WDI and Radon Certification

[David Puc]

Anyone from Pa. have information on how to get certified to perform Wood Destroying Insects and Radon Testing?? I have been hiring out these services but scheduling has become a real problem. The agents seem to be discouraged by having three people doing inspections at once. I have heard that to become certified to perform pest inspections you first have to have an applicators license. That sounds rediculous to me.

Plus, I could use the extra money these days.

[Scott Gilligan, CMI]

There are numerous discussions on this board about WDI inspection certification here in PA. DO a search and you will probably find a dozen threads related to them. Anyone in PA can do a WDI inspection according to the Dept. of Agriculture, however the PAR and most lenders will not accept an NPMA 33 form without a valid applicator ID and business license number in the appropriate boxes. SO, even though you aren't required to have a license, most of us who perform WDI inspections have gone the extra step in order to become licensed pesticide applicators with a catagory 12 (WDI) endorsement. It is going to cost you a little more on your insurance, but the revenue from offering the inspections yourself should offset the costs in no time.

As far as radon, Pennsylvania has a very stingent requirement to become a certified radon measurement technician. The process can be downloaded in the recent version of the state radon certification handbook.

Neither ancillary service are cheap investments to add to your company, but the revenue they generate is quickly regained if you market your services effectively.

[wsiegel]

That sounds rediculous to me.

WDO is a highly regulated profession in most states. Why do you find it rediculous that you need a license to perform an inspection? Termites do a hugh amount of damage every year costing home owners millions and millions of dollars in repairs. Most states regulate who can do them so they dont have every Tom Dick and Harry conducting improper insepctions (this is not to say that the licensed inspectors are any better sometimes). It irks me when I see inspectors think that they can perform all of these different inspections and dont understand why they cant without a specific license. We have the same problem here in Florida, which is now being cleaned up. Do you have any idea of what the liability is if you miss termites, or dont document all of the damage? If you dont like the rules, lobby to change them, otherwise we have to play within the rules.

[David Puc]

I dont thik that it is rediculous to be licensed, its rediculous to have an applicators license to do inspections.

[William Thacker]

David...you'll find the radon info here

http://www.dep.state.pa.us/brp/radon...ION_CORNER.htm

It should cost a few hundred bucks or so for the initial training and testing.

You need a QA plan.

Bill

http://allproradon.com