Upon receiving better information I am slowly moving to the camp of no legislation is better then bad legislation… and for the life of me there is very little good legislation to be found.
I have little to no dealings with ASHI National, but last year Florida (FLASHI) was firmly against the proposed Florida legislation, I have no clue to what is going on in PA, but it should not be left up to any one organization to decide the fate of HI licensing.
It is becoming quite obvious that NACHI needs to be more proactive at the state level and hopefully open to working with all parties involved regardless of membership affiliation.
I have recently been impressed with the efforts of Frank Carrio of New Hampshire. Not that I know all of the particulars, but it appears that he has an organized plan, the backing of many NH NACHI members and has reached out to include other associations. I have learned the hard way that HI Licensing and all of its ramifications can easily pit one inspector against another, hopefully Frank can put something together that makes sense for everyone concerned without all of the downside we experienced here in Florida.
I want to thank you for this kind post. It seems that you have taken the time to address some of the legitimate questions and issues that we are all facing in New Hampshire.
As time allows I will respond to the more intelligent questions that are meant to stimulate and not to provoke, such as……
[FONT=Arial]1. [/FONT]No legislation is better then bad legislation….I AGREE!
*Last year a New Hampshire Real Estate agent who just happens to be a “Freshman” Duly Elected State Representative met with two of his favorite home inspectors {The Local ASHI NH Chapter Pres. & VP.} and after several “private meetings at a gas station” wrote House Bill 642. This bill was and still is a virtual check list of the “*ASHI Position Statement that includes a model licensing bill that states can use as a guideline to develop strong home inspector legislation”.
Needless to say this position statement / HI bill included the NHIE exam and excluded all others. It included the ASHI 250-home inspection requirements, plus the “80-hour course” that translates into the thinly disguised Carson Dunlop course.
*This meant that if you had been an inspector for 25-years with 10,000 verifiable fee paid inspections and were ICC certified, had passed the NHIE, that you would still have to take the Carson Dunlop course. *
*All of the above applied to inspectors already in business as well as to new applicants. There as no Grandfathering clause. *
*We have a State Representative who has been a Home Inspector for 35-years who was going to be put out of business. I will admit that they stopped short of Requiring membership in ASHI, but just barely. *
*The one sided Reciprocity Clause would have allowed Massachusetts home inspectors free reign to inspect in New Hampshire without have to meet any of our criteria. If a New Hampshire inspector wants to work in Ma. He has to pass the NHIE {easy enough} and then beg a “Licensed Massachusetts Home Inspector” to ride along and supervise the first 25-home inspections and review the next 100. That translates into roughly $12,500.00 of “mentoring”. {I spent 9-months of “mentoring” in Ma. I conducted 3-inspections per day, 6-days per week for 9-months. Since I refused to sign a “Covenant Not To Compete” I still do not have a Ma. License.} *
*If we do not meet this criteria, and we conduct an inspection in Ma. we could be fined $1,000.00 per offense and or jailed. Once again the ASHIFIED House Bill 642 would allow them to do this with impunity. *
*So to make a long story short several of us banded together and formed a “New Hampshire Grass Roots Coalition” to stop this bill. I personally went to 22-Grass Roots committee meetings, and then to 22-meetings at the state capitol to fight this bill. During this time several of us saw that ASHI was united and presented a strong threat to us in New Hampshire. NACHI had no chapter in NH and we had no “official voice” to represent us as a “united front.” {Total meetings were between 55-60. and after the many one on one sessions with the different State Reps. I actually lost count} *
*I made it clear to all involved that I did not have the time or desire to take on this task. All of the members involved made it clear that the need to speak as a “United Front” was either going to make us, or break us. To a man, all expressed the fact that they could not afford to shut down or neglect their Home Inspection business in order to organize and maintain a chapter, fight this bill, and coordinate, and communicate will all of the State Reps that were involved. *
*So since there were no takers and with Nick’s blessing, I “bit the bullet” and charged blindly ahead and we changed from a “New Hampshire Grass Roots Coalition” to the State Chapter of NACHI-NH. *
During this process, I met many a State Representative and I invited State Representatives Benjamin Baroody and AngelineKopka* to our 1st NACHI-NH Chapter meeting. At the first meeting they promised to help NACHI defeat this bill. They were true to their word! *
*In the last 12-months I personally sent out over 700-E-Mails, made over 320-phone calls, and from Dec. 2005 to March 22, 2006 I virtually shut down my inspection business to fight this bill. I am happy to say that due to such a strong support from several State Reps, and such strong opposition from so many NACHI members that on March 22, 2006 by a voice vote of 11-3 the bill was ruled “In Expedient to Legislate” or ITL. This piece of bad legislation died the ugly death it so richly deserved. *
On the evening of March 22,2006 I had two State Reps call me and one E-Mail me congratulating me / us / NACHI on defeating the bill. All three asked me to draft / write a bill that was going to “be Fair to all concerned.” So I went “on Line” and starting in alphabetical order, I researched all of the State Laws that had passed legislation and those that were in committee. I “cherry picked” through the available information and saw what worked and what would not work. I must admit that I monitored the NACHI BB and paid close attention to the likes and dislikes of our membership.
*During the five months of extensive research I found one thing to be true. There is no “Perfect” bill. I found that no matter how fair and balanced you think it is that there will always be detractors and “nay sayers.” Some have a legitimate concern, others are confused as to the interpretation, some find that they are terrified about having to show a level of competency, and others just want to fight. *
*This is why I did not respond to any posts for approximately three months. I wanted to stay focused on the task at hand. *
*Here is a short list of the items included in this bill. I believe that the “Final” Draft was posted on the BB. I am the sole author. We had our first Public Hearing on August 29, 2006 at the State Capitol. Some questions and suggestions were made so I am revising it over the weekend. Here is the gist of the bill. *
*[FONT=Arial]1. *[/FONT]*Protect the consumers in New Hampshire from untrained / incompetent home Inspectors. *
*[FONT=Arial]2. *[/FONT]Protect the New Hampshire inspectors already in business.
*[FONT=Arial]3. *[/FONT]Be fair and unbiased.
*[FONT=Arial]4. *[/FONT]*Not let one association dominate over the other. *
*[FONT=Arial]5. *[/FONT]*Insure that inspectors demonstrate a level of competency by requiring them to pass an entrance examination. NOTE: I have included the NACHI, NHIE, and ICC proctored exams as the standards. *
*[FONT=Arial]6. *[/FONT]*All inspections will be conducted according to a Standards of Practice. The NACHI SOP is the criteria. *
*[FONT=Arial]7. *[/FONT]*The Licensing Board will not be dominated by one association. NACHI, ASHI, and ICC members are all eligible. *
*We will have another public meeting before it is presented to the State Legislators. At this time we have three State Reps who are sponsoring this bill. There will be more sponsors before it is presented. *
*Once again, I thank you for your kind post, and I thank all NACHI members who have shown support for NACHI as a whole and for NACHI-NH in particular. *
You’d think Wisconsin would be at the top considering they simply made the ASHI SOP and licensing requirements the law. If I recall correctly, ASHI is even mentioned by their full name in the HI licensing statue. All a WI licensed HI has to do to become a member is take the ASHI SOP test (which is just an updated version of the WI board examination) and pay the dues.:roll:
Gosh - I wonder if Ford Motor Company put together a grade card to rate all 1/2 ton trucks, which trucks might come out rating better. Humm!!!
Its a smart ploy. They keep pushing that “Grade Card” in front of legislators and many want to know how to get a better rank for their state …
I wonder how to get a better grade (refer to ASHI Stds; use NHIE; follow the ASHI Model Licensing Law; Gosh now you get an “A”).
Its crap and we all know it. ASHI is hard-core pushing for licensing everywhere whether its needed or not, and then trying to get their Stds; their 3rd part test (NHIE); and their boys in control of state boards, etc.