What is the essential difference between home construction and home inspection as distinct professional practices?

General building contractors deal primarily with constructing things that are new and applying standards that pertain to what is new. Their daily experience is with construction that is in accordance with accepted codes and established building practices and conducted under the authority and regulation of required building permits. In short, their experiences are with things that are standard, rather than substandard; out-of-the-box, rather than worn and weathered; built and assembled by professionals, rather than by amateurs. Home inspectors, on the other hand, deal routinely with properties that are new, old, very old, and with those that are combinations of all three. They deal with homes that are well maintained, poorly maintained, or totally deteriorated; with buildings that are original or have been altered; with homes that are altered with permits or without them; homes with defects that are readily apparent or cleverly concealed; homes with problems that are commonly ...  more