another CAHPI inspector is on CTV . http://www.hightechinspection.ca/
----------------------------------------------------------------------ttp://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100518/bc_olsen_home_inspection_20100518/20100518?hub=BritishColumbia
By: ctvbc.ca
Date: Tuesday May. 18, 2010 5:47 PM PT
Before she bought her home, Darcy Zallen brought in a home inspector.
“What I said to him was this house is at the upper end of my affordability so if there are any major repairs to do I really can’t afford them,” Zallen said.
Darcy hired High Tech Home Inspections of Chilliwack, B.C.
Danny Brown is High Tech’s owner. He did the inspection while Darcy wasn’t there – an apparent mix up in communications.
They never attended the site together at the time of inspection --or after.
Darcy says she was assured the home was solid. But she says the home inspector missed a roof leak that had rotted one wall of the home.
She says the repairs have cost her 40-thousand dollars and counting.
“I would never have bought a house that needed that kind of repair,” she said.
Bruce Hunter is an independent home inspector Darcy brought in for a second look after problems cropped up. “The clues were all there,” he said.
He says the problems with Darcy’s home were easy to spot-- starting with the patched roof.
“What an inspector is supposed to look for is clues,” he said. “Did I see something there that should push me further on to look down below?”
Outside Hunter says the wooden soffits were obviously rotted.
“When you lifted that up you think Oh my God, I’ve got a problem’,” he said.
Darcy had selected High Tech Home Inspection from a list of 30 provided by a home relocation company.
“I assumed they were all the same,” she said.
The problem for home buyers is there are four different licensed home inspection organizations each with different standards.
“He should show you a standard of practice that outlines all the items that he will and will not inspect in the house,” Hunter said.
Danny Brown defended his inspection in a telephone interview.
“There was nothing wrong with the inspection or the inspection report,” he said.
Forced to re-mortgage and now financially stretched to the limit, Darcy says she was educated the hard way
“Basically life is not very fun,” she said.
So what happened to the home inspector? Danny Brown was investigated by his association which found he violated their code of ethics in his dealings with the home owner Darcy
KELOWNA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, MEDIA ADVISORY–(Marketwire - May 10, 2010) - Helene Barton, former Registrar of The Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors (BC) - CAHPI(BC) - was appointed to the newly created position of Executive Director at the organization’s Annual General Meeting in Richmond on April 10th, 2010.
“Helene has been Registrar of CAHPI(BC) for the past two years,” CAHPI President Chris Stockdale said. “The new position was created to reflect the fact that in that time her duties and the expectations of the senior staff position have expanded. We are very pleased to have Helene in the role of Executive Director given the tremendous growth our organization has seen since British Columbia became the first province in Canada to adopt a licensing program for qualified home inspectors.”
“CAHPI(BC) led the drive for licensing in BC with its focus on consumers and its insistence on high standards and qualifications for all professional home inspectors in BC,” Stockdale said. “CAHPI(BC)'s work with municipalities and the province ensures consumers can have confidence that the licensed CAHPI(BC) inspectors they hire are properly trained, educated, and qualified to assist them with what is likely the largest purchase of their lives - a home. Helene has not only helped lead the organization through the new licensing process, she is helping CAHPI organizations in other provinces prepare for licensing as well.”
The Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors (BC) is a professional association that builds awareness of and confidence in the home inspection industry in British Columbia. The organization is member-driven, and improves inspection services through training, education, a Code of Ethics, and responsible Standards of Practice.
Ms. Barton will continue to work out of the CAHPI(BC) provincial office in Kelowna.
/For further information: For information on the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors (BC) please phone us toll-free at 1-800-610-5665 or visit our web site www.cahpi.bc.ca where you will find important information about our Standards of Practice, Code of Ethics, and training, plus valuable recommendations on how to select an inspector — all designed to ensure that you get the most out of a home inspection. You will also find a complete list of CAHPI(BC) Members, the men and women from across British Columbia who provide home inspections and who will work to ensure homebuyers have the information they need when making the decision to purchase a home. Contact: Helene Barton
Executive Director, CAHPI(BC)
250.491.3979 or toll free in BC 1-800-610-5665
htbarton@cahpi.bc.ca www.cahpi.bc.ca/
The name entered is not a match to any national certificate holders currently contained in our database. Please check the spelling and re-enter the name or visit the CAHPI](http://www.cahpi.ca/index.php) web site to find an inspector in your area.
**Perhaps just another Ethical reason for dismissal. **
If you select the “FEE” link from his website, you find a convoluted page of fee schedules, including the service where he offers to have the SELLER (in a pre-listing inspection), sell a discounted home inspection to a prospective PURCHASER, which is not a new inspection, rather, an updated version of the inspection written for the original client. Wow.:shock:
Because all licensed mechanics, plumbers, carpenters, electricians, hvac, dentists, doctors even drivers all do everything right because someone tested them. Unfortunatly there is no test for ethics----that would protect the consumer.
Do you want a way to make extra money? We have spent the past 15 years operating a very successful Home Inspection Business in Alberta, Canada. That success is continuing and we have added other services to it. We became cognizant of the fact that while we have a very attractive income it could some day come to a stop or a slow down due to changes in the supply and demand of Real Estate and perhaps other influencing matters. So we started to look for alternative streams of income to create a safety net for us and our future. About 18 months ago we stumbled onto an amazing, new way that will do just that. It’s one of the most exiting opportunities we have ever seen, AND IT WORKS. ARE YOU OPEN TO DISCOVERING A WAY TO MAKE SOME EXTRA INCOME. If you are like us, the timing may just be right for you so why not call Trudy or Moe at 780-458-8039 or e-mail us THIS IS NOT ABOUT HOME INSPECTIONS
Contact us via E-Mail, simply click here http://www.telusplanet.net/public/moemad/netnow3.gifThis page created with Netscape Navigator Gold Page created December 17, 1998 Modified Sept, 2000 By Moe and Trudy Madsen
Even “certified” doesn’t mean he will always do the right thing. Here in Brockville there is a certified and registered inspector, engineering degree included, he has had this market sewn up for years and I hear and see alot of complaints from his clients after they moved in. He happens to be a favorite for the top selling agents. I have taken 7 inspections from him this month simply because I provided 10 recent client’s contact info and sample reports. (their permission of course) Buyers are becoming informed and expect more from an inspector than a flashlight and checklist report. Bottom line if we want to stay in business, do the right thing. All the certificates and degrees in the world won’t give you the staying power…
Gee this looks to me like what is going on in Canada now a lot of training at big cost’s and still they do not get it right .
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/may/20/home-information-packs-scrapped-hips/print
Hips replaced: Home buyers will have to pay for searches contained within a pack. Photograph: Ahipp/PA
Homeowners selling their properties will no longer be required to produce a home information pack (Hip), after the government announced they will be scrapped.
Hips, which were launched in 2007 and have since become mandatory for anyone selling a home, have been dogged by criticism. Estate agents have long complained they add red tape to the selling process, while sellers have grumbled about the £200-£400 price tag attached to the packs.
Today communities secretary, Eric Pickles, laid an order before parliament suspending Hips, pending primary legislation for a permanent abolition.
“The expensive and unnecessary home information pack has increased the cost and hassle of selling homes and is stifling a fragile housing market,” he said. "That is why I am taking emergency action to suspend the Hip, bringing down the cost of selling a home and removing unnecessary regulation from the home buying process.
“This action will encourage sellers back into the market, and help the market as a whole and the economy recover.”
Sellers will still be required to get an energy performance certificate (EPC), showing how energy efficient a property is, within 28 days of putting their home on the market, as this is a requirement under EU law. The cost of these is typically around £60.
The National Association of Estate Agents welcomed the news, saying that Hips had “failed to benefit homebuyers and actively discouraged sellers.”
However, the announcement will mean that thousands of people who trained as home inspectors and rely on the packs for their income could lose their jobs. There are between 3,000 and 10,000 people whose livelihoods depend on Hips, according to the Association of Home Information Pack Providers.
Graham Brick, who works as a consultant for provider YourHIP.net and part time at Stansted airport, said his income would instantly drop on the back of today’s news.
“There are thousands of people out there who are now going to have to live off their savings, quickly find another job or go on the dole,” he said. “We have already had calls from people today cancelling their Hips.”
He added that Hip providers were hoping the government would allow them to continue to provide EPCs, but he understands this side of the business could be given to the country’s utility companies.
Jayde Cruickshank, an employee of Property Information Exchange, a company that provides Hip elements to home inspectors, said he was “angry and upset” by today’s news.
“We are going to have to completely change our business model overnight,” he said. “Not only do we provide the components within the Hips but we have invested thousands of pounds in developing Hip software. All of that is now down the drain.”
He addded that while he was confident the business would survive in another guise, the company was going to have to make at least five people redundant. He added: "I just don’t understand the rationale for this decision.
“I’ve worked in the housing market for a long time and Hips got rid of those sellers who were just putting their houses up for sale to test the market and left us instead with the serious sellers. It has also shortened the time taken to sell a property.”
The homebuying process will become more expensive as a result of the abolition of the packs, with buyers having to pay for the searches contained within the Hip from today.
"Because all licensed mechanics, plumbers, carpenters, electricians, hvac, dentists, doctors even drivers all do everything right because someone tested them."
I’m assuming you forgot the smiley after this statement? There are a lot of trained mechanics, plumbers, carpenters, electricians, hvac, dentists and doctors who make serious mistakes daily despite having been properly trained. A license is not a guarantee of quality.
I agree that a license is not a guarantee of quality because no one is perfect. But, it will certainly improve quality of work if the person is ethical.
Do you not recommend to your clients that a licensed electrician, plumber, HVAC…be contacted for repairs identified in your inspection report?
Yes Marcel we do recommend licensed contractors, it’s a cya thing I believe for the most part. I’m not a licensed sparky but I can install a gfi as good as anyone and many other things. I guess the only reason I could support licensing is if the license of an inspector was to be revoked after proven negligence. We base our inspection on our professional opinion, there would need to be black and white lines for the condition of everything. There would almost need to be a “used house code”
Agreed Marcel, that goes for decks, windows, roofing and those really well done basement bathrooms
I grew up wiring houses and cottages with my licensed “sparky” father. I picked up a few things along the way. But I understand your point.
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