Best order to take courses to become a CPI

Inspection Education Topics Inspection Education & Training
1

Hello All,

I am quite interested in the Home Inspection field and becoming a Certified Professional Inspector. I have started to complete some of the courses and I am now curious if I am taking the courses in the proper order. Not to say that there is a right or wrong order to take the courses, it just seems as though there would be a logical order to take the courses in order to get the most out of the information provided. I started to just take the courses in the order they are listed and I’m rethinking that strategy and wondering if anyone has a better order or comments on this post.

Thanks for the help and I am truly grateful for the input,
Nick

2

For me I took the shortest first!

3

Nick,

  Have you thought about in which order you will inspect?

(Example):

  • Exterior – siding, doors, windows, stairs, decks, porches, balconies, driveway, swales, walkway, patio, leaders, gutters, chimneys, fascia, soffit, columns, posts, piers, paint, finish and stain, etc.

  • Structure – foundation, basement, crawlspace, settlement cracks, brick and brick veneer, etc.

  • Roofing – ladder safety, attic, roofing materials, flashing / counter-flashing, trusses and framing, etc.

  • **Plumbing **– water service entry, well type, piping, bathrooms, laundry rooms, drains, traps, dishwashers, hot water heaters, water meter and sump pumps, etc.

  • **Electrical **– service, main panels, sub panels, breakers / fuses, circuits, conductor sizes, receptacle outlets, polarity, grounding and bonding, etc.

  • Heating and Air – hydronic, gas, steam, oil, electric, split systems, heat pumps, radiant heating, wood and coal stoves, etc.

  • **Interior **– doors, windows, wall surfaces, interior finishes, flooring, ceilings, handrails, guardrails, staircases, living spaces, kitchens, bathrooms and garages, etc.

  • Insulation and Ventilation – types of insulation, whole house / attic fans and different types of venting, etc.

  • Fireplaces – firebox, crown, hearth, damper, chimney, draft, smoke shelf, mantle, ash dump, chimney liner / flue and pre-fab units, etc.

  • Specialty Inspections – manufactured / modular homes, new home / phase, pool, spa, wdi / wdo, septic, water, lead, mold and radon, etc.

How are you going to have your Home Inspection Reporting Software set up, so that you can communicate your evaluation with your clients?

(Example):
Exterior – Structure – Roofing – **Plumbing **– **Electrical **– Heating and Air – **Interior **– Insulation and Ventilation – Fireplaces – Specialty Inspections – ****

  • If you’ve read to this point, then you get the idea.

I believe that this will help you to retain your training and apply your knowledge when you get out there inspecting.

Remember safety first. – Stay safe man.

4

Thanks Larry and Michael for the input. Much appreciated. Once again something I didn’t really consider, as far as, training in the order of what my operations will be. Thanks again.

5

Agree with Mike above, but another alternative would be to take your lessons in the normal progression that a typical home is constructed. This way will assist in understanding how a home works together as a system… ie. building science.

There is no “right or wrong” way. It’s a personal thing. When I do my CE’s, (not required in my state), I simply choose what I “feel like” of “need a refresher on” that day. I am not one to sit at a desk all day, for any reason, so I better be interested in the subject to get me to pay attention to the course and not be daydreaming of better ways to spend my free time!

Hope that helps.

6

Thanks Jeffery as well.

I probably should have stated in the original post that I am not a newbie to homes, home construction, restoration, remodeling or “building science”, etc. I am, however, new to the HI portion (with the exception of the inspections I have had done on home purchases). That is the main reason I was asking if there is a good order to take the courses. I don’t want to miss some helpful information that would have been good to know for taking this course or that course only because I didn’t do them in a good order? I am not sure if that makes sense…

I do appreciate the replies I am receiving and thanks for taking the time to do so.

7

of come on…you have to place Electrical ahead of plumbing…be real now…:wink:

8

Plumbing has been around a lot longer than electricity. :wink:

I would start with the foundation and work my way up.

9

Just start. The order doesn’t matter.

10

They often come in the same trench, so… which came first… the sparky or the (butt) cracker? :mrgreen: