Consumer Protection BC is a not-for-profit corporation thatprotects consumers and encourages a fair marketplace in British Columbia](https://www.consumerprotectionbc.ca/home-inspector-portal)
2018-20 Fee Review Consultation
Consultation:2018-2020 Home Inspectors Fee Changes
This is an overview of our 2018-2020 fee review foryour sector. If you want more detailed information about any of the contentbelow, please read this comprehensive document](https://www.consumerprotectionbc.ca/images/content/licensing/home_inspectors/Fee%20Review%20Backgrounder-Home%20Inspectors.pdf) about the fee reviewprocess. *
Introduction
Consumer Protection BC is an independent, self-funded, not-for-profitorganization. Government has tasked us with regulating and licensing yoursector. We have legal authority to set your licensing fees and other charges.In doing so, we are required by law to recover our costs, to consult with youand to provide at least ninety (90) days’ notice prior to changing orintroducing new fees.
**What is happening **
We are in the process ofsetting your licensing fees for 2018-2020. Following a review of our costs andforecasted revenues for the next three years, we are proposing to change yourlicensing fees. To sustain and improve the oversight of your sector and recovercosts, we are consulting on the following proposed licensing fee increases andother fee changes for 2018 – 2020:
- Annual25% increases for licence renewal fees
- Initial36% increase for new licence fees, and 25% increase for 2019 and 2020.
- Annual2% increases for other charges for 2018 through to 2020.
- Feesfor replacement licenses, late licence renewal, and association accreditationhave been eliminated.
[FONT=Calibri]Home Inspectors[/FONT]
Fee Type
**Current **
Fee
**Proposed ****
Fees **
Apr. 1, 2018
Proposed Fees
Apr. 1, 2019
**Proposed Fees[FONT=Times New Roman] Fee Type
Current **
Fee
Proposed ****
Fees **
Apr. 1, 2018
Proposed Fees
Apr. 1, 2019
Proposed Fees
Apr. 1, 2020
New licence
$525
$713
$891
$1114
Renewal licence
$525
$656
$820
$1025
[/FONT]
Apr. 1, 2020
New licence
$525
$713
$891
$1114
Renewal licence
$525
$656
$820
$1025
- For more information aboutchanges to the structure of licence renewals, effective April 1, 2018, pleaseread the information below.
For a full listing of all proposed fee changes for your sector, please reviewthe draft Fee Schedule](https://www.consumerprotectionbc.ca/images/content/licensing/home_inspectors/fees/home%20inspector_fee_schedule%202018.pdf), available here.
Why are fees changing?
Your licensing fees pay for the directcosts of regulating your sector, such as approvals of practical trainers andevaluators and educational providers, licensing, compliance inspections,complaint handling and enforcement activities, as well as indirect costs likecommunications, stakeholder relations, IT, finance and accounting, office rent,etc. Every effort is made to control and manage the cost of regulating yoursector. However, with recent changes to the law and related shifts in ourcosts, some increases to licensing fees are unavoidable. In some cases, costincreases are consistent with inflation, in other cases increases are based onspecific and unique factors related to a sector (for example, changes to thelaw that result in new regulatory requirements).
Consumer Protection BC’s costs for licensing and regulating your sector haveincreased significantly since 2015. Changes to the law, which came into effecton September 1, 2016, expanded our responsibilities for overseeing your sector,as we took on responsibility for administering new and expanded requirementsfor both new and existing home inspectors. Therefore, we are proposing annual25% increases for licence fees and a 2% increase for other charges for 2018through to 2020, with the goal of achieving cost recovery by 2020. As we movetoward achieving cost recovery for your sector we will continue to asses ourcosts, including the impact any future changes to the law may have on our costsand therefore licensing fees. Under a scenario where additional feechanges are required, we will consult with you prior to making any changes.
Examples of Consumer Protection BC’s responsibilities for new and expandedrequirements for home inspectors include
- Assessingqualifications (educational, practical training and assessment requirements)for new home inspector applicants;
- Administeringnew and expanded requirements for existing home inspector licensees (e.g.expanded requirements for home inspector contracts with consumers andinspection reports);
- Assumingresponsibility for all consumer inquiries and complaints for your sector (afunction previously shared with the home inspector associations); and
- Continuedinvolvement in government’s ongoing efforts to develop a single BC Scope ofPractice for home inspectors as well as a streamlined credentialing model foraspiring home inspectors.
You will also notice a newstructure for licence renewal fees, [FONT=Calibri]effective April 1, 2018 forhome inspectors. You will pay a lower fee if you renew yourlicence at least two (2) weeks before it expires. This means that you will payless if you renew your licence at least two weeks prior to your licence expiry,starting with 2018 licence renewals.
We will also no longer be charging late fees. If you don’t renew your licenceby its expiry date, you will need to submit a new licence application, whichcosts more money.
The purpose of these changes is to encourage you to renew your licence beforeits expiry date. This will create efficiencies when we process licencerenewals. [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]How are fees determined?[/FONT]
Consumer Protection BCoperates on a cost recovery basis. As such, costs to licence and regulate sevendifferent industries and provide general consumer protection are primarilycovered by the fees that are collected through licensing.
In setting these fees, we allocate costs to each licensed sector using a numberof factors to determine the sector’s share of the overall costs for us tooperate. The factors that determine a sector’s share of our costs are brokendown by each functional area of our organization. Once these costs of aredetermined for each licensed sector, a fee schedule is developed so thatprojected revenues from each sector closely match our costs to regulate eachsector.
**[FONT=Calibri]What do fees pay for? **
Your licence fees pay for our regulatory and consumer protection activities. Weare mandated to carry out this work under BC’s various consumer protectionlaws. [/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]Give us your feedback[/FONT]
This consultation documentprovides information about the proposed fee schedule and provides anopportunity for you to give us feedback. To provide feedback on the proposed2018-2020 fee changes and/or our fee review process, please take our survey:
](https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/feereview_hi_2017)
All feedback must be providedno later than [FONT=Calibri]October 31, 2017.[/FONT]
[FONT=Calibri]What happensnext?[/FONT]
After the consultation closeson October 31 and we have assessed your feedback, we will give you 90 days’notice prior to any fee changes.
*This document provides youwith an overview of our 2018-2020 fee review process for your sector. If youwant more detailed information, please read this comprehensive document ](https://www.consumerprotectionbc.ca/images/content/licensing/home_inspectors/fees/Fee%20Review%20Backgrounder-Home%20Inspectors.pdf)about the fee review process. *