New Standards for Infrared Thermography

[John McKenna]

Originally Posted by bkelly2

Having not read the ASNT standard myself I can not categoricaly say that the standard does or does not pertain to our industry.

Tha being said I would be willing to bet that a clever thermographer trainer could devise a training program for HI's that met the ASNT employer certificates based on Recommended Practice No. SNT-TC-1A, devised strictly for Home Inspectors.

I could use the verbiage that my training was given to me by an educational
vendor that met the ASNT standards and it would sound very impressive
to the untrained ear. But so far, the ASNT standards for thermography
courses Level I, II, III were developed about 10 years ago and have very
little to do with a home inspection. Why? Home inspectors were not using
IR cameras for home inspections back then and the courses were not
develped with them in mind.

A Level III ASNT certified thermographer cannot use an IR camera
to inspect a house, if he was not trained as a home inspector to go
with it. Just ask them.

[Brian E. Kelly]

I know John, the intent of my message was to see if some of our learned memebers were up to the chalange of developing a Home Inspector specific standard that would meet the employer certificates based on Recommended Practice No. SNT-TC-1A.


If you read the vendors web site at the top they provide differnt levels of certification based on the reccomended practices for EMPLOYERS, and not recognized as a ASNT NDT cert whatsoever. Sorta inspector cert sleigt of hand if you will. I would still bet that some smart INACHI Thermographer could come up with a reccomended practice for HI's using thermal imagery, and they could base their program on the snt-tc-1a standard and make up their own certs.................... Just a thought............

[John McKenna]

Originally Posted by bkelly2

Sorta inspector cert sleigt of hand

Well said.

[Brian E. Kelly]

Not my first Rodeo John.

Hey do you guys in the east even have Rodeos?

[John McKenna]

Originally Posted by bkelly2

Not my first Rodeo John.

Hey do you guys in the east even have Rodeos?

Do we have rodeos? We invented rodeos in Texas.


This is me on the way to work...

[Brian E. Kelly]

Nice to see Western Traditions moving east.
http://www.worldsoldestrodeo.com/

[John McKenna]

This could turn into another debate... LOL.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepu...8clay0618.html

Still, "world's oldest rodeo" people in Payson and Pecos, Texas, will fuss about this. Their argument is that their towns hosted rodeos before 1888, and therefore predated Prescott's.

Prescott's argument seems to be that their rodeo is the oldest continuous rodeo and therefore outranks the claims of Payson or Pecos, which may have had their first performances earlier, but had not gone on continuously from year to year.

[Brian E. Kelly]

I knew you would like it. Be carefull going to work, nice to see you can handle a lot of bull.

[John McKenna]

Do wah diddy diddy dum diddy do

[Brian A. MacNeish]

Originally Posted by wdecker

One final point, and I hope no one takes this badly.

If there are industry standards for best practices (which there seem to be), why does one have to pay to read and learn from them?

Maybe this is why so many General Contractors build badly and not in accord with these standards.

Maybe the sub-contractors would read and learn from the standards if they were freely available (or only cost copying and mailing fees).

Why do the professional organizations have to charge so much for these standards.

I would posit that if they were concerned about the quality of the work done, that they would make these standards more freely available.

If they did this, would the whole construction industry, and the general public, be better served?

Again, not trying to slam. It just seems to be counter productive.

Will:

Any good trades/professional person should be willing to pay for the standards that govern their vocation. Having sat on a few committees/ boards that produce standards, I have seen the time (a fair amount of it donated by some of the best in the particular sector), energy and costs it takes to produce and update a standard as practices/materials/equipment continually change/improve within the sector.

For example: In Canada, the national plumbing, electrical, building and fire codes cost $200-$300 each. They are re-issued every 5 years with annual updates/ammendments being sent to a person with a "bought" copy (if you register with the standards authority). For the practicing trades individual, this amounts to a cost of $40-$60/year (as most only operate in one specialty). Not really a lot of $$$.....an hour or two of revenue which is written off as expense.

For a home inspector/engineer/architect, we may need 2-3-4 codes plus a number of code referenced standards.....all costing us maybe $200-$400/year on average......not a significant amount for the $$$ ($75-$100+ per hour) we wish to generate in revenue and maybe help save a life or our butts from something serious that we otherwise might miss during an inspection.

These standards are not cheap to produce. If as practioners, we do not wish to individually support the codes/standards process, maybe we can have the government carry all the costs (instead of part as is now the practice here) and have the codes free to everyone. This would increase taxes but spread the costs to everyone who benefits from these documents that may have saved them from loss of life, personal injury or financial loss.

ps: I find, in general, most want the government out of our lives in both regulation and taxes.....but when something screws up, we blame the gov. for not having a regulation or program to take care of it. This is a complex society, becoming more complex as we move forward and as such new laws will have to be generated. Some examples: Who is going to rule on cloning of humans, selling of organs, euthanasia, stem cell issues, abandonment/care/warehousing of the aged, etc. without much research/consultation at significant costs. Laws cost $$$$...to generate and to enforce...the free market doesn't regulate the aforementioned and, in fact, may/will lead to the worst in us coming out- There is now a significant business of purchasing organs, especially kidneys, from the poor in southeast Asia.

[Carl Pennick]

Originally Posted by jseffrin

Infraspection Institute is pleased to announce the release of eight new standards for infrared thermography. Four of the new standards cover thermal imaging applications and four are dedicated to equipment operation and temperature measurement.




Titles of particular interest to Home and Building Inspectors are listed below. These documents are a 'must have' for anyone providing infrared inspection services.

• Standard for Infrared Inspection of Electrical Systems & Rotating Equipment
• Standard for Infrared Inspection of Insulated Roofs
• Standard for Infrared Inspection of Building Envelopes
• Standard for Infrared Inspections to Detect Pests and Pest Related Damage

For information on other available titles, visit the Infraspection Institute website.

Copies of the new Infraspection standards are available in PDF format and may be purchased by calling Infraspection Institute at 609-239-4788 or visiting the Infraspection Online Store.



Jim Seffrin, Director



Infraspection Institute

Hello Jim,

I was nice meeting you in Orlando. Is there any more news on you bringing the level 1 course to Orlando in march/April

[Kevin A. Richardson]

Originally Posted by wdecker

One final point, and I hope no one takes this badly.

If there are industry standards for best practices (which there seem to be), why does one have to pay to read and learn from them?

Maybe this is why so many General Contractors build badly and not in accord with these standards.

Maybe the sub-contractors would read and learn from the standards if they were freely available (or only cost copying and mailing fees).

Why do the professional organizations have to charge so much for these standards.

I would posit that if they were concerned about the quality of the work done, that they would make these standards more freely available.

If they did this, would the whole construction industry, and the general public, be better served?

Again, not trying to slam. It just seems to be counter productive.

I personally do not think 25.00 per standard is too much money to invest in your business.

Kevin

[Carl Pennick]

Originally Posted by krichardson

I personally do not think 25.00 per standard is too much money to invest in your business.

Kevin

I was thinking the same thing. I will be putting in my order later today

[Carl Pennick]

Originally Posted by gbell

Hi Roy,

These guys have been providing IR Training for over 20 years. But you are correct about many people wanting to jump on the band wagon for training people in IR. Personally I would rather go with someone that has been doing it for some time instead of someone that just started last year.

As always Mr Bell. That is a good point well put.

[Greg Bell]

HI Carl,

The last I heard is that they are still working on a date for March or April. I will post it on the board when we have a confirmed date.