NRI Home Correspondence Course

Does anyone remember this course offered by NRI Schools? It was a McGraw Hill company that offered the course.

I am asking because I was taking that course at one time, then was unable to finish. The material I have goes up to lesson 1047 and was wondering if anyone knew what the last lession actually was. The course is no longer offered.

Looking at current course offerings (distance learning/online) appears to be a lot less involved than the NRI course I was doing at the time (1993). Any comments or recommendations?

Thanks much…

Dave,

Welcome to NACHI.

NRI has phased out this program.

Dave,
I believe 1047 was the last lesson (on Zoning). Dave V. is right. They discontinued the course due to plethora of short HI courses that sprung up around the country. It was a very extensive curriculum and was recognized by the VA, & American Home Study Council, but unfortunately most people want the “drive thru” programs like everything else.

You got me curious. Found a couple of sections/lessons (1) 500 series on Promoting business, Record keepkeeping, customer relations, etc (2) a 1000 series of lessons on using computers for inspections and forms, etc. Don’t know if these helps you but there you go. It has been many years since I looked at any of that stuff.

Dave V.
Thanks for the response. I was aware that they phased it out…it is unfortunate as I thought at the time it was one of the best programs out there in terms of content and depth.

Doug,
Thanks for the addtl info…that is what I was looking for. It appears I may have all the course material in my posession. It started out at 1021 and the last booklet I have is the 1047. Also, yes there is the 551 Setting up a business, the 552 Promoting a business and 553 Business Records and Bookkeeping. There is also a 5001 Plans and drawings section and Environmental Hazards kit 2. I don’t think I have the 1000 series on using computers and forms…but I am handy with computers and such…used to fix them for a living. Can you provide me more info on those particular sections/booklets? How many booklets were there?

I still think that this particular course was the best out there back then…and beats many of the existing courses out there today.

I have not reviewed this material in many years (12) Do you think the material may be dated as opposed to the current crop of training material or does it stand the test of time? I ask, because I want to pick up where I left off so to speak. Should I go and spend the money on some sort of training or would this material still be relevent? I never finished the course back in 95, but got up to lesson 1039.

Just the other day I went on to the NACHI online test to see how much I remembered without looking at the material. I scored a 78. I was suprised that I remembered enough to get that score, but know that I would need to go thru all the material again to get back up to speed. If I go the route of the existing training material, what else should I consider to enhance my knowledge and gain experience?

Again, thank for the response…

Dave,
I agree with your assessment of the program and I do not think there is any appreciable difference in what you will be seeing out in the field. The program did cover so much more than what you would get in the average HI course. They covered blueprints, topo mapping, plot plans, appraising property values and how they arrived at a value, and many other lessons not normally covered elsewhere, not to mention a very detailed progressive lesson plan that would be as applicable today as then. Most of the home you will be inspecting will be older than the course materials so the information will definitely be Germaine to what you will be inspecting. There are numerous websites you can visit to bring yourself up to speed on newer technology and building sciences. In fact McGraw-Hill has one that has numerous free on-line courses as well as some paid classes. The additional lessons (computers, etc.) came at the very end of the course and were basic core training for using a computer and believe it or not 3D inspection software program in DOS. Very cumbersone to use, took forever to generate a usable report and was on 51/4 floppy disks. Played with it, hated it and went another direction. If I can answer any other questions or help you in this let me know. If need we can get on the phone and discuss it. Glad I could help you.

Oh yeah, there were 5 lessons on using, setting up the computer. Nothing the average 4th grader does not know how to do. If you have everything else you have the main course, the computer garbage is basically salad, you don’t need it.