Which course to take first?

[Jarrod M. Northage]

John I found your link on a previous post. I'll check it out. I was on the ITC webite and did a short course on a specific model i7 to see if it interested me but I'm going to get a bcam sd instead.

[Peter C. Russell]

Originally Posted by jnorthage

John I found your link on a previous post. I'll check it out. I was on the ITC webite and did a short course on a specific model i7 to see if it interested me but I'm going to get a bcam sd instead.

Jarrod, your statement about ITC being a money grab tells me you have no clue about this industry. No offence but ITC is one of the world leaders in Infrared training and their training is not only superb but well recognized by industry leaders.

You should do some more homework, call ITC and talk to someone. For that matter call The Snell group or Inframation. All three are well recognized.
If your serious about this business there is no cheap training that will pay off in large dividends later. If your only going to use if as a flashy add on to your inspection business than by all means go get the cheap training. Only problem is, and this is what I think the experienced Thermographers like myself are trying to tell you is that this will lead you down a path away from home inspections. A path that pays better per hour than any job I've previously had. But to get to that point you need good training. One of the top instructors in the country told me a while back that if money is tight hold off on buying another /better camera but do the training, good training, the kind of training that this industry is starting to demand.

As far as energy audits go, once you have your level I and your fairly comfortable inspecting houses you can take the BPI course. But, to do a proper audit you will need a blower door, cost 2500.00 add another 1000.00 for you BPI certification plus software, I use TREAT which cost me 450.00 but am thinking of trying Homegauge.

Anyway, your best bet is to take a level I course. Good luck!!

[Jarrod M. Northage]

I'm just curious about a couple things. Nachi's course is around 140 hours.Free as far as I know. Taking a 40hour course that's $1900 plus expenses comes to $3500. Seems Like a no brainer. Seems like some of you are saying that Nachi's educational tools mean nothing. So why did you guys join. Why would Nachi offer such an extensive course if their not going to back you. Why wouldn't Nachi's certification be enough?

[Jarrod M. Northage]

I was just reading the Nachi requirements for Certification, and it states that an extra 16 hours of IR training is needed. So not really free. Thanks to all who have replied to this post. Very informative forum. This forum has put me on the right path too success.

Thanks,

Jarrod

[David A. Andersen]

Seems Like a no brainer.

Yup, exactly that.

Now tell me why I should pay you more than $99 for a home inspection?