Questions for the State Examine

[William E. Billings]

What books or materials can one use to study for this Proctor test or is knowledge only, who is administering it, how much does it cost? Can the test be taken at any time now and it counts or is there a certain date to take it?

[dquigley]

If you are refering to the National Exam (NHIE) for home inspectors, that is offered by the State of Florida, it can be taken through Pearson Vue. You may sign up and take it Mon. - Friday. The cost is $225.00. This exam also serves as an entry qualification to NAHI, ASHI, and maybe FABI (i'm not sure of FABI). The test is a 200 question multiple choice. The best sorce of study material to my knowledge is the InterNACHI entrance exam, although i have found books and online courses through the internet. InterNACHI also has a link where you can take sample test questions and immediately see your answers, I can't remember how to get to it, but others on the message board can tell you how. Unless you are joining the other Societies, I would have to recommend that you use InterNACHI's proctored exam to obtain your State License. The test only cost $100.00 and has a very high pass rate. Here is the info to take the NHIE

www.pearsonvue.com
Click on "Test Taker Services"
Select "Construction Trades Services, UST & Inspections
Select - Home Inspectors - National Exam NHIE

Hope this answers your question

[Nick Gromicko]

Incorrect. ASHI does not use the NHIE as an entrance exam as ASHI has NO entrance requirements. ASHI is a no-entrance-requirement diploma mill that anyone can join online in 30 seconds or less with nothing more than a valid credit card. Here is the link to diploma mill ASHI's 30-second, online membership application: https://www.homeinspector.org/join/a...n/default.aspx

However, ASHI does shamefully use the NHIE, the very same beginner's exam used by many states to license newbies fresh out of school, as the basis to award their highest "certified" membership status.

[Nick Gromicko]

how much does it cost? Can the test be taken at any time now and it counts or is there a certain date to take it?

Here are the upcoming dates: www.floridainternachi.org

What books or materials can one use to study for this

Here is the entire library of books: http://www.inspectoroutlet.com/inter...r-library.aspx

[dquigley]

My Bad

[wsiegel]

Originally Posted by gromicko

Incorrect. ASHI does not use the NHIE as an entrance exam as ASHI has NO entrance requirements. ASHI is a no-entrance-requirement diploma mill that anyone can join online in 30 seconds or less with nothing more than a valid credit card. Here is the link to diploma mill ASHI's 30-second, online membership application: https://www.homeinspector.org/join/a...n/default.aspx

However, ASHI does shamefully use the NHIE, the very same beginner's exam used by many states to license newbies fresh out of school, as the basis to award their highest "certified" membership status.

That only gets you an associate membership in ASHI. It does not give you any certified status

[wsiegel]

Originally Posted by gromicko

Incorrect. ASHI does not use the NHIE as an entrance exam as ASHI has NO entrance requirements. ASHI is a no-entrance-requirement diploma mill that anyone can join online in 30 seconds or less with nothing more than a valid credit card. Here is the link to diploma mill ASHI's 30-second, online membership application: https://www.homeinspector.org/join/a...n/default.aspx

However, ASHI does shamefully use the NHIE, the very same beginner's exam used by many states to license newbies fresh out of school, as the basis to award their highest "certified" membership status.

ASHI Certified Inspectors— Inspectors in this category have:

• Passed the National Home Inspector Examination and ASHI's Standards and Ethics module.
• Had inspection reports successfully verified for compliance with ASHI's Standards of Practice.
• Submitted valid proof of performance of at least 250 fee-paid home inspections that meet or exceed the ASHI Standards of Practice.

ASHI Associates w/ Logo— Inspectors in this category have:

• Passed the National Home Inspector Examination and ASHI's Standards and Ethics module.
• ASHI has verified performance of 50 fee-paid inspections in substantial compliance with the Standards of Practice.
• Had inspection reports successfully verified for compliance with ASHI's Standards of Practice.

ASHI Associates— Inspectors in this category have:

• Just joined ASHI and may be new to the inspection profession or may be a seasoned inspector who has not yet completed ASHI's requirements to move up in membership.

[Nick Gromicko]

Great post!

You will note that ASHI unconscionably encourages it's come-only-with-cash associate members to go out and perform a certain number of unqualified inspections for poor, unsuspecting consumers as the only way to achieve full members.

You will also note that ASHI's highest, "Certified" membership level only requires the passing of one, beginner's exam (NHIE) once. This is the same exam that is used by many states to license newbies fresh out of school.

BTW: Nowadays, all reporting forms and software packages conform to SOP. It is nearly impossible to generate a report that doesn't meet SOP, so that is a silly requirement.

Like I said, ASHI is a diploma mill of the worst kind. ASHI needs to adopt at least 1 or 2 entrance requirements and they need to add some educational requirements to their lone, beginner's exam requirement for their highest membership level.

[wsiegel]

Originally Posted by gromicko

Great post!

You will note that ASHI unconscionably encourages it's come-only-with-cash associate members to go out and perform a certain number of unqualified inspections for poor, unsuspecting consumers as the only way to achieve full members. What do you think NACHI is doing? Most of your inspectors are newbies. So ASHI has a requirement to become "Certified". You unleash inspectors, who can claim certification after passing one online test (anyone with half a brain can open two browsers and pass the test), who may never have done an inspection. Now, I know you are going to say you have education requirements, but no one ever checks to make sure your members adhere to this requirement. One only has to sign an affidavit stating that they will abide by the rules.

You will also note that ASHI's highest, "Certified" membership level only requires the passing of one, beginner's exam (NHIE) once. This is the same exam that is used by many states to license newbies fresh out of school. And what is yours. Most of the inspectors in the state of Fl who have taken the 'proctored' test have passed on the first time, and those that failed are given second and third chances the same day to pass. I am sure you have statistics to prove how tough your exam is, and I dont know the exact pass rate of the NHIE exam, but the way you are filtering people through in FL with your exam just proves the point of how easy your exam is.

BTW: Nowadays, all reporting forms and software packages conform to SOP. It is nearly impossible to generate a report that doesn't meet SOP, so that is a silly requirement. Which SOP are you talking about. All of them are different. Some are more stringent than others.

Like I said, ASHI is a diploma mill of the worst kind. ASHI needs to adopt at least 1 or 2 entrance requirements and they need to add some educational requirements to their lone, beginner's exam requirement for their highest membership level.

False statement. By joining
ASHI as an associate one does not achieve their highest membership level. Not until you pass the exam and complete 250 inspections can you become a Certified Inpsector. Maybe if NACHI enforeced their requirments it would make you a better organization. Until then you should be showing some repect for the other organizations that are out there.

[Richard Hyland]

William,

May I asked what Proctored exam you used for Home Inspector licensing as proof of a Proctor exam?

Richard

[Nick Gromicko]

William writes:

What do you think NACHI is doing?

Administering a very good, robust education-based ramp up system for inspectors. See www.nachi.org/membership.htm ASHI, on the other hand, is running a no-entrance-requirement diploma mill that anyone can join online in 30 seconds or less with nothing more than a valid credit card. No course requirements, no exam, just a MasterCard: https://www.homeinspector.org/join/a...n/default.aspx Consumers and REALTORs should always check ashi.org to make sure their inspector has nothing to do with this known diploma mill.

Most of your inspectors are newbies.

InterNACHI has the highest experience average of any inspection association except for the Master Inspector Certification Board. Even though many of our members are experienced when they join InterNACHI, you can still see the exact date each member joined by visiting http://www.nachi.org/memberlist/featured/all.htm Each member's InterNACHI ID# consists of 8 digits: YYMMDD##. The first 2 digits represent the year that they joined InterNACHI. ASHI has a few very experienced inspectors and hoards of associate members who joined online in 30 seconds or less.

One only has to sign an affidavit stating that they will abide by the rules.

The affidavit is one thing we do, but not the only. We do much more. We audit 8% of all members each year to make sure they are keeping up. We provide each member with their own unique education log that auto-updates every time they pass a course. We are electronically tied into nearly every licensed state which auto-notifies the correct agency every time a member completes a course. We get our courses approved by every government agency that we can and now have close to 500 approvals. We remove all deterrence to taking additional education voluntarily by making sure we offer plenty of options, most state-approved, all conveniently online, and totally free. ASHI does none of this.

And what is yours. Most of the inspectors in the state of Fl who have taken the 'proctored' test have passed on the first time

Duh! Of course. In case you weren't paying attention, the proctored exam is given by Florida InterNACHI which has as one of its membership requirements... membership in InterNACHI. You can't join Florida InterNACHI unless you first join InterNACHI. And every member of InterNACHI passed the exam already, at least once. So of course, if someone passes an exam unproctored, they are going to pass it proctored. Proctoring doesn't change the questions or answers or the difficulty of the exam they already passed. Could you pass the driver's exam you passed to get your driver's license again if you had to?

I am sure you have statistics to prove how tough your exam is

Yep. You can visit them too. They are updated every time someone takes the exam in live time, so the link takes about 2 minutes to open. Check it out at: http://exams.nachi.org/oe/stats.php But again, be patient with the live-time link as it takes a couple minutes to open. ASHI doesn't release its entrance exam statistics because ASHI has no entrance exam... anyone can join ASHI. I'm not sure if ASHI releases statistics about how many of their "shazam!" applicants use Visa, MasterCard, Discover or Amex to join online.

you should be showing some repect for the other organizations that are out there.

Huh? When am I ever disrespectful to ICC or MICB or the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors or IAC2 or ESA or any other inspection organization. ASHI is not an inspector organization. It is a no-entrance-requirement diploma mill that encourages its come-only-with-credit-card associates to go out and perform a certain number of unqualified inspections for poor, unsuspecting consumers as the only way to achieve their highest "certified" membership level which they award based almost solely on the passing of one beginner's exam (NHIE) once... the very same beginner's exam that some states use to license newbies fresh out of school. I give diploma mill ASHI the exact amount of respect they deserve.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

A$HI started bashing NACHI long befroe Nick returned the favor to A$HI.

[Scott Patterson]

Originally Posted by jbraun

A$HI started bashing NACHI long befroe Nick returned the favor to A$HI.

Can you cite a post or thread where ASHI National or a national officer/board member of ASHI has done this?

Sure, you have members from each org doing it but I can't recall it ever coming from the ASHI home office as it does from INACHI here and on other boards.

It really just needs to end, it does nothing to influence anyone to join or not join either organization. If anything it keeps folks from getting involved any any professional organization.

[Nick Gromicko]

Scott, don't be silly. I can cite hundreds. Go read comments made by your own Board members over the years, on your own ASHI forum, including YOUR OWN comments. The hottest threads on do-nothing ASHI's forum are always whining about what InterNACHI is accomplishing for the profession.

[Scott Patterson]

Originally Posted by gromicko

Scott, don't be silly. I can cite hundreds. Go read comments made by your own Board members over the years, on your own ASHI forum, including YOUR OWN comments. The hottest threads on do-nothing ASHI's forum are always whining about what InterNACHI is accomplishing for the profession.

That's just it. You can not cite one that was done on a public forum. I'm being honest when I say that I really do not recall seeing any. As for me? I do not recall ever saying anything bad or disparaging about INACHI. I might not always agree, but I have always tried to covey the correct information in my post. I'm not saying that is has never happened, I just do not recall any.

If you have not noticed, I changed my tone about you, INACHI and the profession a few years back. Life has more to offer............