How Can a Homebuyer Judge Construction Quality?

A reader who’s been following discussions of various construction efforts in Swamplot comments has a few questions: “There seems to be a big controversy among the commentators about what constitutes ‘quality construction.’ Are the big differences between old homes and new homes simply that one or the other are built to better standards? . . . Is it the materials that matter more than the construction crew themselves? How is one supposed to do his/her due diligence when purchasing a home? Find the builder, go look at other homes and how they have stood up, take a class on construction (which I’m not sure many of the people actually building the homes have done)?” [Swamplot inbox]