International Association of Certified Home Inspectors

Joseph A. Ferry · #16 5/7/08, 5:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mlarson

Joe F.

Nice to see you back and posting as a member.

Now just where is that Avatar of your's?

Thanks, Mike.

New pic.

Nick Gromicko · #17 5/7/08, 5:35 PM

Attorney Joe Ferry writes:

Quote:

The InterNACHI comsop is the result of 5+ man-years of research and development by InterNACHI in consultation with legal, commercial real estate and inspection industry luminaries. It establishes a comprehensive and, more importantly, perhaps, comprehensible - to both the client and the inspector - standard to be applied in the commercial building inspection context.

In my experience, the most common generators of client dissatisfaction in connection with building inspections are skewed and unrealistic notions on the part of the client of what exactly the inspector's work product should entail. In the Law and Disorder seminar, there is a lengthy treatment of both the necessity and the technique of expectation management.

The InterNACHI comsop reduces the potential for an expectation gap to near zero. Consider, for example, Section 4.3:

4.3 Varying levels of due diligence

This standard is designed as a baseline from which the inspector and client can develop and agree to a scope of work that may deviate from this standard depending on budget, time constraints, purpose of the inspection, age of the subject property, and risk tolerance of the client. The level of due diligence should be set where the cost, in time and money, of acquiring information about the subject property will not likely exceed the value of that information. Therefore an inspection performed in accordance with this standard will not be technically exhaustive.

This section gives the client maximum latitude of discretion in determining the scope of the inspection depending on the wide variety of factors mentioned therein that may influence his decision. And it has the collateral effect of protecting the inspector from ex post facto expectation changes.

The comsop is, of course, continuingly reviewed for comprehensiveness, content, coherence and clarity.

It is a giant first step toward a major announcement that is forthcoming in regard to a nationwide lender network that we are developing to generate commercial inspections for the InterNACHI membership, as well as an exclusive insurance program - errors and omissions, general liability - to meet the requirements of these lenders.

Stayed tuned. Great things are coming.

Uh... what he said.

Joseph A. Ferry · #18 5/7/08, 5:46 PM

Are these time-stamps on GMT? It's 1746 here.

Andrew W. Hinz · #19 5/7/08, 5:57 PM

I have only done a few commercial inspections, but my commercial inspection agreement states that we follow the InterNACHI COMSOP. I like it. The commercial inspections that I have done are smallish stuff - small offices, etc., and it seems to work nicely. Here in Texas, we follow the TREC SOP's for residential, but TREC does not regulate commercial properties so I use NACHI's. I've never had a client ask what standards I follow. I don't think they care. They just want it inspected by someone they feel they can trust.

Nick Gromicko · #20 5/7/08, 5:59 PM

Go up to Control Panel link at top left of message board, then to edit options link, then scroll down to Time Zones,... I think.

Nick Gromicko · #21 5/7/08, 6:03 PM

Andrew... 99.9% of all of your clients will never ask about SOP and don't know to. One of the main purposes of www.nachi.org/comsop.htm is for YOU to tell your CLIENT you are using them, not the other way around. Keeps your neck out of a noose later.

Anyway, the type of commercial inspection you gave in your example is very typical... you probably won't ever be hired to inspect the Empire State Building, but what's good for us is the "smallish stuff" as you put it, changes hands a lot. Apartment buildings, small offices, wharehouses, pizza shops, etc. and the money (price you can charge for light commercial) is much better (per hour) than home inspections.

Happy inspecting!

Joseph A. Ferry · #22 5/7/08, 6:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gromicko

Andrew... 99.9% of all of your clients will never ask about SOP and don't know to. One of the main purposes of www.nachi.org/comsop.htm is for YOU to tell your CLIENT you are using them, not the other way around. Keeps your neck out of a noose later.

Emphasis supplied.

Most of the demand letters to which I respond are from attorneys who do not even know that there actually is a standard that inspectors follow.

Michael R. Boyett · #23 5/7/08, 7:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ahinz

Here in Texas, we follow the TREC SOP's for residential, but TREC does not regulate commercial properties so I use NACHI's.

Andrew...unfortunately, that is not accurate. TREC does regulate all inspections for all real property that are part of a real estate transaction and that includes residential and commercial. What is true, is that you are not required to use the 7A-0 residential form for reporting commercial jobs but the state SOP still applies (to the extent that it applies). In other words, if you inspect a commercial roof then the TREC roof SOP applies. If you inspect a commercial item, say a walk-in cooler or something, that is not part of the TREC SOP then it does not apply. I know...gobbledy-gook...Now, you can depart, with agreement of the client, and use ASTM 2018 or the iNACHI SOP but it needs to be in your inspection agreement or Scope of Work.