Definition of "home Inspection" for licensing requirements?

I would say that when a contractor wears his HI hat for a full home inspection, then all rules fall under that license. So, my answer would be no.

Once you have a License you are bound by the governing body that issued that license. So if you have both Contractors and home inspection licenses, you are at the mercy of both organizations! You never get to pick and choose which set of rules to follow, and IF there is a conflict between the two sets I guess you are screwed either way!
As far as minimum standards, just wait a few years, and see what “special interests” do to that! You will see a bunch of completely inane requirements creep into it, that help no one apart from the group that put the requirement into effect.
As an example, take the requirement to put six nails into each shingle, I guarantee you, once a shingle lifts past the hold down strip of glue, no amount of nails will save it, but it did increase the amount of nails required by 50%! it would have been far more beneficial for the requirements of the glue strip to be toughened, but who would profit from that? ( yeah, I know the glue maker! But then the house wouldn’t need a new roof or any of the other work required after a storm!)

I completely agree with you. So- the next logical question would have to be- Why would a Florida Licensed contractor(Div1 of course) even want to wear the hat of a licensed home inspector? Especially now that there is apparently an official ruling exempting Div.1 contractors from home inspector licensing and the SOP and ethics provisions that come with a home inspector license? In my mind, a prudent and/or astute contractor business owner who is looking for ways to mitigate risk and reduce liability exposure ( a wise thing to do I would think) would not want to needlessly obtain -or renew- a home inspector license this July. Clearly, holding a home inspector license creates another needless expense for the licensed contractor and also subjects him (needlessly) to additional rules, regulations, ethics provisions , Standards of Practice, and the liability exposure that comes with those additional unnecessary burdens.

Because if you do not hold a Home Inspector’s license you can not hold yourself out as a Home Inspector.

Why would you say that?

Because that is the way the law is written

Ditto, that is in Koning’s Dec statement. If a contractor wanted to do home inspections, even part time, he would have already gotten the license. They didn’t even have to take the test during the last part of grandfathering.

Are you referring to the home inspector licensing law? If yes, I believe that contractors (Div. 1 of course) are exempt from the home inspector licensing law.

I am not an attorney and I do not work or speak for DBPR. However, I would suggest taking a closer look at the Koning Dec statement and specifically the language relating to holding oneself out “specifically” as a home inspector.

Again, if a contractor wants to do home inspections he does not need a home inspector license per the official Koning Dec. statement. As for grandfathering- you are correct that contractors were grandfathered in to a home inspector license- just not for the reasons most believe. It had nothing to do with your experience and all to do with your wallet. Think about that for a minute.

I can’t find the source where I read this, but I believe under Florida Law, home inspectors who are also appropriately licensed (contractor, plumber, electrician, etc.) may offer to make repairs on an inspected property, so long as the offer is not made by the same company who did the inspection.

In other words, Steve’s Inspections INC identifies a condition during a home inspection that requires a licensed contractor to repair. If Steve is also a licensed contractor, Steve may offer to make repairs on the same property, so long as the repair is performed by a different company, Steve’s Contracting INC. It does not matter that Steve is the principal owner of each company.

FYI, I am not saying I think this is right or wrong, just what I remember reading somewhere. It obviously violates InterNACHI’s C.O.E. I’m pretty sure it was from the DBPR site, but I can’t seem to find it now. If I come across it, I will post a followup.

Steve, lets just say you are 100% right. Then Contractors do not need a HI license and don’t have to follow any rules… So Contractors are at the same place where unlicensed HIs were, except they still are licensed and complaints can still be filed against them. We only need to determine if they will be held to any standard. I guess we will see what the CILB does with complaints on them. http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/pro/cilb/meetings_past.html

John, you are correct. I truly had hoped that I was wrong. I have asked these very specific questions to DBPR and they do not want to answer them. The reality is that licensed contractors were duped by DBPR in getting a home inspection license that they did not need in a revenue scheme to fund the home inspector licensing division. The Koning Dec statement confirms this duping. I also agree with one of your previous posts- either in this thread or another thread stating that we will have to see how these things turn out through complaints and the enforcement process. I believe that course of action is a disservice to professional license holders- both home inspectors and contractors. The right thing for DBPR to do would be to answer these questions clearly- rather than victimizing an unsuspecting license holder- whether that be a contractor or a home inspector.

Think about this: The home inspector law says that you can not hold yourself out to be a home inspector unless you have a home inspector license. CILB says that home inspection is within the scope of a contractors license. Common sense would say (and I know that there is a lack of it in Tallahassee) that if home inspection is within the scope of your license, that you (as contractor) would be allowed to say so through your marketing. Now, the Koning Dec statement in an effort to appease the home inspector licensing division said that a contractor cannot “specifically” say that he is a home inspector. What that really means is that a contractor can say in his marketing that he does the following:

New construction
Kitchen and bath remodels
Siding replacement
additions
Decks
Moisture intrusion repairs from bad stucco that he installed 2 years ago (after your warranty has expired):wink:
Home Inspection

As long as the contractor does not limit his marketing to “specifically” home inspection, I believe he is good to go. Of course, rather than relying on my opinion, it would be nice to hear it clarified from DBPR. Of course, that clarification would de-fund the home inspection licensing division with non renewals this July when the over 5500 contractors that were duped into obtaining a home inspector license discover that they don’t need it. Of the approximately 8150 licensed home inspectors currently in Florida, approximately 5500 of them are contractors who were sold licenses they didn’t need. Do the math. Again, we, meaning professional license holders deserve the answers to these questions from DBPR. They don’t want to answer them.

The main reason HIs wanted a license in Florida was so they could do wind mits.

I am not following? What does that have to do with the contractor/inspector issues and the two sets of rules?

It would seem to most people that including the bullet point “home inspections” in your advertising would be holding yourself out as performing home inspection services, and not allowed without the HI license. Do you know of any contractor doing this?

Go back and check your time line. I agree with you that the licensing of home inspectors did get them into the wind mit scheme. But, the addition of home inspectors to 627.711 did not happen until a year after home inspector licensing. So- to say that home inspectors wanted licensing to do wind mits is not entirely accurate - IMHO.

No. Not personally. Again, the requirement is in the home inspector licensing law. The CILB has made it clear that contractors are exempt from the home inspector licensing law as home inspection is within the scope of a contractors license (div.1 of course).

Again, as John states, I guess we are going to have to wait and see through an enforcement proceeding against a professional licensing holder- rather than having DBPR step up and do the right thing and provide clear direction on these issues.

I don’t have to many in our chapter said that was the main or only reason they wanted it. They did it with the hope OIR would allow it.

Thats not exactly how it went down. I can tell you that the OIR did not care either way. I can also tell you that it was the insurance lobby and the wce lobby that did not want home inspectors in the game.

Agreed, they did it with the “hope” that OIR would allow it.