The days leading up to the final inspections are exciting but can be stressful because the end is near and every little detail is very important. For a potential home owner, it may appear construction is moving extremely slow at this stage because things are not completing at the same pace as it was in the beginning. However the goal is to get to 99% complete so that the final inspections can start. From the builder's perspective, we are busy managing the home owner's punch list, fine tuning the details and expectations, and searching for every detail that potentially could fail the final inspections.
For the Joan of Arc house, the first inspection was the fire inspection conducted by the fire marshal. The fire marshal tested the water pressure and the fire alarm (For any neighbors that might be reading, hopefully this explains why you heard a loud school-bell-like-ring going off yesterday morning). In Hedwig Village, it is required to have a fire sprinkler system in all new construction. While this may seem extreme, this requirement is apparently necessary because there are some very narrow streets in Hedwig which can make it tricky for a fire truck to navigate in the event of a fire. A plus is that a fire sprinkler system is a 10% discount on your home policy. When building a home that will have a fire sprinkler system, it was important to check every ceiling penetration and make sure painters and sheet rockers do not seal up the fire sprinkler heads. I'm proud to say that the house passed the fire inspection on the first try.
Next are the final inspections for plumbing, electrical, mechanical, and low volts.
