Homebuilding thread, after the builder had pushed the closing by two to four weeks several times. The buyer now wants to know whether four weeks from plaster to closing is realistic.
Massachusetts puts the town on a clock. The state residential code, 780 CMR R110.3, gives the building official two business days from the builder's request to do an inspection. The same section calls for an energy inspection of insulation values and a final inspection before anyone moves in. J.E.P. Contracting, a builder in Worcester County, writes that most towns there book inspections three to five business days after a request. A house in the state can't close or be occupied without the town's certificate of occupancy, the builder adds, and that certificate requires passed building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical finals.
Four weeks is short by J.E.P.'s custom-home schedule: six to eight weeks for drywall, paint and trim, then three to five weeks for fixtures, appliances, tile, grading and the final inspections. If an inspector flags anything at a final, the builder fixes it and books another visit.
Buyers in this spot can ask the builder for the dates each inspection was requested and performed, since the two-day rule gives the builder grounds to press the town. They can ask which crews are booked for drywall, paint and trim, and on what dates, and check what the purchase agreement allows on extensions. Specta, an inspection software company, lists Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas as the states with a private or third-party inspection path. Massachusetts is not among them.
Why it matters: Every week spent waiting on a town inspector adds carrying costs and pushes a closing. In Massachusetts, log each inspection request with its date: the residential code gives the building official two business days to come out.
Sources
- How Long Does It Take to Build a Custom Home in Central MA?J.E.P. Contracting, Jun 15
- Your State Lets You Hire the Inspector. A Faster Clipboard Isn't the Upgrade.Specta, Jun 25
- Realistic for 4wks from plastering to closing?Reddit r/Homebuilding, Nov 2