So, if the county is not legally liable, then why are they ones issuing permits and inspections? Makes ZERO sense.

The. County should be responsible. If they have no accountability why are they even doing inspections in the first place. Gross incompetence.

Same issues here. In 1995 I doubled the size of my home in Mecklenburg Co NC. Picked license contractor and addition passed every inspection by county. When I went to sell in 2002 I found MANY code violations that forced me to pay $10K to correct before I could sell. When I tried to go after contractor they had changed names and wife was owner of new company. When I went after the county for the bribes the inspector took, the county said I had to go after the person that did the inspections.....but warned me he had so many judgments against him already I'd never get paid. North Carolina government is corrupt on many levels.....and seems to be the same 20 years later. SAD

I STRONGLY suggest everyone building a custom home...or even buying a new construction home in a development, to hire a licensed independent inspector to inspect each phase of the construction, exactly as the county does AND MORE. Give that inspector a copy of your plans and specifications and include them in any and all pre-construction meetings. You can have them inspect the work every day, or several days a week. Whatever you feel is appropriate, but residential construction progresses quickly. You don't want to go too far before something is found. (as in this video) The county inspections have NO liability (as you see in this video) and are so overloaded with inspections that they often just "pencil whip" the inspection and sign off on it (as you see in this video). Their ONLY incentive is to get all the inspections for that day done...by 4pm. With an hour for lunch. Also understand that county inspectors are ONLY concerned with building codes, NOT your specifics for the project. Your specifications my require the use of a particular underlayment on the roof, for example. And shingle manufacturers require particular underlayments to validate their warranties. Did the builder use it, or a cheaper underlayment? The county inspector won't care. Every element of the home will be covered in the specifications...make sure the builder doesn't cheat you on inferior materials, that still pass the building code. It is a VERY small price to pay. Include this in your contract and make the builder agree that NO work progresses until your licensed independent inspector signs off on it, as well as the county. You can also include these fees in you building costs and construction loan/mortgage. This inspector works for YOU and has ONLY your interests in mind AND is civilly liable. YES, I was an independent inspector. For commercial, industrial and residential construction. I cannot tell you how many millions of dollars I saved my clients. I am now retired...so I have no dog in this fight. Just my experienced opinion If the builder/developer won't agree to that, find another builder/developer!

Country inspectors must be liable for NOT following the State building code laws. Who is fired?? Inspector paid by the crooked builder?? Thats the appearance

I would not be surprised if the building inspector took a bribe. Sue the building inspector personally and argue that passing a code violation is not part of his governmental duties.

My HVAC guy told me a story about how he was on another job the day the city inspector showed up to check his work. His friend was an electrician who was also working on the same house, was in the property at the time. He relayed this to him: he heard a car pull into the drive way. He heard the door open, about 10 foot steps, another 10 foot steps, the door close, and a car starting to drive off. Curious as to who would be in and out so fast (less than 2 minutes), the electrician peeked out the window to see the city inspector driving off. All the HVAC work was signed off and everything stickered without having checked a thing, If you have a home built, hire an independent home builder to check it out- don't rely on bozos from the city.

The county and state have so many laws and regulations for us to follow that they should be held liable for not following their own.

if the county is not responsible for their own inspections, then the homeowners should not be required to pay the inspection costs and should be refunded all assessed fees

The county sends out an inspector that you have to pay for and can shut down the entire operation yet they failed to do the job so the fault is on the county and the builder.

I once purchased a house that had passed all inspections but shouldn't have. The master bath jetted bathtub was on a non GFIC circuit, the central air conditioning unit was not hooked up electrically, there was only one furnace where two were needed because of the size of the house, the one furnace had a short to ground, one bathroom with an outside wall did not have a heating/cooling register, and the basement stairway leading to the garage was not tied in to the framing. When I had a licensed hvac company come to do the work the electrician that originally worked on the house threatened to report me to the city/county because I didn't have a permit. I told him I'd report him to them for the work he had performed. He wasn't so cocky afterward. I paid to have all of the work corrected rather than fight the bureaucracy and even though it cost me money it was worth not having the hassle. Can't understand how the county in NC can not be held liable. Kind of sounds like the vaccine companies and politicians during the Covid crisis.

actual useful journalism, good job ✌

I feel bad for family. Steer clear of this corrupt town!

They need to appeal their case. Governmental immunity should not cover negligence or gross incompetence. If nothing else, they need to go after the actual inspector who overlooked the problems that were obvious to anyone doing such a job. They also need to bring the construction company back into court to force payment. The judge could charge them with contempt of court and even jail the owner if he doesn't pay up.

I built a home in Pender County NC....didn't hire it out, I built it. Perfectly legal as long as you jump through all of the hoops. It's in a high wind zone at the coast....135 mph rating I think. When the inspector came out for the sheathing inspection (by the way the sheathing is what gives the house strength against wracking and twist...) He got out of his truck, walked down the left side of the house, walked along the back, then went to the permit box to sign off. I didn't see him one time actually look at the sheathing, or count the number of nails in each panel of OSB. In a high wind zone, each panel of OSB (plywood same thing...) has to have one 8D nail every 3 inches on the perimeter, and one 8D nail every six inches inside of the panel. The first day of the inspection, when I got to the build site, there was frost on the roof sheathing. I called and cancelled due to that. The day the guy arrived, he said we don't even go up there, don't ask me why....go up there? He didn't even inspect the wall sheathing!! It was all done correctly to code, but I can see how this happened to these poor folks....I think the true moral of this sad story is have an agent of some type do a daily inspection after work for the day has ended.......and yeah, the county should be held liable for allowing this.

For starters, the whole roof does NOT “have to be pulled off and reframed” You can scab the existing rafters with the correct sizes OR, simply double them up. The gap at the crown in the kitchen, that is a trim carpenter error and can be cleaned up with caulk It is the homeowner’s responsibility, not the local municipalities code enforcement to ensure a home is built correctly. Not all municipalities even require ANY inspections to build a home.

Immunity? They were paid to inspect the house and didn't do it. I guess only the working class get fired and held responsible for getting paid and not doing the job. Government is corrupt from the top to even this low. A Mcdonalds worker is held to higher standards than anyone in the government!!!

No one should be exempt from being held accountable for their actions in any capacity

This is what happens when you don't hire your own inspector, and letting the general contractor to take care of everything. General contractors are looking at one number and is the profit margins they can make if they are allowed to cut corners. Always hire your own instepctor and do not let any general contractor find you one. The faster the general contractor can finish a project the faster he can find another one.

The county building inspectors should lose their jobs, and any property owned by the contractor should be seized to satisfy the claim against them. Realtors in the county should warn prospective buyers of new homes that they may not be built to code.

How can the county inspectors be immune? That absolutely blows my mind.

My new house passed all inspections, but the inspector we paid before our warranty was out, told us of many things that should not have passed. Luckily we were still under warranty and got them fixed.

JUST SAY “NO” TO BUILDING A HOME IN CHATHAM CO. NC UNTIL THE THE CHATHAM COUNTY INSPECTORS DEPT. TAKES RESPONSIBILITY FOR AN “INCOMPETENT INSPECTOR” ON THEIR PAYROLL. REIMBURSE THE FAMILY….FIRE THE INSPECTOR.

The sole reason there are county inspections is to prevent these very issues. Inspectors and judge are on the take. Scum.

That family is being played so bad. The County is hoping they will run out of money before they have to own up to what they did and are doing to others. I pray this doesn't devastate these people.

This is why it's so Important to screen contractors. For a home build you always find a few houses they built. One at least 5yrs ago and one or two recently and talk to the home owners. See if they had trouble.

This for me deserves more to have a gofundme for people to help people who have been working hard but still got screwed by the government and greedy businesses and not those who dabble into illegal stuff or just lazy but are hoping for mercy or alms from the public.

Why is there always a legal loophole for corporations but not the common man?

HOWEVER if somebody builds a home, using experienced & competent trades to build it BUT didn't get the permits or inspections REQUIRED by the state, the individual would be held legally & Monetarily responsible to pay the government if they violated the "law". But the Government (with the full weight of it's authority ,given to it by the people) is not culpable when it fails to do the jobs and duties it requires others to obey? This is how more Libertarians are born every day.

If the county inspector(s) did their job and called out the code deficiencies along the way the builder would have to make the corrections before moving on to the next phase of construction towards completion. The end result would be no significant code violations, no defective home, no lawsuits, and no liability anywhere. Also, when the county issues a Certificate of Occupancy that essentially is a warranty that they have inspected the home for minimum standards for construction and safety. This is totally the government’s fault.

As a former resident of Chatham County, this tracks. Sadly.

$226k owed to the homeowner for building an unsafe, unsellable home is nowhere near enough to even make the victimized homeowner whole! And the municipal inspector’s gross negligence, via profound incompetence (or neglect of duty), should enjoin the municipality to share in the damages claim!!

As a builder here in Florida I can only assume bribery I've never seen any home not have a single yellow item on the inspections

I set up a mobile home in NC on land to sell and yeah it ate up all my money, literally on the porch and a dumb retaining wall that an engineer got 800 bucks for just his signature. Makes me want to become a building engineer. Thank God I got out of the housing market especially with how it is now woth the delays, now I just rent put a room and save money and invest in silver instead of property

my sister-in-law lived a similar nightmare. inspections all good but the house quite literally shifted & moved randomly for 2 decades before they sold property. they used expanding foam for cracks. the cracks would open & close depending on season. i have never seen anything like it. i slept in my clothes, ready to run whenever we stayed over.

Hindsight is 20/20, but a good reminder to all building a new house: Always hire an independent inspector to follow the build from the slab pour to the final punch list- Ours was about $1,200 and it would have saved these unfortunate folks the massive headache.

Think about all of those Chatham Park homes being built for between 5-700,000 dollars or more. They are getting the same quality inspections by the county. Just imagine how many other screwed up homes there may be out there.

The code violations should be null and void if the county has no reasonable obligation to stand behind its officiation.

As a NC resident.. Thats the good ole boys.... They got you. Its a small club and you ain't in it.

The inspector was clearly paid off or just never showed up. Since the judgment didn’t get paid take a sheriff and start seizing property.

What good is the County inspection other then they get their money for the permits etc

I’ve purchased two homes in Western North Carolina in the past 20 years and I have convinced friends to do the same thing. Even if you get an inspector up there, they are all in cahoots with each other, and they have very comfortable fast answers for when you make a deal on something that is absolutely packed with problems on why it’s not their fault. The other thing you need to be careful about is buying empty land that you will find out later to be unbuildable. You need to be super cautious up there because the county is also very against you. Usually what the county has a problem with they have absolutely no understanding of and they are too lazy to come look and actually make a proper decision. It’s a great place but I have also learned like Florida pool builders, 90% of the construction companies up there have no business building in Ridgeline conditions.

If the county can't be held responsible for its failure, then their code enforcements shouldn't be followed. Either you're the authority and your 'expertise' is valid, which means you're responsible...or you're not valid. Why even have the county building inspectors come out if they're just going to greenlight shoddy work?

How do the inspectors have zero responsibility for this? Scary situation that can happen to any of us.

I'm seeing stories like these from so many states. It would be a good idea for new home buyers to hire an independent home inspector that isn't tied to the builder or the county inspectors. Having your own home inspection when you're investing everything in a new house seems prudent.

I'm sick of this happening. The city can fine you for code violations, bankrupt you for violations but it has ZERO responsibility for their own fraud. Yes FRAUD. If this is the case, then ALL inspections should be halted. All fines returned to home owners/builders that were cited. All cost related it delays by inspectors should be returned

Highlights the importance of putting a home inspector on retainer. Having them inspect during every step of the build.

As a contractor in Florida, I can tell you that building codes in North Carolina are almost non existent compared to Florida. Our company built some additions on a couple of commercial buildings and also constructed a cabin in the Lake Lure area. Upon going to the local building department to start the permitting process, we were told there was no permit needed except for electrical, plumbing, and septic. We were shocked. During the time of construction on these projects, we never saw a building inspector one time. This is shameful, and it cause things like what happened to this family. This entire building department should be shut down and rebuilt with engineers and knowledgeable inspectors. This is unconscionable. It’s the typical good ol’ boy network that runs NC.

What a nightmare! Poor people.

Many people know to bring your own inspector when you are buying a used house. But you must do the same for new construction as well. Don’t trust people who are paid by someone else.

Makes me feel thankful my contractor followed all codes to the letter. Good luck sir.

"Governmental Immunity". Funny how a government run agency dropped the ball and now they're "immune".

Our legal system is a joke. These people spend tens of thousands of dollars to file the lawsuit, they won, but there's no mechanism to force the builder to pay. And county officials are despicable as well. Government entity or not, it was their responsibility to make sure this house was being built properly. They failed monumentally, but won't take responsibility for that failure.

To pull a permit, the contractor has to register with the permit office, which requires proof of general liability insurance. The contractor's insurance should be responsible for paying. Maybe go after the insurance company?

Always hire your own inspector. We did a new build in 2022 and hired one. Our contractor was not too happy because it had already passed code inspection, but there were several items that didn’t pass our independent inspection, including water lines that were not ran to the dishwasher properly and leaked through the floor and into the basement!!

It would be interesting to know if the materials specified in the blueprints were used so we would know if this was a design issue or the builder did not follow the plans.

This is beyond a nightmare! My heart breaks for this family.

I've been a builder for almost 50 years now. Someone at the building inspection department accepted the plans to build this home, presumably "reviewed" them, and stamped them as approved prior to issuing a permit. As soon as that happened, all liability for code infractions was transferred from the builder and or designer to the building inspection department *as long as* the home was then constructed according to those plans. These days, most departments will require an engineer or architectural stamp on the plans to absolve them from any liability as well. To blame the builder for using 2x8 roof joists (or similar infractions) that were present on the plans as submitted is clearly ludicrous. If that's how they operate, why would anyone submit plans in the first place? The plans themselves document what all parties are agreeing to as moving forward. Assuming the builder built the home according to the plans, what we have here is a criminal building department operating under the protection of the local courts. This is yet another example of "we've investigated ourselves, and found everything to be in order".

Inspectors and builders that have no clue what they are doing? I did the office work for a contractor building lovely homes for over 30 years. We only ever once had a glitch caused by one sub-contractors employee and my boss saw to it that correct repair was made. Why are permits and inspections required if you can't rely on them?

I had a similar situation happen to me. Lucky for me, my significant other was a builder. We got into the house during construction and took photo’s. Then, went to the builder….and put them on notice. Needless to say the builder handled the house with white gloves. We got multiple things repaired, fixed, or changed out at their expense. I believe everyone in our entire Tract of homes benefitted by being us being proactive with the builder. The entire Su Divison was cleaned up for the better, and crappy contractors were let go.

Goes to show you that government has its own agenda and it’s not in the interest of the people. I’m ashamed of what our government has become!!

If the Government is not going to take responsibility then you dont need a Permit. They Permitted your house and passes inspection. The Government is responsible. It Angers me as an American how currupt our Government has gotten to brush off responsibility and get away with it too. Its criminal

The county is responsible!!!! An inspector signed his name on the inspection after each step in building the home

They invested their savings into their home. I feel so bad for this family. I sincerely hope things turn around for them and the corrupt officials are held accountable.

I’m so glad your story is being picked up by the news!! I watched it when he just posted it on his own KZfaq channel. This definitely needs to get out and it’s completely unfair!! I know that house/property definitely cost you more than The money that was awarded to you that still hasn’t even been paid to you! Absolutely ridiculous. I hope this gets made right for you very soon. You guys deserve better! ❤ A fellow Chatham County resident.

One: this is a problem across the nation. Unqualified inspectors, inspectors as government employees have immunity. Two: some builders lack adequate insurance. Two: when you purchase a home old or new , always hire a qualified home inspector. Three: every home this contractor built should be re - inspected.

This exactly why you should get a performance surety bond and have an independent inspector on new construction.

These poor people. I hope they’re rewarded. The county and the builder owe these people big time.

The gov agency the inspector worked for and builder should be held liable and the city inspector fired. If gov says its not liable then they should be barred from performing inspections or collecting fees for them.

welcome to 'Murica where regular ordinary citizens are never protected.

This so sad. I know it's hard, try to keep encouraging each other that it will get better.

I suggest going to the county government offices at least once a week with signs telling about the crooked building inspectors that work there.

Very few people seem to understand that just because a house passed county building code inspection means next to nothing. House may still have many code violations and house may not even be safe to live in but the county building department is not responsible. Read the permit paperwork and you will see that the county is always 'held harmless' for any building code violations. Even though you paid $thousands for the building permit and inspections, all of that expense and hassle is for almost nothing. When you purchase a house or pay a builder to build your house, you need to take responsibility to inspect it. If you're not familiar with the UBC and NEC, then you'd better hire someone who is. The government is not here to help you, they are here to take your money and build their 'kingdom'.

The local building inspectors should be sued directly. Likely their homeowners liability could respond to the claim. Likely they were on the take from the builder.

Government should not be immune from *gross* negligence. This was not one or two minor oversights; this was a litany of serious violations.

What a great American county this is. Lord, I pray this 'ole boy gets his settlement and moves out of that county. Sounds like a bit of the good 'ole boy network is playing against this young man.

Gotta love government immunity. Several sombodies got themselves some kickbacks. Follow the money trail people.

Re:code violations/inspections It ALL depends on the county and WHEN house was built IF there were any inspections ! The Ga county I live in DIDN'T have inspections while my house was being built years ago, I think it was left up to the bank financing the construction loan to have any if they wanted to. Nothing in the building, plumbing, electrical was inspected. Some power companies require a occupancy permit before power is run/turn on in a new house, but I already had power to my property. Think they have building inspections now. People built houses, sheds, barns w/o getting a building permit. I did have to get a water test from the health dept. when my loan went from construction loan to regular loan. Alot of other things were never checked...I'll leave it at that....

Had a county where I live that was having similar issues. Got the state involved, they closed the inspection department and the state took over for a year.

Someone in the county was definitely paid off if you ask me and also why should they get qualified immunity when they were supposed to be out inspecting everything they would have seen it was enough to par.

How can the county not be liable since they are required to inspect and pass the construction?

Either the county inspectors were bought off by the inspectors, just plain didn't do an actual inspection (they just went upstairs for a few minutes, pencil whipped the inspection forms) or were REALLY untrained in how to do accurate and complete inspections. The County should ABSOLUTELY be held liable for all the repair costs and any incidentals that the homeowners have to pay. And the builder should fix it all at their own cost. The homeowner's had no hand in problems here.

This poor man should not be responsible for this. That county is responsible. That contractor is responsible. That family is not. Chatham County, morally bankrupt.

City's need to be held accountable for passing inspections

Immunity must come to an end.

should not only go after the company, but also put down the actual Builder Contractor Name to. At least that way if the Company decides to go bankrupt or just shut the business down. at least might have the chance to get the Money owed by also listing down the Contractors Name.

Wonder if the “inspectors” are trained and licensed. These homeowners’ grief is a DIRECT result of sham building inspections. They should sue the inspectors personally and force them to sell their personal assets to cover repairs.

I purchased a Four Season home in Nash County, Nashville, NC. My septic tank was ground level, I also had nailed pops everywhere and a leaky roof that Four Season refused to fix. Went to court and the court ruled with the builder. Only in North Carolina. I lost money too.

That builder paid off the judge to look the other way. Crooked dealings everywhere in NC.

What’s the point of the county office? Handing out worthless certification. The country could save money by completely eliminating the department, which apparently serves no purpose.

Government has no accountability! 😡

I feel for them. My parents built their dream home and had many problems with what the builder did and didn’t do. Contractors cannot be trusted. They were miserable for about five years before things finally got rectified legally.

The Judge sounds corrupt in that he let the inspectors go free after shirking their inspection responsibilities.

When purchasing a newly build house, people should get at least a site inspection, a foundation inspection, a pre-drywall inspection and a final inspection of the completed home by a qualified, independent and licensed home inspector. Just saying .

No telling how many thousands of homes out there in Chatham county are out of code. How long has this been going on? Years? Decades? Wonder what dirt this builder has on some of the county politicians?

It’s recommended to always hire an inspector yourself to examine brand new construction as it progresses, just to avoid circumstances such as this particular home has. Some county / municipal inspectors are competent, others not so much - and that doesn’t even address the possibility of official corruption.

I have seen this kind of stuff too. City inspectors in too many areas do not have the proper training to even be inspectors, and are more of a rubber stamper.

I would get a different lawyer for sure. Sue the inspectors, since they got no where with the county. Having owned a home that had a lot of expansive soil and drainage problems, we did manage to get everything fixed,.

"The county investigated itself and determined that it did nothing wrong"

Zero-tolerance enforcement is practiced on middle class law-abiding citizens in many ways, but government they pay taxes to has numerous avenues to escape accountability. 😡👿