Commercial Inspections in Florida.

Commercial Inspections in Florida. Do any of you Florida inspectors know what is required for a Florida Home Inspector to conduct Commercial property Inspections in Florida?

A Home Inspectors License.

Thanks.

I called the state (FDBPR) and they told me that I needed a Building Inspector Licence ( BCAIB (1) ). https://www.myfloridalicense.com/CheckListDetail.asp?SID=&xactCode=1031&clientCode=5001&XACT_DEFN_ID=4056

She cited FS 468.8311

(2) “Home” means any residential real property, or manufactured or modular home, which is a single-family dwelling, duplex, triplex, quadruplex, condominium unit, or cooperative unit. The term does not include the common areas of condominiums or cooperatives.

I didn’t think the lady knew what I was talking about because I don’t see such a definition for “commercial property” in BCAIB (1). It all seems related to building codes.

No license of any kind is necessary/required to inspect commercial property in Florida.

Dom.

Thanks.

This may be true…for now. I really can’t see the client hiring anyone without proper credentials and sufficient insurance though. That market seems to be self regulating at present.

I agree.

But for now, it is what it is…

Please educate me on how you come to that conclusion.
You most certainly can do commercial if you follow the ASTM E2018-08 PCA and the money or insurance people don’t required a Phase 1 or 2 property assessment. In my experience the insurance people usually do a Phase 1 on their own.
I posted this earlier on the other commercial link in Florida Inspectors.

Although the Florida DBPR doesn’t specifically license commercial property inspectors, they have approved a commercial course which is based solely on the International Standards of Practice for Inspecting Commercial Properties (the only true commercial inspection SOP in existence).

1 Like

(the only true commercial inspection SOP in existence).
That is stretching that comment a tad.

CREIA has one for sale, but it isn’t anything more than their residential SOP with a few words changed. I know, they snookered me out of $139 to see it.

OUCH! Sorry to hear that and I thing most of us have been enticed to buy something while only looking at the wrapper, I know I have also.
ASTM has a great outline for the parameters of a PCA and a PCR.
Add that to the 16 disciplines in construction and you can navigate well through a commercial property. One must know their limitations! If it weren’t for 40 years in the commercial building business I would be much more limited. I always call for trusted contractors in more complex designs. I would never personally remove covers on three phase main gear as there are specific design elements for different voltage and phasing. I also call on contractors for rooftop chillers and their operation for that staging operation.
The point is that we can do these if one doesn’t get intimidated and work as a team on larger designs. The less complex systems are similar to a residential profile and can be done by oneself with the addition of site conditions. It is great work where you have the opportunity of working with more knowledgeable individuals in the field. I like to follow the specialty contractors and learn but I still call them to perform the inspection.
I use a concept that is referred to the “7 P’s”. Prior Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

ASTM’s (despite its title) is not an SOP at all. It’s a scope of work permission form at best. In sharp contrast, InterNACHI’s Commercial SOP is designed for an inspector to operate his commercial inspection business much like a general contractor builds a home (using specialized subcontractors when & where necessary). The commercial inspection business is not an inspection business as much as it is a management business (I’m both a a commercial inspector and a licensed/insured general contractor, so I can’t help but notice the similarities). InterNACHI’s SOP comes with everything you need including a baseline for the inspection where you and your client start and then agree to add or subtract from. This important paragraph from InterNACHI’s Commercial SOP:

Also found within InterNACHI’s Commercial SOP is every form, document, and sample letter you need to run your commercial inspection business. And they’re all integrated with each other, reference each other, comply with each other, and use the same terminology.

ASTM’s lacks all of this… and it gets worse for ASTM’s: You can’t see their SOP, you can’t read it, you can’t display it on your site, you can’t show it to a potential client, and you can’t include it with your report… unless you pay ASTM for EACH time you use it in any way. They are very aggressive about this too. Casey and O’Malley used to teach commercial inspections and ASTM’s attorneys ordered them to cease and desist even referencing the document. It’s why you can’t find it online.

ASTM’s is not only worthless technically in that it is totally unusable… it’s worthless from a practical standpoint in that you can’t legally use it. I don’t use the word “worthless” lightly here.

Anyway… walk into the light: International Standards of Practice for Inspecting Commercial Properties.

I do commercial inspections so if anyone has a question about it, start a new thread and I’ll do my best to help.

I have read InterNACHI SOP for commercial and I did not find any information relative to ingress-egress, site geometry (except for ADA parking), storm retention and overflow, exterior lighting was omitted as a responsibility and this can be a huge liability.
I also have been doing commercial inspections for years and InterNACHI SOP is a good starting point but not all inclusive to use in Florida.
Not here to argue or debate the issue just making specific points of view relative to the industry in Florida. There is much more to consider when performing commercial inspections where there is no requirement for any disclosure by the existing owner to the prospective buyer and the knowledge and experience needed by the inspector is more intense than that fro residential.
You have done a good job in starting this avenue of income but inspectors should use caution when they consider performing these inspections. To my knowledge there is not one published document that covers all of the necessary items for commercial but rather one should use a library mentality to successfully accomplish this inspection. Obviously it also depends on the level of inspection requested by the client.
Be well, Bill
Again the 7 P’s.

Hey lets see if Florida will make up another license for us to piss away our time and money on.

Yeah Yeah lets do it :slight_smile: We must to protect the consumer we just must…

Wouldn’t put it pass Tallahassee if they can figure a way to make it profitable. Being that the state HI law was passed in 2007 and it took 3 years to go into affect and then another year to implement due to all of their hard work :mrgreen:.
Let’s not give them any ideas though.

Come on I am sure the same idiots that wanted licensing and still will not admit it sucks will buy right in. The States needs some more revenue and I really really want them to tell me more stuff I must do. Pleeeeese.

William, we’ve found that no one wants to pay for a full-blown ADA-compliance report. What InterNACHI’s Commercial SOP Accessibility add-on http://www.nachi.org/comsop.htm#14 is what everyone really wants and is willing to pay for with regard to accessibility. The reporting form and Key is included in the accompanying documents to make it simple. InterNACHI’s Scope of Work section permits you to add that and anything your client is willing to pay additionally for. Remember, there is no sense in gathering information for your client if the cost of gathering that information is greater than the value of that information.

Nick, you put together, with a lot of time and work expended I’m sure, a good SOP for commercial and I’m sure this will assist those that want to venture into these waters.
BTW, I’m near completion of writing my third text for inspections. My first was New Progressive Residential Inspections for new sites from the ground up, the second was Manufacture and Mobile Home Inspections for residences in Florida and this one is Commercial Inspections in Florida which is a guideline for commercial inspections in the state of Florida. Expect it to be completed in a couple of weeks.
Be well, Bill

Can we publish/sell them for you? We sell over a million dollars worth of inspection publications a year.

On a side note, our 2nd best-selling book is this one: http://www.inspectoroutlet.com/international-sop-for-inspecting-commercial-properties-book.aspx purchased mostly by engineering firms. Our best selling book is of course www.nachi.org/now.htm