Response from Margaret Summerfield of Pathfinder International:
It depends on the area and what is being built.
Building a single family home e.g. would probably only need a sign-off to say the electricity was wired ok before it got hooked up. If you are buying one and getting a bank loan, the bank would evaluate it – but purely to see if it was worth the amount stated in the loan application. That’s not to say it was built right…
In a condo block, they usually need to meet certain build codes and get an occupancy permit before anyone can move in (mostly to make sure it’s safe from a fire and emergency perspective).
There are build codes but I have no idea how strictly they are enforced and they won’t be up to North American/European levels (in the UK, for example, you can’t have a bathroom that opens into a kitchen, there has to be at least 2 doors between them, nobody cares about that sort of detail here… Rather than use conduit to house plumbing and wiring, with nice access points, they put it straight in the wall and concrete over it so you have to chisel the walls out when you get a leak…and there’s no way a building inspector can check it once it’s concreted over).
Bottom line, I’d hire a company to carry out an inspection myself…
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