legislation pros and cons

[Carla Horne]

Hi all,

Please post thoughts of the pros and cons of home inspector
licensing. It will be interesting to read comments from states
currently with and without licensing.
thanks for participating

CJ

[Dale Duffy]

No problem here Carla.

Follow the AZ ASHI SOP for a minimum inspection, exceed it if you want, exclude items at the customers request, do any type of inspections you want.

At least if someone chooses not to abide by the law, penalties exist from the state.

I don't see where it really makes any difference in my type of business though, I do for the most part, types of inspections most folks never dreamed of. So licensing is basically a $310.00 business expense each year to renew with the state.

[Jae Williams]

"Re: legislation pros and cons"

Here in Ohio we seem to have very few "pros" in the legislature, and with several of our Congersmen having "resigned" in recent years...at least one of them is still in jail (Trafficant) I'd say we have our share of "cons"...

Even our governor has had his day in court this year...

[rwand1]

I have read both pro and con opinions on the subject, but the majority always seem to favour licencing.

For the record I'm in favour of licening in Ontario. Self regulation has not worked in Ontario in over 20 years! At least 3 provinces are currently looking into it and two more may also be considering it in the near future. I suppose the writing is on the wall. And thats a good thing!

[James H. Bushart]

I think that home inspectors in all states should be licensed.

Consumers of home inspections are fools and cannot be trusted to make a decision on their own as to what attributes a good home inspector should have. The free enterprise system is a joke as proven by the very successful and long standing USSR. It is the government, not the consumer, who should define what good business practices are.

Just my thoughts....

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

Originally Posted by jbushart

I think that home inspectors in all states should be licensed.

Consumers of home inspections are fools and cannot be trusted to make a decision on their own as to what attributes a good home inspector should have. The free enterprise system is a joke as proven by the very successful and long standing USSR. It is the government, not the consumer, who should define what good business practices are.

Just my thoughts....

I agree and it works in many trades here in Canada.
Membership control of the Home Inspection industry has been a complete failure here in Ontario.
Now we have a self appointed group who feel they should have control of the Canadian Home inspectors .
This is s secret self appointed group who give very little information .
They had their big meeting recently in Calgary and the only information I have heard was a lot of back clapping and self congratulations.
I and many others have asked many question both direct to some of the directors and via various BBs. This has not been given.
The Ontario association has not been following their own bylaws and the government of Canada laws
These are the people who feel they have the knowledge and experience to run the Canadian Home Inspectors certification.
They refuse to give information and most certainly should not be given any part of future certification or licensing of Canadian Home Inspectors.
Roy Cooke CMI... RHI... CHI...A proud NACHI Member

[James H. Bushart]

I'm with you, Roy.

When it comes to common sense and good judgment, only the government can be trusted to come through 100% of the time. Consumers know nothing and, left up to them, they would not choose an inspector who passed a multiple choice test or paid money to the state for the right to work. They would search by referral or personal experiences or stupid things like that.

And God knows, we need to be regulated. Like you said, left on our own, we are aimless sheep. Only the government can tell us what we need to do and how to do it in such a way to keep the consumer's interests at heart.

[James H. Bushart]

Another good aspect of licensing is the ability it gives us to screw with our competitors. Man, let me find a guy in my area that did not go by the state SOP and I can have his butt before the board....four times a month....

[Michael Larson]

James,

I think you and Roy are on to something here.
Licensing is the only way that we can assure equality of outcomes. Home inspectors could only be the beginning.
I would recommend that farmers be next. I'm certain the recent e-coli outbreaks would not have happened if only Big Government had licensed farmers. How else can the consumer be protected if the government doesn't do it. It obvious that the independent trade groups and co-ops have been a total failure in protecting the public. People are just not intelligent enough to to be trusted to look out for their own well being. We must have more government involvement. I'm sure you agree James.
As always this is JMHO

[Roy D. Cooke, Sr]

Originally Posted by mlarson

James,

I think you and Roy are on to something here.
Licensing is the only way that we can assure equality of outcomes. Home inspectors could only be the beginning.
I would recommend that farmers be next. I'm certain the recent e-coli outbreaks would not have happened if only Big Government had licensed farmers. How else can the consumer be protected if the government doesn't do it. It obvious that the independent trade groups and co-ops have been a total failure in protecting the public. People are just not intelligent enough to to be trusted to look out for their own well being. We must have more government involvement. I'm sure you agree James.
As always this is JMHO

I like Michael but I think he has overlooked what the difficulty we have In Canada.
The Ontario association has been running the Ont Home inspection industry for over 15 years and it is a closed door group controlled by a select few who do as the please.
There is No way I want them to have more control of our Industry and if it takes government control to do it fine .
If they where fair and honerable and listened to those doing Home inspections Great .
From what I have seen they are only into it for the money .
They constantly have more students every year who most never stand a chance to succeed.
Roy Cooke

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by rcooke

There is No way I want them to have more control of our Industry and if it takes government control to do it fine .

Roy,

I'm not a Canadian and know very little about your system of government, so my question may sound a bit silly to you, but I am sincere in asking it.

Is the only choice you have, in order not to be controlled by this one particular group you disapprove of, to be controlled by your government? Is freedom to exercise your own control over your own business not an option?

[rwand1]

How is the government going to control your business, it doesn't control your business it controls you. Licencing ensure you "all" meet a set criteria. The reason people are calling for licencing are likely because of the image the industry has, and the fidicuary responsibilities they hold. In most instances I think everyone involved in realestate are licenced, such as lawyer, mortgage brokers, insurance, realtors, surveyors while home inspectors are not (at least in Ontario). As to marketing I also know that licencing (at least in Ontario) of the trades has not influenced their marketing venues, fwiw.

We as a group could not be managed any worse than we have been with self regulation. Self regulation is not open to public scrutiny in Ontario, but is should be, licencing would ensure accoutability within the corporate structure. Favourtism, conflicts would be a thing of the past, equality; the benefits, just ensure your voices are heard that affect your livelihood.

[tdutt]

Originally Posted by jbushart

I think that home inspectors in all states should be licensed.
....

James, glad to see that you've finally warmed up to state licensing!


Carla,
I like living in a state that licenses h.i.'s. Oregon's h.i.'s are certified by the state's Construction Contractor's Board (CCB). Then each h.i. has to be licensed with the CCB as a business, or be an employee of a business that is licensed with the CCB before they start offering home inspection services. All h.i.'s are required to give the Oregon SOP to their clients during the inspection. Part 1 of our SOP informs the public how the CCB can help them if they think their home inspector was negligent. The CCB offers Oregon citizens free mediation services to those who've hired certified and licensed h.i.'s.
All of this to state.... that the CCB is the first place consumers are directed to go when filing a complaint about their home inspector. All records of complaints, and how they were resolved, that are filed with the CCB are available for public viewing on-line. In fact, the CCB encourages consumers to check out any claims history before hiring either h.i.'s or construction services. Having registered 1200+ certified home inspectors I thought the CCB would get a fair number of complaints. I wanted to find out how many complaints they get each week so I called the CCB office and asked the woman who has the oversight of the home inspection program if she received more than 1 or 2 complaints per week. She told me that she would be surprised if there was more than 1 complaint every 3 or 4 months! That says a lot for the overall success of the program.

The attorney who reviewed my contract stated the same thing. He said there are very few h.i. lawsuits in my state. This attorney is a part of one of Oregon's h.i. associations, reviews contracts, and is a popular speaker at CE seminars, giving us great advice on how to stay out of harms way.

[rwand1]

All of this to state.... that the CCB is the first place consumers are directed to go when filing a complaint about their home inspector. All records of complaints that are filed with the CCB are kept for public viewing. In fact, the CCB encourages consumers to check out any claims history before hiring either h.i.'s or construction services.

Wow! I would think that would keep inspectors on their toes! What is even more interesting is the low rate of complaints. Something maybe working eh?

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by tdutt

James, glad to see that you've finally warmed up to state licensing!

Yes, I have. Doctor said that the scars from my frontal lobotomy should be gone just in time for next legislative session.