On-line IR course -Building IR Basics

[John McKenna]

Originally Posted by jrivera

Now, as far as legalese goes, is taking the shorter, "just what we should really know" version better than going through a 3.5 or 4 day course.

I understand that one needs to "understand" it's proper use. Just asking, because I know there are others wondering the same thing.

How would it stand up in court ?

Mic

If you miss a moisture area in a house (mold and decay to go with it), I do
not know of any class that will protect you if you are found negligent.

On the other hand, I don't know of any course that offers divine protection
because it is the one that is officially recognized as govenment ordained.

In fact, if you were found to be a FLIR-ITC Level III thermographer who
did not know how to inspect a house, you would be SOL... all the training
in the world cannot help you if you blew it.

There must be certain amount of people who agree with me, because
a large number of vendors offer various versions of entry level IR
courses for a variety of fields. They are not breaking any laws to do so,
because there are no laws of what class is right or wrong. Those
standards are set by each industry.

That is why we try to spend all our time teaching about the things that
home inspectors need to know, so you can be a better inspector with
the IR camera.

Your client does not care if you took a Level I course or a building science
course. I have met a lot of Level I people who could not inspect a house.

InterNACHI desires to promote an IR class designed for their inspectors
and requires them to pass a battery of HI testing and education to go with
it, in order to be "Infrared Certified". That looks better in court than taking
a class that had very little to do with an home inspection.

If you were a brand new person trying to be "Infrared Certified" by
InterNACHI... it would take you several months of intense study to pass
all the InterNACHI membership requirements and testings, plus the our
two day Infrared Training course.

It only takes 3.5 days to pass a Level I infrared course and you may still
be unable to be "Infrared Certified" by InterNACHI standards... because
you don't have any background as an inspector and would fail all the test
required to join InterNACHI.

Our "Infrared Certified" standards are very high in the HI industry.
Go ask a Level III thermographer to apply... he can't do it.

Step one - http://www.nachi.org/rigorous2006.htm
Step two - http://www.infrared-certified.com/
Step three - http://www.infraredcertified.com/

When I went to the FLIR-ITC building science course that is
designed for commercial and residential applications, we finished
the infrared theory section of the class in 1.5 days. You see,
even FLIR realizes that it does not take that long to learn that
part of the course if your going into it for building application purposes.

If the judge ask other Level I thermographers "do they now
feel ready to inspect a house with an IR camera?"... the obvious
answer is NO.

Then the judge would ask why you offer Level I as evidence that
you are properly trained to use an IR camera to do home inspections,
when other students would testify that the Level I class has very little
application for doing an IR inspection of a house.

The ASNT defined what a Level I course was way back in the
90's and did not create it for home inspectors... because they were
not using IR cameras on houses yet.

FLIR-ITC realized this and created the building science course
for a broad base of commercial and residential applications, but
InterNACHI has now refined it for home inspectors only.

This was Will Deckers point. Old ideas are still being sold to inspectors,
when at the time, home inspectors were not even on the radar.

[Mathew Hawley]

I think $1700 for a 3.5 day class is waaaay over priced. They know that if someone just spent $7000 - $20,000 on a camera, surely they will spend $1700 for training IMHO

[David A. Andersen]

They also exist in a very high cost of living area, with instructors that also live in the high rent district (California).

I think that the high cost of certification may say something about the service fees we are/should be charging (to include this education thing).

I also thing we are comparing Apples and Oranges!
In less than a year ITC has come up with (and generating more) specialized courses. That's because WE are demanding it! John (and others) "are" providing it and filling the need. Cheaper, more convenient and more to the intended use of the student.

I think YOU GUYS should figure what you NEED and get it the best way you can.
It's not easy for a starving HI (in a crappy market) to pack up for a week and take "vacation time" to get training.

Not only are you learning something you need, John is getting CE certification for those of us in states that need CE to keep our licences.

You also have NACHI folks like Kevin Richardson (for his web site) Will Decker for his PP Presentations etc..., that are creating something worth while. Have any of you hung around the ITC BB? There is no thought process going on there!!! Ask Peter Russel, he posted questions there last year and has yet to get an answer. You get no better support anywhere!

As a matter of fact, ITC education is not approved by my state (yet). That's 64 CE's I have and may not be able to use!