If in doubt bring it up to the inspectors sup. 

Eleven month after closing on the house, he got served papers suing him personally, his corporation, the listing realtor, buyers agent, home inspector etc. everyone except me, since I was not on title. 

There is a state database and while I don't know all the ins and outs of it I believe that a licensed inspector has to submit their reports to the state and local authorities.  

And if you are looking at getting into real estate investing, spending time following an experienced inspector around and learning about what they are doing and looking for  is a great education.

You can do this by having a thorough home inspector come out after getting into contract, or if you are comfortable, set up a walk-through with some experts on your own. 

Most of the time you only need to pull a permit if an inspector condemns a property and they say you need to pull one.

They only approve what they think when the inspector comes out, and the appeal process is a PITA.

Then the inspector needs to come out but has to catch them all there for  a violation which is tough as many work.Used to have a person renting out his house and slamming people in there to live.

If so, how difficult is that building inspector?

to expand on shauns post, you need a good team around you. like a good title company, good home inspectors, handyman, mortgage company, etc.