4 Point Continuing Education

I looked for 4 Point Inspection Education course and could not locate one. As a new Inspector this would be very helpful, especially completing the form and adding pictures.

Questions:

  1. Electrical - Do we do a full blown electrical inspection with pics of all deficiencies or just look at the items on the form?

Pretty much the same question with all 4 points?

How limited is this inspection?

There is no form.

There is no uniform 4 point. You make up your own.

Ask fellow inspectors in your area what they do and do something similar. You can see a sample of mine on my website. 1 page with a few questions of each section. A couple of pages of photos of what you saw. add total amps for electrical and when updated if you can tell.

DO NOT DO A MINI HOME INSPECTION.

DO NOT USE THE NACHI FORM.

Good luck.

I have been doing them using the HomeGuage 4 Point Inspection Template, which is pretty much a complete inspection of the 4 Points, but I am getting the impression that the Ins Agents are not used to seeing them like that, It seems that they are expecting the NACHI form.

The NACHI form is way more than most of them want or need.

A traditional four point inspection is very simple and only requires a small amount of information.

Perhaps a little background will be helpful. Mr.Meeker doesn’t appear to have a lot of affection for the NACHI 4-point form. He complains about it at every oppertunity. But as you can see he didn’t join NACHI until 2009 so he is likely not very knowledgable as to its history. Understand, in 2007 Citizens required 4-point inspections on homes at approx. 50 years. Citizens also required that the electrical portion of the 4-point inspection had to be endorsed (signed off) by an licensed electrican. This meant unless you were a licensed electrican, you had to likely pay a licensed electeican to perform or at least review and sign off on the electrical portion of the 4-point inspection. At the end of the summer in 2007 Nick G. and I think Gerry Beaumont created the NACHI 4-point form and perhaps fine tuned the online electrical course. They were able to get Citizens to agree to accept 4-point inspections from NACHI members using the NACHI approved 4-point form without having to have an electrical endorsement from a licensed electrican. This was a very important acomplishment by Nick and Gerry for members in Florida. It was a little rough at first because some of the underwriters and agents were not aware of the policy change. Enentually it became smooth sailing.

Some of the Citizens underwriters may be now slacking at bit on the form and I’m not sure since they now also require a Home Inspection license in addition to NACHI membership, if Citizenss still requires use of the NACHI form to negate the requirement of an electrical endorsement. Perhaps others moe knowledgable on this part could chime in.

Let me tell you something Richard.

I have been doing 4 points since before I was a NACHI member and before any regular home inspectors were doing them.

I used a licensed electrician to do the electrical portion before I took my NACHI electrical course. Since posting that certificate on my inspections I have not used a electrician and all of my inspections have been accepted.

I got my original 4 point inspection directly from an insurance company and have tweaked it to meet all my needs.

Home inspectors using the NACHI form are causing problems to the customers that they have not previously had to deal with because inspectors are writing up stuff that no one asked for and now it is starting to become common place.

Ask around and see what everyone was doing 2 years ago. No insurance company complained or asked for more until people started doing all kinds of ridiculous stuff.
Slowly but surely what was once a simple insurance inspection is turning into something much more. That goes both for wind mits and 4 points.

Doing above and beyond is great for full home inspections but doing so with insurance inspections causes the client nothing but aggravation, grief and additional money.

Well I guess there is a lot more repeat business when the client fails and needs to have his repairs verified. :roll:

Royal Palm/Tower Hill has changed the game, my friend. They now have written requirements of what information and photos they want. They even have their own form. The OIR really needs to step in so everyone is on the same page.

No it is not the OIR’s responsibility.

The insurance companies MUST tell their customers what they want so we can price accordingly.

It is not for discounts it is for measuring risks.

Why should each company have to ask the same questions and only get the answers the oir deems sufficient?

The companies have the right to ask for whatever they want when deciding what they wish to insure.

In all actually the insurance companies should be the ones hiring us to do these types of inspections. I personally would not like that but if they want it their way that is how it should be done.

I only want what is best for my clients and us inspectors.

How will a homeowner shop?

Use the Nachi form it is safer that way. Or listen to the stucco guy who does the absolute minimum.

John,

What do you charge when you have to go back to verify the deficiencies have been repaired?

Do you get most of you work from insurance agents?

Do you feel going above and beyond what is asked and what is widely accepted benefits your customers?

Yes I am and have been a great many things. I have held a Stucco Contractors License. I do hold a Florida General Contractor License and a Florida Home Inspector License.

Most importantly I am a businessman that has remained self employed since around 1990. I work smart and provide what is needed and do not jeopardize my clients chances of getting insured by trying to make a great big mountain out of a simple mole hill.

Again I will ask. Who do you “all” work for and do you have their best interest at heart or are you just trying to put out a pretty product with as many words and pictures as possible?

Lee
I would suggest using the NACHI form as John said.
If you use " Open Office" I could set you up with a template with pages already set up for 6 to a page photos with comment. (still working on a Word template ).

Also after seeing the Tower Hill requirement for photo of Washer hook ups I may add a line to the plumbing section for this. Have not yet, as I am reluctant to make changes to the original form.

If I could make a suggestion though…get as much info as possible before you starting to do these inspections. Many people worked hard to get NACHI and the form approved and generally accepted by all insurers. A lot of new members diving in to 4 points with out looking out for the best interest of what NACHI has gotten approved could mess things up quick.

Good luck and happy learning!

I do like the NACHI form and I would like to start using it. The question I still have is, How detailed do I have to get?

I hate to have you go to the trouble of a long reply, but I would really like to know, what is the absolute minimum on all of the 4 points?

Again I have been doing a full blown inspection on all 4 points and now I realize that I may have been doing my clients a disservice.

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

A 4-point inspection is designed to let the insurer know what level of risk they are considering taking on. PERIOD. I let them know the facts of what is present and my opinion of the condition.
They want to shift liability to the inspector as much as possible, so be cautious of what you put. If age can’t be determined, I say “appears to be x years” or “approximately x yrs”. An air conditioner that is 21 yrs old, but still works gets an average rating with a life expectancy of “unknown” or “0-1 yrs”. It’s not my call if that fits the criteria for replacement set by that particular insurance company or not. However, if the unit is overgrown with weeds or eaten up with rust or damaged by wind borne debris, it would be below average.
Essentially, we are educated eyes in the field for insurance companies, at the expense of homeowner.
I will probably stop putting a life expectancy on my reports and just include a modified I-NACHI chart with my reports.
I hope this helps.

I work for who ever is paying. I as an independent educated professional understand the the customer may not always know what is best for them, so I only put the truth on the form. I do not leave off info because it may help them get insurance, I do try to include all insurance companies my require. It does sometimes mean more work upfront. We are in contact with their agents all the time to meet the needs of the CLIENT.

Agents have a vested interest in getting the correct information and selling the policy. We are independent and get paid either way. We do charge for most re-inspections and it varies depending on what is being done, where and how. I have a soft heart for little old ladies on fixed incomes and help where I can.

Yes I do try to put out a pretty product with any and ALL pertinent information.

Why are you insistent that you are correct on how you do things over all the inspection orgs, Nick, Ben, Gerry B and thousands of inspectors before you?

I personally do not care how you run your business, but when you steer newbies incorrectly and cheapen the profession, I and everyone else has an obligation to speak-up. This is what being a professional is about.

Can anyone point to any case where an inspector was held liable in anyway for any insurance inspection? Seriously anyone? Show me one case.

Good point.

Good point John,

Hopefully the newbies will follow the advice of the true professionals on this site and rule out to learn from the ones that cut every corner.

I may not be in Florida, but I do plenty of insurance inspections. John is dead-on in my opinion.

For those that want to minimize or withhold relavent information, have you or someone you know ever been denied a claim on your insurance due to conditions discovered after the fact? Just how is that doing what is right for the consumer? Being able to get coverage, is no guarantee that coverage will be worth anything when needed. Providing the truth of the condition can only assist the consumer. If something needs repairing, do they not have a right to know that it is probably uninsurable in it’s present condition?

I never said to minimize or withhold relevant information. I use the form that was given to me by an insurer and have made minor changes. Since regular home inspectors have gotten involved doing these they go above and beyond what has always been sufficient. Their customers suffer and have to spend extra money because of their actions. I do not care how you do it but it seems none of you get it. I guess there is a lot of gravy in re-inspecting.

It is funny because I know many who use forms very similar to me but they just will not say it here.