I am a little concerned myself, for the Alberta Government to appoint a group that receives any financial gain of any sort is a concern to me and others, I can remember many trades that in the past that used the grandfather clause in which no member that was grand fathered ever gained from that “in any way” other then being a good member of that organized/professional group. I don’t know the CMI/RHI person, have they ever had a claim or had been sued. The speed of all this is a real concern to many across Canada and the States. BC had three years, we were notified in May 12,2011 and at that the start date was March 31,2011 in which we had to comply by September 1.2011. and then if needed only given a two year extension ? to become a CMI or a RHI you must be in the business for no less then three years? this is an unachievable goal. Between me and another owner of Home Inspection company’s we have had 9 company’s call and asked if we were willing to buy them out. Let me make this very clear to all, I have no problem assisting to make this a better and more respectable field of Inspection as long as it is clear all around and not so shady, I am even being asked through customers about this. A statement was made that in a 4 and a half year length of time with 250 Inspectors only 18 complaints were made to service Alberta, so even at that rate of one inspection per day per inspector that comes out to 1,642 inspections, this hardly warrants such a stern crack down on this industry in such a harsh manner. Why so fast? why was the first action not taken to make sure all in the field had insurance and a business license, then go after the bad guys that are causing errors and grief to this industry. This looks very one sided to all and sneaky. This is just my opinion.
AND yes “congrats” on passing your inspection, its just to bad you had to.
Rick
The legislation also prevents inspectors from giving cost estimates. I think that was done at the behest of the real estate industry. Too many purchasers using it as leverage to reduce the price of the house. The less hassles for the agents the quicker the closing and the commission cheque.
And you are correct the complaints do not back up the need for licencing.
It is draconian.
There is no mention to my knowledge of complaint process and appeals process.
Bravo James.
Bravo. My sentiment exactly. As the windbag moans on he looks for attention. Feeding off of the discontent others have for him.
Keep on spinning your web MacWindbag
Brian’s like that backseat driver when you where a kid and got your first car. He did not know how to drive but knew everything.
You want to kick out of the car and make him walk home.
Only with MacWindbag you just want to kick him. HA HA HA:)
MacWindy. New name Brian. MacWindy
Raymond, that is how I read it.
That is the biggest piece of lobbied work Alberta has passed after the oil-sands project.
They have taken away the rights of the purchaser to know the cost of the defect and deficiency with out spending more time and money going to company’s or engineers for that job.
I really can not get my head around that type of legislation.
Bought and paid for by the real-estate.
A lot of these legislations seem to be aimed at hurting the purchaser, buyer be ware seems to become a catch phrase for life recently.
How so?
Several Law suits were the result of hi giving out estimates. They were way low and the cost of repairs was much higher.
The case for 190.000 in BC partly came from a low estimate, cannot remember the amount.
Another case in AB was an estimate for 6000.00 and the final judgement was 44,000.00 less the 6000 for a pay out of 38,000.00. These cases happened during the advisory hearings and no drought had an influence of the governments prohibition of giving estimates.
PS the 6000.00 came from a franchise that is notorious for soft inspections.
There are some strange people in Nova Scotia fortunatly we only have one .
Driver smokes joint at police stop
**CBC News **
RCMP said the driver smoked one joint and wasn’t impaired. CBC A brazen driver shocked police by lighting up a joint at a traffic checkpoint in Yarmouth, N.S.
RCMP were conducting a routine vehicle inspection last Wednesday afternoon when the smell of marijuana caught their attention.
Officers walked over to a car with its windows rolled down. Inside was a man casually smoking a joint.
“I honestly don’t know what to think,” RCMP traffic services Cpl. Andy Hamilton told CBC News.
“It doesn’t make any sense to a police officer or the person on the street. You know, this person is obviously a user, a consumer, but why he decided to light up within eyesight of the officers is anybody’s guess.”
Officers spent an hour trying to determine if the man was impaired. He passed the test, but they charged him with possession of marijuana.
“It appears that this was the one and only joint that was smoked,” Hamilton said.
Fortunately for the man, stupidity is not against the law, he added.
“It’s probably a good thing that it isn’t. We wouldn’t be able to write enough tickets.”
That’s where I was heading, Vern. There were 2 court cases which should not have happened. I will give prices on some smaller, stock items but when it comes to rot, renovation, major items…call 2-3 contractors!!
On the opposite side of things:
We have 1 HI locally that always gives quotes- very high ones to protect his a-s-s. So the vendor and/or purchaser looks at exhorbitant costs of repair and…the deal falls…so he gets another inspection for the purchaser…is consider god for saving the purchaser from a bad house…moves on to a second or a third house for the client.
He’s been named the “Deal Breaker”…any one from Halifax reading these boards will know who I’m talking about!!
Last year I was called 3 times about his inspections breaking deals; 2 were from realtors…the other was from a renovator selling his own house of 10 years!!! Without knowing who the HI was, I asked the renovator to read me part of the report…within 2-3 lines, I gave him the name of the HI.
Sounds like it might be a good regulation…will p-i-s-s the realtors off as they have to wait for contractors to get quotes if the deal is to move forward!!
The piece of crap is still moving??? Usually, it’s smell goes away as time goes on…here it just gets worse and worse as time goes on!!
So, Roy, you going to continue to run Nova Scotia down because I live here! Don’t forget your NACHI brothers that live here…I believe there are 19 or 20 current members. Seems like you’re not thinking about them…SMART MOVE!!..NOT!!!
Control yourself…oh right!! That’s not possible!
Now Brian you do not need to tell us about your self .
This is the sort of thing we do not need to know about you.
Many of us keep hoping you will improve and be a nice guy .
Why not try it you might be surprised how well you might get treated .
I am serious why not try it … Roy
**So, Roy, you going to continue to run Nova Scotia down because I live here! Don’t forget your NACHI brothers that live here…I believe there are 19 or 20 current members. Seems like you’re not thinking about them…SMART MOVE!!..NOT!!!
**
Brian if you say INACHI is broken, then you fix something from the inside, not from the outside looking in.
Its like that back sear driver I talked about.
#1: Several Law suits were the result of hi giving out estimates. They were way low and the cost of repairs was much higher.
#2: These cases happened during the advisory hearings and no drought had an influence of the governments prohibition of giving estimates.
#1: these cases where 2 out of tens of thousand of inspection without incident.
#2: The insurance company’s and Brokers had a heavy had in this.
One was an Alberta case and the judgment from the MNA should not have crossed provincial borders.
A CAHPI inspector was responsible for the highest settlement case in Canadian history.
So when the government looked for cause and effected legislation to show result they should have seen that the instigator and orchestrator of this ( save me from my competitor) was devious in their assumption and misleading in there clam.
I have never been a fan of government intervention.
It shows you how lobbing from all the major players that gain favoritism and money play a roll in political conduct.
They are as guilt to all the parties and should be investigated themselves for influence pedaling.
A good lawyer would tear the bill to shreds.
Balls less associations.
Christ it makes me mad no association coughed up any real money to postpone this legislation long enough to lay clam for the rights of the real people being mistreated. THE INSPECTOR.
Brian I think it is obvious how, without Inspectors being able to advise their client, they are then left to deal with the pushy RE agents, who want the sale to go through as quickly as possible. Hopefully most respectable HI will guide their client through what they need to do. Unfortunately we know not all HI are respectable. It looks to me like the purchasers are being forced more into doing their own research instead of being able to depend on their hired experts. Wow, typing late at night is not helping me here, I can’t seem to think how to say what I mean, and lot’s off typos’ to correct.
Buyers do need to be smart, I know that, but when they hire proffesionals (I give up, I can’t spell late at night) they should be able to ask for something as simple as an estimate as to the cost of a repair.
Don’t mind Brian Kathy. He loves to take over a thread.
As to your statement about late night postings, you will get use to it. It becomes part of your life.
Now the purchasers should be doing there own research.
There is plenty of help for them in cyberspace.
Its up to you to help them find that information easily on your website and any other way you can conceive.
Kathleen:
Providing a cost of repair is** not**, repeat, not a simple process. Each and every contractor uses different processes to develop a quote on repairs and they vary considerably.
Never… and I mean **never **provide a client with a cost estimate on repairs leave that to the contractors.
As Vern mentioned above providing cost estimates is a no win situation.
Cheers
Well, I can’t say that providing pricing for repairs is a bad thing. I have been providing price estimates since I have been inspecting.
I do note that pricing can vary by up to 300%.
Client feedback has been positive over the years.
It seems to me to many inspectors either through lack of confidence or lack of knowledge pass to many things off to the experts. Which leads me to ask just what are consumers getting out of the inspection?
As to providing cost estimates, there are several books on the market which will give you costs for your area with a multiplier, there are also some good pricing guides produced by various inspection companies which you could also include with your report, and refer the client to in your report, rather than quoting the prices as part of the written report.
I suppose this is where experience and length in biz come into play. Its a biz decision.
Sorry Kathy. I forgot to quote on your last sentence.
they should be able to ask for something as simple as an estimate as to the cost of a repair.
As Mr. Cossar mentions the right approach. Do not give estimates unless you know how.
Its not the sq-ft or length of the xx and the material and labor cost, gas,insurance, 15% markup waste cost, and I can go one. Its called overhead to run your business and the amount off $$$ you want to make.
It takes years of practical skill-sets.
the purchasers are being forced more into doing their own research instead of being able to depend on their hired experts.
No Mame.
The purchaser have many choices and one is looking to hire an Inspector that has that degree of proficiency.
The buyers holds most of the responsibility here.
They must educate them selves before hand on such a large and important financial and family safety purchase.
Just my opinion.
Do not fixate on the why’s and the many advanced questions for now.
I completely agree with what Robert and Douglas are saying, I wouldn’t even begin to know where to start with an estimate, I am sure there are many Inspectors that do though. I miss spoke there saying simple.
I know buyers have to be smart, but lets be real here, there are some buyers out there that just make you wonder how they can even afford a home!
Buyers should be educated, but they can be sidelined by people not looking out for their interests.
Of course defering to the relevant expert is the best choice, but I imagine some buyers would rather avoid that extra cost until they have a rough estimate, which as far as I can remember was something that a Homie could give.
LOL, Robert as always your right, I am getting a little ahead of the cart aren’t I!