New-home construction has been rocketing into the west. Pressure from families that want their new home delivered pushes builders and developers to crank up the pace. Thin profit margins force them to look for ways to cut costs, builders say. And simple human error takes its toll as well. Maintaining quality home construction begins and ends with the decisions developers and builders make in the face of these pressures.
Developers plan housing tracts and build the houses on paper.
Builders take those plans, hire contractors and create reality out of paper and ink. All plans and homes must meet building code requirements enforced by Kern County and the city of Bakersfield. Everything that comes in that code is the toughest in the world. Russ Johnson, a city building inspector, had trouble changing jobs from contractor to inspector because of that distinction. As a contractor, Johnson was used to checking for defects in the quality of building as well as for compliance to building codes.