Building inspectors - ICC

First I appologize for what may be a stupid question. To be a licensed Florida building inspector? Can you be one without working for a municipality etc? I always thought that ICC building inspector only pertained to code enforcement inspectors. However, if I could obtain this license on a private basis this would solve my problem of wind mitigation compliance. Competent to do the inspection…Yes - GC licensensed …No. I hate loosing business due to technicalities!!! Thank-you Nick and all of you who understand the quality of a poperly trained INACHI inspector and getting us approval from the State. When this gets passed, I will personally send you a six pack of your favorite beer. (hey, it was ok for Obama during the Olympics)

Municipal code inspectors aren’t licensed. And private commercial property inspectors are not licensed in Florida either. There is no such thing as a licensed building inspector in Florida (assuming you mean “commercial building” when you say “building”).

There are only certified commercial property inspectors in Florida. http://www.nachi.org/commercialcourse.htm %between%

Yes Florida does have a state building inspector license. Jeff Hooper is a state licensed building inspector. It would be easier to get a contractors license than it would be to get a building inspectors license.

Greg writes:

I can’t find anything on this license Greg. Do you have any additional information? What department of the government issues such licenses? This is news to me.

See if this helps.

http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/pro/build/index.html

Thanks Greg. Looks like it is for local government code inspectors as far as I can tell. They often loosely use the word “building inspector” to mean “new commercial building and new home construction code enforcement officer”

The entity that approves building inspectors is a panel BOAF (building officials assoc. of FL), and trust me it would be a waste of time to even attempt to get their approval. After passing the ICC test you can apply to the panel, they will likely never schedule an appt. and they haven’t approved any home inspectors for four years. They routinely approve far less qualified candidates that are sponsored by municipal code authorities for code enforcement positions. Why? They don’t like us, we typically do their job better than they do.

Brian, your information is technically incorrect. The BOAF is the Building Officials Association of Florida. The BOAF is an association for Florida licensed building officials, plans examiners, and inspectors. They are actually a good group of people and provide continuing educations and support for their members. The board responsible for state licensure for Building Officials, plans examiners and inspectors is the BCAIB . (The Building Code Administrators and Inspectors Board). They are completely separate from the BOAF. The BCAIB is a board that is established and administered by DBPR. The licensure requirements for state licensed inspectors, building officials, and plans examiners is difficult to achieve. The requirements for licensure are spelled out in the Florida Statutes 468.609 Steve Taylor Taylor Inspection Services, Inc. Atlantic Beach, Florida 32233 904-206-0370 www.taylorinspectionservices.com

I tried to get approved for the license last year. I made my application and it was scheduled to be heard by the board. I attended the meeting but unfortunately I was rejected because they felt I didn’t meet the requirements for “practical experience”. I have been in construction for over 20 years but they said I had to have actually “worked” in construction. I have done a little of everything involved in building a home but my official positions were supervisory. Basically they said that if I had worked doing drywall patches or something similar, I would have been approved.

I don’t know many drywall contractors, framers or the like that know much of anything about building codes.

Thanks… So, I guess this was a fair question. The DPBR website showed this to be a somewhat easy license to get. The technical from ICC (2hour exam) and the Florida Principals Exam (2 hours). The application a fairly simple experience requirement and sign off by a license holder (ie. GC) I even called there and the lady didn’t even have a clue who to direct me to but said to just submit the application and they would contact me. I kind of figured it would eventually hit a dead end. Still curious.

From the Florida Statute, which I have read and reread 20 times this week:

  1. Demonstrates 5 years’ combined experience in the field of construction or a related field, building code inspection, or plans review corresponding to the certification category sought;

Wouldn’t 15 years of construction managment be considered experience in construction? Commercial and residential bulding superintendent for GC.

[quote=“gromicko, post:2, topic:48162”]

Municipal code inspectors aren’t licensed. And private commercial property inspectors are not licensed in Florida either. There is no such thing as a licensed building inspector in Florida (assuming you mean “commercial building” when you say “building”).

There are only certified commercial property inspectors in Florida. http://www.nachi.org/commercialcourse.htm [

Nick,
Do you have any more details concerning the licensing process in Florida and how they plan to execute?
Bob Wentz
InterNACHI#07062604
ICC#8025754-B1](“http://www.nachi.org/comercialcourse.htm”)

The way I read it, I thought the time I spent in construction, over 20 years and I have a residential contractor’s license that is inactive, qualified for the experience. The board interpreted that as having “swung a hammer”. They didn’t seem to care what you had done, you just had to have done the physical part of the work.

I haven’t seen many of the workers on a construction site that have any idea of what the codes are or how the codes can be interpreted. But that is the way they are looking at it.

Did you ever find out what is required for a Home Inspector to conduct Commercial property Inspections in Florida?

OP am I correct that you want to do this to do wind mits? or am I misunderstanding your
question?

To do wind mits you just need the nachi class or like one :slight_smile:

No license is required for a commercial property inspection in the State of Florida. To do a wind mitigation on a multifamily(for the MIT form) you need a Building or General Contractor’s license.

I think they reject everyone’s application. I had to go in front of the board. You better have the experience required (GC license I think helped me) and a very well planned argument. 5 people before me got denied. One worked for a municipality and had a building official with him. It was a board of three voting members and I was voted in favor by two. When I asked the other why he voted against he told me not to worry about it.