Pre-drywall inspection near Austin: when to book it, who can do it, what it checks

What is a pre-drywall inspection, and when should you book one?

A pre-drywall inspection is a visit by an inspector you hire while the walls of a new house are still open: framing, wiring, pipes and ducts are installed, and insulation and wallboard are not. InterNACHI's pre-drywall standard, updated March 6, 2025, describes it as a non-invasive, visual examination that happens after the foundation, framing and roofing are in and before the insulation and interior walls and ceilings are covered. It is one of the phase inspections a buyer can add to a new build.

The best time to book a pre-drywall inspection in Austin is after every trade has finished its rough-in and the government's framing-stage inspection has passed, but before insulation goes in. Ask the builder's construction manager to tell you, in writing, the day the frame inspection passes and the day insulation is scheduled, and book the inspector between them.

Sources: InterNACHI: Pre-Drywall Inspection Standards of Practice (updated March 6, 2025) ↗ · City of Austin: Residential Inspections Process flowchart (February 1, 2024) ↗ · Travis County Code Chapter 480, Residential Construction Standards ↗

What does a pre-pour inspection check before the slab is poured?

A pre-pour inspection is the first of the phase inspections on a slab-on-grade house: the forms, steel and under-slab plumbing and electrical are in place, and the concrete is not. Once the slab is poured, drain lines and conduit inside it cannot be seen again, so this is the only look at them. In unincorporated Travis County, Chapter 480 makes the foundation stage before concrete one of the builder's three required inspections.

Inside the City of Austin, City inspectors check the layout, under-slab plumbing and the electrical slab work, but not the foundation itself. The City's foundation checklist, dated July 14, 2025, says City inspectors will not perform foundation inspections for new construction; the builder provides a registered design professional's report instead, uploaded to the permit and handed over at the final building inspection. Ask for a copy of that report for your file.

Sources: Travis County Code Chapter 480, Residential Construction Standards ↗ · City of Austin: Building Foundation Inspection Checklist, Residential (7/14/25) ↗ · City of Austin: Residential Inspections Process flowchart (February 1, 2024) ↗ · City of Austin: Plumbing Rough Inspection Checklist, Residential (8/3/22) ↗ · City of Austin: Electrical Slab Inspection Checklist, Residential (10/25/24) ↗

What does the City of Austin inspect before drywall?

Inside the City of Austin, the residential inspection flowchart dated February 1, 2024 sets the order. The electrical rough inspection must pass, or pass with minimal violations, before the frame group is scheduled. The frame group is the framing, plumbing top-out and mechanical rough inspections, scheduled together on the same day for most projects. New construction also needs a third-party pre-frame inspection, and the insulation inspection is requested only after the frame group is approved.

Wallboard is checked by someone other than the City on new construction: the City's wallboard checklist requires a registered design professional or an ICC-certified building inspector, with no taping or floating until it is approved. The foundation is the same. The flowchart says the City does not conduct a physical foundation inspection; a Texas-licensed engineer inspects it and the sealed assessment goes on the permit.

City inspections check code minimums for the permit. They are not an inspection on your behalf, and the City's checklists say they are reference tools, not exhaustive lists. Your pre-drywall inspector works for you and can flag workmanship the code does not address. The Austin permit history post shows how to read a permit's inspection record.

Sources: City of Austin: Residential Inspections Process flowchart (February 1, 2024) ↗ · City of Austin: Building Wallboard Inspection Checklist, Residential (8/2/22) ↗ · City of Austin: Building Framing Inspection Checklist, Residential (8/1/22) ↗

Who inspects new homes outside Austin city limits?

Many new Austin-area communities sit outside any city, and there the rules depend on the county. Texas Local Government Code Chapter 233, Subchapter F lets a county adopt an order requiring new homes in unincorporated areas to meet the International Residential Code and to be inspected at least three times: at the foundation before concrete, at the framing and mechanical stage before drywall, and on completion. The builder hires the inspector, who can be a licensed engineer, registered architect, TREC-licensed professional inspector or ICC-certified residential combination inspector, among others.

Travis County adopted those rules in its County Code Chapter 480, and the builder must file the inspection reports with the County within 10 days of the final inspection. Hays County's Commissioners Court adopted them on September 15, 2009, and its FAQ says the County does not inspect single-family homes itself, so a third party does. Williamson County's FAQ says the County has not adopted Subchapter F and does not require new homes to meet any building code.

Where a city has adopted a building code for its extraterritorial jurisdiction, the city's code controls instead. Ask which entity issued the permit for your lot. The Pflugerville new homes guide lists that City's 20 required residential inspections in order.

Sources: Texas Local Government Code Chapter 233, Subchapter F (§§233.151-233.157) ↗ · Travis County Code Chapter 480, Residential Construction Standards ↗ · Hays County Development Services: development and floodplain FAQ ↗ · Williamson County: infrastructure and developers FAQ ↗ · City of Pflugerville: Required Residential City Inspections (revised January 9, 2020) ↗

Who can do a pre-drywall inspection in Texas?

Texas licenses home inspectors through the Texas Real Estate Commission under Occupations Code Chapter 1102, which defines a real estate inspection as a written or oral opinion on the condition of a property's improvements, including structural, electrical, mechanical and plumbing items. There are three licenses. On the standard path, a professional inspector must have held a real estate inspector license for at least 12 months and performed at least 175 inspections under indirect supervision; a real estate inspector works under a professional inspector, and an apprentice under direct supervision.

Every licensed inspector must carry liability coverage of at least $100,000 per occurrence, or a bond TREC accepts. Chapter 1102 also bars an inspector from performing or agreeing to perform repairs in connection with an inspection under an earnest money contract, and from acting as the broker in the same transaction. Look up any inspector's license on TREC's license holder search before you book.

TREC's New Home Contract for incomplete construction, form 23-20, says the seller must give the buyer access at reasonable times and that the buyer may have the property inspected by inspectors the buyer selects who are licensed by TREC or otherwise permitted by law. A builder's own contract may say something different, so read its access clause before you sign.

Sources: Texas Occupations Code Chapter 1102, Real Estate Inspectors ↗ · TREC license holder search ↗ · TREC form 23-20, New Home Contract (Incomplete Construction) ↗

What does a pre-drywall inspection check?

No Texas rule sets the scope of a pre-drywall inspection. TREC's standards of practice define the minimum for a real estate inspection of a one-to-four family home that is substantially completed, meaning it can be occupied or used for its intended purpose. A house with open walls is not there yet, so the scope is whatever the written agreement with your inspector says. Get it in writing before the visit.

InterNACHI's pre-drywall standard covers the roof, exterior, foundation and structure, heating and cooling, plumbing, electrical, attic insulation and ventilation, and interior components as they stand at that stage. It also states the limits: the inspection will not identify concealed or latent defects and is not a code-compliance determination.

The City of Austin's own residential checklists are a practical list of what should be right at this stage, with the code section for each item. The table below pulls the items a buyer can see with the walls open. TREC form 23-20 also requires the contract to state the insulation type, thickness and R-value, per Federal Trade Commission rules, so compare what is installed against it.

Sources: 22 Tex. Admin. Code §535.227, Standards of Practice: General Provisions ↗ · InterNACHI: Pre-Drywall Inspection Standards of Practice (updated March 6, 2025) ↗ · City of Austin: Building Framing Inspection Checklist, Residential (8/1/22) ↗ · City of Austin: Building Insulation Inspection Checklist, Residential (7/10/25) ↗ · TREC form 23-20, New Home Contract (Incomplete Construction) ↗

Can a builder limit your pre-drywall inspection?

Yes, in practice. In October 2023, the chair of TREC's Texas Real Estate Inspector Committee wrote that inspectors face increasing difficulties with some new-construction builders that create their own requirements for inspectors, some of which violate the standards of practice. The message says home builders in Texas are not regulated, TREC has no authority over those requirements, and a buyer's ability to have a home inspected may be hindered by some builders' policies.

So settle access before you sign. Ask each builder for its written policy on third-party inspections: which stages it allows, notice required, insurance it asks of the inspector, and whether the inspector may enter the attic. Compare the contract's access clause with TREC form 23-20's, which lets you choose a licensed inspector and requires access at reasonable times.

This is where your own agent earns their keep. Texas Occupations Code §1101.563 has required a written buyer agreement before an agent shows any home since January 1, 2026, and each builder sets its own rule for when it recognizes a buyer's agent. Line up representation first; the new construction buyer's guide covers builder registration rules.

Sources: TREC: Message from TREIC Chair Lee Warren, October 2023 ↗ · TREC form 23-20, New Home Contract (Incomplete Construction) ↗ · Texas Occupations Code §1101.563, Written Agreement Required ↗

What questions should you ask at a pre-drywall inspection?

Start with the paperwork, because the contract is your measuring stick. TREC form 23-20 makes the plans, specifications, finish-out schedules, change orders and allowances the Construction Documents the builder must build to, and requires change orders in writing. Bring the signed set and every change order, and check what you paid for is in the walls: outlets, switches, lighting, low-voltage and data runs, and plumbing for any upgraded fixtures.

Then ask the builder's construction manager these questions, and get the answers in writing:

Has the City frame group inspection, or the county framing-stage inspection, passed, and on what date? When is insulation scheduled? Are the foundation engineer's report and any third-party pre-frame report on the permit? Will the builder respond to the inspector's report item by item before insulation, and can the inspector return to check fixes? If your builder also holds its own pre-drywall walk with you, treat it as the builder's presentation, not an inspection on your behalf, and photograph every open wall, ceiling and the attic before anything is covered.

Sources: TREC form 23-20, New Home Contract (Incomplete Construction) ↗ · City of Austin: Residential Inspections Process flowchart (February 1, 2024) ↗ · City of Austin: Building Foundation Inspection Checklist, Residential (7/14/25) ↗

What happens if the pre-drywall inspection finds problems?

Send the report to the builder in writing, ask for a written response item by item, and ask for photos or a re-inspection before insulation goes in. TREC's rule on inspection reports says the inspector delivers a written report within two days of payment in full or of the inspection, unless you agree otherwise in writing; confirm your agreement keeps that turnaround, because the insulation crew may be days away.

An inspector's report does not by itself oblige a builder to change anything, and TREC's report form says a standards-of-practice inspection is not a building-code inspection. The leverage is the contract: TREC form 23-20 requires the seller to build in accordance with the Construction Documents, which include the plans, specifications and change orders.

If a defect turns up after closing, the builder's written warranty is the first path. If that fails, Texas Property Code §27.004 requires written notice to the builder by certified mail at least 60 days before a suit or arbitration, and the builder may inspect up to three times in the 35 days after receiving it. A pre-drywall report with photos is useful evidence then.

Sources: 22 Tex. Admin. Code §535.222, Inspection Reports ↗ · TREC form REI 7-6, Property Inspection Report ↗ · TREC form 23-20, New Home Contract (Incomplete Construction) ↗ · Texas Property Code §27.004, Notice and Offer of Settlement ↗

Do you still need a final inspection and an 11-month warranty inspection?

Yes. A pre-drywall inspection sees what the final inspection cannot, and the reverse is also true: appliances, fixtures, finished roofing, grading and the operating HVAC system are not finished at the rough-in stage. The final, before closing, is when TREC's standards of practice apply in full, because the house is substantially completed.

An 11-month warranty inspection is an inspection booked shortly before a builder's one-year workmanship coverage ends, so anything it finds can still be submitted under that warranty. The timing comes from the builder's own document. KB Home publishes one year on workmanship and materials, two years on mechanical systems and ten years on structure; David Weekley Homes publishes the same three terms and says its representative conducts a walk-through just shy of the one-year anniversary. Perry Homes publishes a two-year workmanship term, which moves the useful date out a year.

Submit everything the inspection finds through the builder's warranty process, in writing, before the term ends. Our Austin home builders guide lists the warranty each large builder publishes.

Sources: 22 Tex. Admin. Code §535.227, Standards of Practice: General Provisions ↗ · KB Home: warranty services ↗ · David Weekley Homes: new home warranty ↗ · Perry Homes: Warranty ↗