Advice For New Guy

[Scott Gilligan, CMI]

Scroll down to page 39 of the PDF version of the Bill and you will see this:

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Section 3. For one year from the publication in the
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Pennsylvania Bulletin that the regulations required under
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section 5 have been adopted and are in effect, an applicant who
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meets all of the requirements of former 68 Pa.C.S. Ch. 75 and
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this section may be licensed as a home inspector without having
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to complete a board-approved training program or course of study
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involving the performance of home inspections. The applicant
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must:
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(1) Be at least 18 years of age.
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(2) Have passed a written examination to test competence
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in home inspection practice.
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(3) Have completed no less than 250 fee-paid inspections
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over the three years immediately preceding publication in the
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Pennsylvania Bulletin that the regulations required under
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section 5 have been adopted and are in effect.
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(4) Show proof of professional liability insurance
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consistent with 68 Pa.C.S. § 75A09.



This is the Grandfathering clause that is to go into effect once the Bill is passed. I was at the stakeholder's meeting and we went round and round about the old requirements that were in the original Bill. This is what the state made a compromise with.

PA is in the process of licensing all the contractor trades before this is likely to get passed. We just recently had the general contractors and home improvement contractor licensure pass. There was also Bills being pushed through at an amazing speed for the licensure of plumbers the last time I checked. Once all the trades are licensed, this is going to go through like a greased pig. The reasoning behind that is that if we are licensed as a home inspector, then we can only defer further evaluation over to another qualified professional. This means another licensed contractor. We pushed for this at the meeting because without it, a licensed trade would be referring work over to someone who has no certification or education requirements.

[Scott Gilligan, CMI]

Originally Posted by bboerner

Sounds no different than any other state really. Yes according to the bill you need to sign up for training in your area that your state approves. Once done pass the national exam. Once done apply for your license and your all set. Check to see if your state requires E&0 they may.

Here's the thing with your advice to this guy Billy....

There are NO approved classes by the state yet because the Bill hasn't passed and there is not Board yet to approve classes. If you look at the New Jersey licensure approved schools, you will probably see that those corrispondance schools are not approved. The Bill has been speculated to be a way for washed up home inspectors to start schools so they can take in more money from tuition than doing inspections.

[Nick Gromicko]

The association-neutral Bill originally came about because of InterNACHI's persistence in pointing out how a fake organization (PHIC) was exploiting the existing regulation to line their leader's pockets and to scam mentoring fees out of newer inspectors. I personally met with Senator Greenleaf (the Bill's sponsor) and encouraged him to clean up the existing regulation. This Bill does exactly that.

Although we are pleased that the association-neutral Bill would all but eliminate PHIC, InterNACHI couldn't wait for it to be enacted into law. We've been suing PHIC , its leaders, and its individual members (and winning one-by-one) into the stone age and will continue suing them and their spouses forever or until they run out of money and are awarded their personal homes. See www.nachi.org/phicscam.htm

[jmagee]

Yeah PA requires E&O. I have it now for being a electrical contractor, think i would be able to convert that over to HI insurance. I have been looking for E&O insurance for HI in PA but cant seem to find any at a decent price. Right now I pay $740 a year for $2m.

On another note, if in PA you will be required to have 250 or more inspections under your belt before that bill passes, could one say that if you charge like $50 per inspection for 300 inspections would one then be grandfathered into the licensing. just asking a theory is all

Thanks

[Scott Gilligan, CMI]

Originally Posted by jmagee

Yeah PA requires E&O. I have it now for being a electrical contractor, think i would be able to convert that over to HI insurance. I have been looking for E&O insurance for HI in PA but cant seem to find any at a decent price. Right now I pay $740 a year for $2m.

On another note, if in PA you will be required to have 250 or more inspections under your belt before that bill passes, could one say that if you charge like $50 per inspection for 300 inspections would one then be grandfathered into the licensing. just asking a theory is all

Thanks

I doubt that your existing E&O (Professional Liability Insurance) will be able to be converted into a policy for Home Inspection. The coverages are drastically different. Expect to pay in the thousands for quality E&O insurance. This is one place were you do not want to pinch pennies starting off as a new inspector.

As far as doing inspections for $50.00...

If you think it is a wise business decission to do 300 inspections for $1500.00 by all means go for it. I can tell you though that you wouldn't recieve a drop of respect from your fellow home inspectors, any realtor worth their salt, or clients that have a half of a brain cell in their heads.

Sounds like a sure fire plan to fail if you ask me.

[Billy Boerner]

If you can find E&O for 1K or less for even 250K in coverage let me know please

[jmagee]

I know that doing inspections for $50 is not worth it I was just talking hypothetically is all. Good advise to know about my current insurance tho. I was hoping that it would be easy to convert it over, but after thinking about it, it does make sence why I would'nt be able to do that.

On the other hand, anyone have any leads on inspector insurance companies in PA areas that have decent prices. I go through Allstate right now for my electrical insurance and I was told that my agent has to have me fill out papers to go outside ins office to get me a quote on E&O insurance.

[Scott Gilligan, CMI]

If you are just starting out and don't have a lot of inspections coming in to make paying for a policy that is a couple of thousand bucks a year, I would suggest you consider Allen Insurance and their Pay Per Inspection policy. It winds up costing about $50.00 per inspection from what I can remember. If you think you can do enough inspections in a year that would make it worth while paying for a full policy, then that would be a better way to go. It all depends on your volume of inspections and the amount of coverage you want.

Personally, I went with FREA because they offer pretty good coverage for the money. I do some largre commercial inspections that require contractors to have a 1 million coverage policy. I also chose to pay for a 10K fidelity bond as well as a bunch of other riders. They aren't the cheapest for basic coverage, but when you start adding in all the extras they balance out and are cheaper than some of the other quotes I have recieved.

Don't forget in PA you need E&O and General Liability.

[jmagee]

Thanks for the advise. Yes I am just starting out. I have my 3 mock inspections lined up already to finish out that requirement for NACHI. But one thing, after that is completed am I able to begin inspecting homes or do I have to tag along with someone this is where I get confused on. And considering I get my insurance in place before I begin to inspect that is. Anywhere to go to get info on what I will need prior to doing my first paid inspection.
Thanks

[Richard A. Milewski]

OK Jim,
From my recent experiences, here's the current PA requirements. First, as of this post, we are currently to comply with PA Act 114. This was passed in 2001 and can be read in its entirety at the bottom of the Attorney General's website at http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/consumers.aspx?id=299 . There is a NEW bill, PA Senate Bill 149, which if/when passed, will supercede Act 114. Again, as of this post, the last action taken on this new bill was in April '09 (referred to Appropriations). This bill may/will affect us "Newbies" as follows:

an applicant who meets all of the requirements of former 68 Pa.C.S. Ch. 75 and this section may be licensed as a home inspector without having to complete a board-approved training program or course of study involving the performance of home inspections. The applicant must:
(1) Be at least 18 years of age.
(2) Have passed a written examination to test competence in home inspection practice.
(3) Have completed no less than 250 fee-paid inspections over the three years immediately preceding publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin that the regulations required under section 5 have been adopted and are in effect.
(4) Show proof of professional liability insurance consistent with 68 Pa.C.S. § 75A09.

You can keep track of whether or not this new bill has passed by going to: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/...ic/cl_view.cfm

Hope this helps. Don't get frustrated. Save THAT for when you complete your PA WDI/WDO certification and find out that you have to purchase additional insurance at the cost of a pesticide applicator, even though you may more than likely be only doing WDI/WDO inspections. What a ripoff. This, from a state that took more than 100 days to pass a budget. Rich

[Frank Magdefrau]

Originally Posted by ppendley

Dont undercut your pricing!!!!

Yea, don't be a damn lowballer.

[Paul Pendley]

WooHooo....Someone agrees!!!

[David A. Selman]

Eat, Sleep and Live home inspections.

Best of Luck!
David Selman
Selman Home Inspections.

[jmagee]

Yeah I am still wondering about the WDI/WDO cert. I looked around for it but have'nt seemed to find out where to get that info from. I did get a quote not sure if it is good or not: $250,000/$500,000 E&O Plus General/Premises Liability $2,500 deductible for $1,998.57. Is this good or should I shop around still.