Are you interested in performing residential energy audits?
InterNACHI’s new online course is coming in February:
“How to Perform Residential Energy Audits”
Bring it on!!!
YES!
oh yea
Great i’ll be looking. How much
Free to all InterNACHI members - just like all of the required courses at http://www.nachi.org/education.htm
You need to be certified by the state to perform these in Florida.
To all,
Nonsense.
I know many InterNACHI members performing what are essentially energy audits for their clients without being “certified” by the state. I performed what were essentially “energy-insulation inspections” in PA. I think Will Decker in IL calls his service “home energy inspections” and “consultations.” Call them “energy inspections” or “thermography checks.” Whatever. There are commercial property inspectors zipping around the building structure with an infrared camera and providing valuable information to their clients (and charging extra for it!).
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Do not allow the State (which is essentially YOU) to block your own ability to take information and turn it into a valuable service.**
For example:
Take the InterNACHI Septic Course. I suggest that there’s information in that course, correctly applied to a business model, that would provide the means to increase income by $50 per inspection (minimum) on a property that has an onsite wastewater treatment (septic) system.
I suggest that if you are an InterNACHI member and not offering a service to perform a “maintenance inspection of the septic system,” you’re making a terrible mistake,and totally disregarding what great opportunities there are to increase sales by applying some knowledge and training provided by InterNACHI (at no cost). The Septic course informs the student exactly what to do in order to provide an additional service that is valuable to the client. This septic inspection adds about 30 minutes to a typical home inspection. What many inspectors do not realize is that a home inspector already performs about 1/2 of what’s required in a septic inspection during a typical home inspection. I think most home inspectors have about 50%-80% of the skill set needed to provide that additional service.
My advice:
Don’t let anyone tell you the information provided by InterNACHI is useless. Don’t listen to the nay-sayers. Learn. Learn. Learn. Learn something new and apply it.
Where’s the link to it? I’m ready!:mrgreen:
Coming in February (early next week).
Sorry Ben,
I wasn’t commenting about the education. I am sure that it is just as good as all the rest. But in Florida you need a certification or state license to perform an energy audit, septic inspection, test for lead paint or radon. The same as you need a license (or need to work with someone licensed) to perform a WDO Inspection.
Greg is absolutely correct. FL has some of the most strict laws and ordinances when it comes to real estate transaction in the country, yet there are still inspectors who think they can buy a new toy and start doing all kinds of ancillary inspections. If they get caught they will never get their HI license once it finally gets implimented. The DBPR has their own investigators and they are serious about this stuff. Besides here in FL all one has to do is contact the Power Company and ask for a free energy audit.
The best way to be competitive in this economy is to diversify.
As you can tell, I’m passionate about education.
Learn something new. Then diversify services.
If that means purchasing a fancy camera and getting some training to use it - Then YES.
I’m not saying to break the law, I’m saying “Let’s go make some money.”
FYI - Finance your IR camera
Yeah, well, you did say “nonsense” to Greg’s post. YOU of all people in your current position need to understand there are many newbie inspectors who read this website and never make a single post, and we don’t even know they exist. They see your post like this one, jump up and run off without doing the first second or research on their State’s laws or requirements and before they know it they are crosswise to the authorities. We know few do research because they come here to ask others what kind of ladder to buy instead of plugging inquiries into Google or one of the other thousand search engines. There should be at least some sort of caveat comment to preclude ignorant inspectors from thinking they can do anything they want “just to make money”. In FL they will fine the living crap out of you if they catch you doing things you are not licensed or qualified to do. Greg only posted a partial list. I do not mean to jump on you but this sort of thing gets up the crack of my butt about a foot and half. We got all kinds of inspectors out there doing everything from home inspections to catching alligators. Then the rest of us who are obeying the laws gets those asinine phone calls from realtors and customers who believe we should ALL be doing them.
I don’t believe you are correct Greg. We’ve been through this before. There was a state program about 6 or 7 years ago in Florida that required homeowners who wanted some kind of home loan or tax credit (I can’t remember the details) to use an energy auditor that was certified in a particular way, but it did not prohibit inspectors from holding themselves out as energy auditors or to offer energy audits. The program was pre-IR cameras. I’ll try to find that FL program but if you find it, post it for us. It did not license the energy audit industry or IR camera use in FL though.
InterNACHI has a long history of working with authorities. Our educational courses are designed to either help an inspector get a license or keep a license. InterNACHI’s courses now enjoy over 400 State approvals and accreditations (see right column of www.nachi.org/education.htm). InterNACHI now has more State approvals and education provider licenses than any other organization or school in the world, and that list continues to grow.
Is there a difference between a NACHI certified energy audit and a BPI or Resnet energy audit? If I can do it for free and get the same training why would I pay $1500 for BPI or Resnet training? I need to know.
Missouri requires certification, too, and only recognizes BPI and RESNET as educational sources for certification, at this time.
Yes, there are 6 differences as I see it:
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Federal and State programs. The first is that some rebate/tax credit programs require a certain type of certified energy audit done to their standards. If you have a client trying to get into one of these programs, the client will need whatever type of energy audit is required to satisfy the program requirements. InterNACHI’s course has not been submitted for approval for any of these programs as it hasn’t even been released yet.
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IR cameras. Most well-known energy audit courses are obsolete with regard to IR cameras or only just beginning to incorporate them.
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Cost. InterNACHI’s courses are free.
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Convenience. InterNACHI’s courses are of online.
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State approval for home inspectorcontinuing education. InterNACHI always gets home inspection CE state approval. I don’t believe RESNET or BPI courses are universally approved for home inspector CE by the states.
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Hands-on. I believe RESNET and BPI have a hands-on component to their training which you don’t get with InterNACHI’s online courses.
Jim, check your link. You’ll note that MO (like the FL one I’m recalling) only requires the particular certification for one particular tax credit. It does not prohibit other types of energy audit training in MO and in fact, recognizes that they exist in that very document.