Is an inspection worth the extra expense on a new construction?

​That isn't a foolish question. After talking to numerous builders and superintendents, most if not all, highly recommend a home inspection. A house may have received its Certificate of Occupancy from the city's building department, but the two inspections aren't the same. A city inspector's job would be to verify a builder and their subcontractors have met the minimum requirements set forth in the local building codes.

A home inspector on the other hand, should be checking to see that the many components in the house function properly. Along with that, pass on recommendations concerning areas a building inspector wouldn't be required to comment on or consider. 

Most builders will give a new homeowner a 1-year warranty on most parts of the house and its appliances. That may seem to be a fairly good insurance policy, but there are things that can be overlooked for years, before a problem is discovered. The picture above had been taken on a new house that had been completed, had received its Certificate of Occupancy, and was move-in ready.

The photo had been taken from an area of the roof that was impossible to see from the ground. As you can see, the siding had never been installed. If the inspector hadn't walked the whole roof, this could have remained undetected for quite some time. The area below was directly above the home office's storage closet. Because water takes the path of least resistance, there's no telling when and where this would have revealed itself. The masonry contractor would have been embarrassed to let that slip by and one the builder would have been glad it have been caught, before it caused any damage. In the last 3100 inspections, this same siding issue has been found at least 5 or 6 times. One of those, on a 13 year old houses at the time of the inspection.