Approaches to Developing Inspection in Mexico

[Kenton H. Shepard, CMI]

APPROACHES to DEVELOPING INSPECTION in MEXICO

Because it’s relatively close and resort developments with high-end homes have been and are being built at a fairly rapid pace, creating a need for inspectors, Mexico seems like a likely place on which to concentrate InterNACHI’s early efforts.

Putting together a process to train and certify indigenous inspectors will take some time and I was thinking while that process is being developed, other parts of the effort to establish an inspection industry could be underway.

Here are some thoughts:

• North American inspectors can drive or fly to and from inspection jobs in Mexico. They’ll find these jobs through their own resources and through inspection jobs posted by clients on an InterNACHI website page established for that purpose.
• Those in Mexico who will not want to see this happen will try to stop it. This group might include
  • developers or contractors doing shoddy work
  • Real estate brokers who are afraid deals will be broken, who expect kickbacks for referrals or who want to retain control in their areas.
• Graft is so deeply ingrained in Mexico that some method of avoiding it must be developed. Proving that inspectors can maintain impartiality is crucial to supporting client confidence. If certification is a major part of what InterNACHI has to sell, we need to develop some method of overcoming the graft problem and keeping some kind of oversight in place to which we can point when clients ask how they can be sure of the impartiality of InterNACHI inspectors.

Graft is a problem we will meet everywhere, and if InterNACHI is to be successful some method of dealing with it has to be found.

• One way in which they will try to keep us out is to have inspectors arrested or deported for working in Mexico illegally. Laws regulating home inspection vary by state in Mexico, so a list needs to be compiled of regulations for the various states.
• In an effort to pursue this course of action, InterNACHI should enlist any help it can find in or near Mexico. Especially helpful would be
  • Government agencies interested in seeing local economies boosted by an increase by investment in local real estate. (Ministry of Tourism?)
  • Professional real estate associations like AMPI International http://www.ampiinternational.com/ which is composed of members from both North and Central America.
  • Builders of developments in which homes are of high quality. Inspection Reports can serve as a sales tool.
  • Successful brokers selling high-quality homes for whom Inspection Reports can serve as a sales tool.
  • It may be that nations with consulates in Mexico representing citizens investing substantial sums in Mexican real estate may be of some help in bringing pressure to bear to develop an inspection industry.
• Another method for putting prospective clients in touch with inspectors would be through linking to websites providing other services and information to these clients. If InterNACHI can become something of an information clearinghouse it will expand its online funnel.

Proceeding in this direction will involve researching #5 and #6. That research starts this week.

I have just begun to put effort into developing an education and training program. Paul Abernathy has agreed to help out with electrical. Gerry Beaumont has offered advice and I’m hoping to work out an agreement which will allow us to use his electrical course.

We are going to have to come up with something on inspecting concrete and block. I have done some investigation and have written an article on techniques used to find conditions that can cause corrosion in rebar and carbonation in concrete.
Use of the wrong kind of sand (beach sand), excessive organic matter in the mix, cold joints, lack of re-bar, inadequate structural design, poor concrete mix design, poor curing due to heat or improper addition of retardant chemicals designed to overcome heat… the list is only limited by imagination. If we can imagine a problem, someone in Mexico is using the method that creates that problem right now.
Concrete inspection website http://www.mg-assoc.co.uk/concrete.htm
My article http://www.peaktoprairie.com/?D=60

At this point InterNACHI has contact with North American-born inspectors living and inspecting in Mexico, with people living in Mexico who have widespread contacts in construction, development and who can help pave the way for what we want to accomplish. At this time InterNACHI lacks the funds required to move ahead in developing inspection in Mexico.