the perfect home

There are homes that are perfect for you.  There are structures that fit the use perfectly.  No home or structure is perfectly built.  Not One. 

There are homes that are perfect for you.  There are structures that fit the use perfectly.  No home or structure is perfectly built.  Not One.  No structure is perfect because they are hand built by humans and each one has unique properties.
Compare a house to the shiny car you drive.  While the car may be close to perfectly built- many are not and we call those ‘Lemons’.  The differences between how the car is made and how a structure is built are significant.  Most widgets we buy at a store are mass manufactured.  Their production lines produce perfect replica’s one after another until the tool breaks down or there is human error.  Many manufacturers go to great lengths to reduce the amount of human interaction in the manufacturing process as that is where a good proportion of the mistakes are derived.
Not only are the components of the home made by manufacturer’s listed above with the same human issues- those components are then field assembled by humans, on a unique site, by a unique manager with a unique owner that has unique requests.  I hope you see the challenge here…  Mix in code requirements with a pinch of untrained labor (see “Paying Our Labor Force” blog)- and it may seem it’s a small miracle that any homes are built!
My larger point is, not only is it darn near a miracle that structures are able to be built and remain standing, the idea of constructing the perfect structure is a fool’s errand.  People with expectations of a perfectly built home or structure need to lower their expectations.  The perfectly built structure does not exist in the real world.  Some are closer than others- yes, but none is perfect.  Taking the codes as an example, no home would be able to be 100% verified that it was built to code.  Truly an impossible task.  Take one aspect of the construction codes- nailing patterns and requirements.  Verifying the correct amount of nails were used in the connections of a home would take an inordinate amount of time and yield little value to the person paying for that verification.  The codes provide designed minimums in hopes that through the construction process enough safety is built into the end-product that the structure stands the test of time.
The construction process is layered by design with many professionals reviewing/overseeing aspects of construction with much overlap to ensure proper field conditions.  The construction process relies on many people overseeing each aspect of assembly of the structure in an attempt to achieve the structure’s highest potential.  Using an average home as an example.  This may vary depending on where you live but here in northern Illinois- this is a common list of professionals that will be involved with building a home in one manner or another:
Architect: conceptual designer of the structure, systems and components.  Generally, this includes site, structure, electrical, plumbing and mechanical overviews. (Designs the home out of thin air)
Contractor: designer of how the actual structure, systems and components come together in the field, coordinator of subcontractors, homeowner liaison (Converts the conceptual design into reality)
Subcontractor: designer of the subsystem (structure, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, etc), installer of the subsystem and its components
Supplier: provides materials, generally understand the specification and compatibility of the materials supplied.  Most often trade specific suppliers.
Manufacturers: make or mill (lumber) and refine the materials utilized for construction and provided to the supplier.
Building Inspector: Generalist overseer of the above listed aspects of construction.
Homeowner: Has an effect on each of the above.
Each of the above is normally made up of multiple people.  With 7 participants listed above, each group will often have more than 1 person involved.  In this scenario, there are at least 14 people overseeing the assembly of the structure.  In the field, the contractor, subcontractor, and inspector are the primary overseers of the field work.  Often you can include the homeowner in those ranks as well.  There are many eyes working to ensure the assembly of this structure meets the myriad of codes, methods and manufacturer’s requirements for each product related to the heath and safety of the structure.