I was at the Home Inspector Advisory Board meeting where this was discussed. One of the Board Members brought this up and read from portions of an Active Rain profile or description. The name of the individual or company was redacted out.
I think the wording in question is from Kevin’s profile. The item that brought the most attention was:
**Identify incomplete, broken, missing, or otherwise damaged areas, along with confirming the overall product meets and or exceeds your specifications along with Industry Standards for workmanship and performance.
**Confirm operation of all appliances, doors, and windows, locks, plumbing fixtures, electrical sockets, and other systems and or mechanisms.
There was about 20 minutes of discussion and the item was referred to the Business Practice Committee. They will meet on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 to discuss this and other items. Place and time to be determined and posted on the Home Inspector Website for the DOL.
Some of the discussion touched on the fact that subcontractors of the builder are licensed when required. i.e. plumbers, electricians, hvac techs. If that is the case, why wouldn’t a company like Kevin’s, also a subcontractor, that performs the duties above that are performed during a home inspection and are part of the State SOP, also require a license like the other subcontractors. I guess if he was an employee of the Builder, it would not be an issue.
There were at least 2 Board Members that felt this was not an issue as those performing this function are normally not inspecting but taking claims from the buyer as items to be fixed under the warranty. Not inspecting, but merely taking information from the buyer. The wording that Kevin has is on that fine line. Do the words “identify” or “confirm” become interchangeable with inspect? At least “identify” is used commonly in the NACHI SOP.
Discussions continued with information about Oregon law that says if you inspect a certain number of items noted in their SOP, it becomes a home inspection. A single item would not qualify. That language is being looked at by the Committee to see if new codes or even laws would be needed to enact something similar.
It usually takes a couple weeks to get the minutes posted. The last meeting had the audio tapes available in about a week if I remember right. It was one of the more interesting Board meetings that I have attended.
Best to all.