Checking references before a job offer

Is checking references before a job offer is made a common occurrence? I've heard that companies will do this even if they have no intention to hire the person.

Response from Carl: Companies don't have a good reason to check references if they don't plan on hiring that person unless they are afraid the person they'd really like to hire will turn the job down so they'll instead turn to their second choice and they just want to ensure they have references done on that person too.

Recruiters on the other hand will often do references before they've found you a job. It might be company policy - I've worked for recruitment firms that made us complete at least one reference before we were even allowed to help that person look for a job! - while in other cases, their client might demand that when the recruiter sends the resume of a person over for a particular job, that the submission come with 1 completed reference. I've seen that happen too.

Beyond that, I can't think of why a company would conduct reference checks for someone they have no intention of hiring.

Carl