I had 3 houses inspected by the City of Dallas. My experience was that they went through the house and sited me for small cracks in the walls due to minor foundation movement, any observable holes in the walls around plumbing, wood at the exterior that doesn't have paint, any pealing paint in general at the exterior, any daylight that they could see coming in around exterior doors due to old weather striping, water temperature needs to be min 110 degrees from the faucet, and foundation vents that have holes in the mesh.
They looked in all sink base cabinets where the supply and drain pipes came through the wall and if it wasn't completely sealed or covered by an escutcheon then that was sited. They also look in your HVAC closet and Hot Water Heater closet and will site you for any gaps between the ductwork/piping where it goes through the ceiling or the floor. They do check to make sure that the HVAC system is working. They didn't check the windows for operation though they say that they will. I don't think that I saw them checking for smoke detectors but they say that they will do that too.
Our houses are generally in very good condition but I came away from the inspection with a list of piddly things that I needed to do. It was somewhat of a hassle but not the end of the world. It really seemed to me that they were looking at a lot of cosmetic things and not so much life safety issues which is what I initially thought would be the focus.
If I were you, I'd at least run through the house prior to the inspections and caulk all cracks that you have in the wall due to settlement. I'd also make sure I have all of the plumbing and HVAC penetrations sealed up so there aren't any gaps there.
Good Luck!
Garth
