I think I may be dealing with someone at the builder sales office that doesn’t know what they are talking about but here is the situation. My business is based In Cherokee county GA and I have my business license in Cherokee county. The builder is building a home in Forsyth county GA nearby. I have performed many inspections in Forsyth county using my Cherokee county business license. All of the sudden, this builder is telling me that I have to have a Forsyth county business license. Last time I checked, this is not required and secondly, I don’t work for the builder, I work for the buyer. Has something changed that allows builders to have this requirement for my business. If so, please clue me in?
A simple call to Forsyth City Hall or whoever issues the local business licenses would be your best option. Some areas require a business license for every municipality in which work is done. At this time, the builder is the owner of the house and can pretty much make any demand they want of anyone who enters their property.
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I called the Forsyth county business license office and got no one to talk to. I did leave a voicemail. A quick Google search gives me this result.
In Georgia, a builder cannot require a home inspector to obtain a business license in the county where the builder is located. A home inspector is only required to have a business license in the municipality or county where their own business is based.
Here is a breakdown of why a builder cannot enforce this requirement:
Georgia is not a state-regulated licensing state for home inspectors. The state does not issue professional licenses for home inspectors, unlike general contractors.
Home inspectors get a local business license. Instead of a state-issued license, home inspectors simply obtain a business license (also called an Occupational Tax Certificate) from the city or county where their home inspection business is physically located.
Local licenses are not required for every county of operation. A business license generally only covers the inspector’s business location. It does not need to be renewed for every single county or city where they perform a job.
Builders cannot create their own licensing rules. A builder or any other private party does not have the legal authority to create new licensing requirements or enforce municipal licensing ordinances on contractors and inspectors who are working for them.
Related: Need Advice Business Licence
Also: Most inspectors (to begin with) tend to use one form or another of the InterNachi Pre-Inspection Agreement. Ever wonder why this Clause exists in this LEGAL FORM??
Simply not required for our type of services. The builder is FOS and ask him to show the mandate in writing.
While it might not be required, this AI-generated synopsis is not really relevant to the issue. The builder is not creating their own license rules but rather telling you what is required for you to set foot on the property. As the owner of that property, he has all the authority to impose whatever requirement he sees fit on folks, like home inspectors. Really, not much you can do to make the builder change their mind. We face stuff like this often with builders.
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Builder admitted their error in denying me access to do inspections. They called and apologized after I stopped by the office and demonstrated that they were wrong and that they needed to stop the silliness. I lost two inspections out there in the time it took me to get them to budge but I have since performed four other inspections out there since then. AI synopsis was correct as I knew it was all along. Thanks for everyone’s input.
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