<b><b>NHBC&amp;’s Kirsten Bunch looks at the role and development of the company&amp;’s army of 300 inspectors whose skills are constantly being honed to improve build standards</b></b><br><b>NHBC&amp;’s 300 inspectors visit every home registered with NHBC - and that involves a lot of site visits. Last year its inspectors carried out a staggering 770,000 inspections in the UK.</b><br> Although inspection can never guarantee faultless new homes, the service unquestionably keeps check on the number of defects that occur and helps to improve the overall quality of new-home construction. In the financial year 2001-2002 their work picked up more than 570,000 defects, many of which could potentially have led to serious problems at a later stage. <p></p><p><b><b>early warning</b></b><br> Spotting and fixing problems early on is one of the key aims of the inspection service. Built-in defects can be costly to rectify at a later date, and it is far easier to sort out problems when homes are empty than down the line when they are occupied.</p><p>At the forefront of this drive to pick up problems are the building inspectors who carry out inspections of new homes across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In terms of risk management they are the central mechanism …