The state of Nevada is bound by the Lanham Act. CMI is a Federal certification mark. He is a CMI.
No he isn’t. He’s claiming to be exactly what he is, a CMI. Nevada has no say in that. He isn’t claiming to hold the Nevada Master. (NAC 645D.230) license and Nevada doesn’t require him to hold it anyway.
I would be more concerned about someone that pays to be on a Coldwell Banker Concierge list which is a violation of the NACHI COE.
He’s playing the shell game. Obviously he isn’t telling any client that his title isn’t recognized in this state. But in the same breath he’s telling people he’s a master inspector. That doesn’t sound like a reputable inspector.
The integrity of InterNACHI should come first. I don’t want to give anyone a reason to say anything negative about any members actions if I can avoid it.
Wow pal. I don’t pay anything to be on the concierge list. Better check your facts before blerting out stuff you don’t have knowledge on.
That would be wrong. Do you have any evidence that he’s telling people he holds a Nevada MAS license? He could lose his RES license for doing that, if true.
He is perfectly correct in telling people he’s a Certified Master Inspector though, because he is a Certified Master Inspector.
Wow. Inclusion on a Coldwell Banker Concierge list at no charge. That is a first.
From their corporate website:
In order to provide this service free of charge, Concierge requires that invited vendors pay an annual advertising fee to support this website. These fees do not affect your estimates.
Seems if the CMI title bothers anyone it would be easier to confront him on it as a member rather than an enemy.
Dear Mr. Zorn,
Because it appears that I am the subject of this discussion, please allow me to respond. As stated on my website as well as my advertising, I am a Nevada Certified Inspector of Structures, License # IOS.001143.RES. I am also a Certified Master Inspector, as issued by the Master Inspector Certification Board, Inc. I am further more a member of InterNACHI.
I am well aware of the Nevada State Regulations and do, and always have, abided by them. As Mr. Gromicko has stated, CMI is a Registered Federal Certification Mark ( or Registered Trademark ) that is owned by the Master Inspector Certification Board, Inc.
The State of Nevada does not recognize me as holding a Master Inspector License, nor do I claim to have a Nevada Master Inspector License. I have had several conversations with the Nevada Real Estate Division, the governing board for the licensing of Inspectors, as have Mr. Gromicko, and, after working with them , was told that the way it is clarified was “perfect”.
Finally, I have never claimed to be something that I am not and have gone to great lengths to clarify the differences between the License and the Designation. I do not hold a Nevada Master Inspector License because I choose not to at this time. I have been in this business for nearly 20 years in Nevada and Colorado and wish now that I would have become involved with InterNACHI and CMI earlier. I respectfully ask that you not question my reputation and integrity Mr. Zorn, as I will not question yours as either an Inspector or the President of the Nevada InterNACHI Chapter.
Thank you for your time,
Jeff Brown, CMI
Thanks Jeff.
Thank you Nick!
What federal agency certifies a “CMI”??? My understanding is that CMI is simply trademarked!!
If a jurisdiction were not to recognize “CMI” or the “MICB” explicitly in its HI regulations, it possibly could be shown to be illegal to use the designation in the state!!
Jeff in a consumers eyes your a master certified inspector due to the mark given to you by MICB. That’s all a consumer is going to see when they hire you. Most people are not going to take the time to investigate if your a Nevada Master Inspector as well which you are not by visiting the state website. Most people simply don’t look beyond your website thus leading them to believe your a Nevada Master Inspector 
That’s the beef Gordy really has in my opinion and rightfully so. Why not simply sign up and become a master inspector under state law?
CMI has its own ethical standards and committee. I think you should take it up with them. He has a duty to comply with his state laws but it is not up to his competitors to interpret that law. If your state has not ruled against him it will be unproductive to attempt to get the MICB to do it on their behalf, IMO.
Oops. I see that Nick has already addressed this.
It is about intent
if not a member,
not a CMI,
posted credential would need to be forthcoming
when requested…
is there a question?
Jeff,
I had a talk with Gordy this afternoon. He called me to get my opinion on the CMI. At that time, I had not yet seen this thread. Gordy asked me to look at your website. I did. I hope you will take the time to read my entire message but first things first. I want to assure you that Gordy is a good guy and he means well. I consider him to be a good friend. I told him earlier today - speaking as a friend - I disagree with him on this one.
Gordy and I have known each other for a few years. I encouraged him to start the chapter and I have been there supporting him the whole way. Consequently, I have a personal interest in the matter. After looking at your website, I told Gordy that there was nothing to be concerned about. You present your credentials as they should be presented. That includes your use of the CMI Registered Trademark logo.
As Bob Elliot said, we should welcome you as a member. I am confident that after our conversation, Gordy agrees but I’ll let him tell you that himself. Speaking as the honorary VP of the chapter, I want to welcome you to the chapter.
CMI
Gordy may have forgotten, or may not have been aware, that I was on the original committee that drafted the initial framework of the CMI. Other members of the group included Joe Ferry (lawyer), Dr. Bill Merrell (Merrell Institute), Len Unger (long time home inspector and instructor), Tom Lahoun (owner of Midwest Inspector’s Institute) and Deanna Willis (from NACHI, this was before we were InterNACHI).
Nick Gromicko was not on the panel. To be sure, he was the main champion of the cause. He was also smart enough (and wise enough) to let us do our thing. Nick is a persuasive debater. We were convinced that he did not want to have an undue influence over our proceedings. Nick also made it was clear from the beginning that he did not want this to be just a branch of NACHI. Those were among the reasons we were all willing to donate a week of our time to work on the project.
Many inspectors still believe that CMI is really just InterNACHI. What many don’t realize is that not only was Nick not on the panel but one of the panel members, Tom Lahoun, is very much ASHI oriented. Tom was no less interested in ASHI members’ perceptions of CMI than Deanna was of NACHI members. It is probably safe to say that Tom is pretty hard-core ASHI.
One evening, Bill, Deanna and Joe needed to take the evening off from the CMI project to answer phone calls, answer emails and so on. Tom and I had dinner at the hotel. It was a good opportunity to get to know
Tom on a more personal level. We spent hours talking about education and where the home inspection industry was headed. I was really glad we had the opportunity to sit and share ideas. Tom never, even once, said nor did anything to suggest that he was prejudicial in favor of, or against, of any of the existing trade associations.
I was, of course, a NACHI member but I was also involved with NAHI, ASHI, and other trade associations. Nick was not only aware of my relationship with NAHI but at one of the ITA events in which I was helping at the NACHI booth, I took John Bowman and most of the NACHI crew over to the NAHI booth to introduce everyone.
A primary goal for the CMI panel was NOT to repeat the mistakes of other trade certifications. To be clear, I am not suggesting that we thought any existing certifications are seriously flawed. We did, however, talk about the various common criticisms of a wide range of certifications, both in the inspection industry and certifications in other industries.
If there is one thing I would like everyone to know about CMI, it is that we had a sincere desire to do something that would benefit this industry. Each person will have their own ideas about whether we succeeded or not. I, for one, am very proud to have had the opportunity to help.
We spent a solid week from early morning to late at night trying to put this together. There were a few times over the many hours we spent together in which we had heated discussions but it didn’t take long for us to reach agreements and get back to moving in the right direction. One evening, Deanna and I were talking about the team’s progress. She told me that she wasn’t initially sure that we would all be able to work together harmoniously enough to complete our task in one week. She said that she was pleased at how well things were going. In particular, she said that she was pleasantly surprised at how everyone carefully listened to opposing points of view and that we were able to resolve our differences, big and small, so easily.
We wanted the CMI credential to be a solid credential that recognized inspectors for their hard work, experience and education but did not alienate inspectors who do not believe in or support the concept of any credentials that appeared to create tiers. In other words, being a CMI was something to be proud of having but it was not something that inspectors should feel they were being forced into doing.
We tried to do everything in a positive way but we also realized that no matter what our intentions or what we did, there would be detractors. As Frank Sinatra would have said, that’s life.
I have heard the many arguments against certifications of all types. For what it’s worth, we knew that the only thing we could really do is to try to make CMI a certification that is both fair and accessible. Too many certifications give an unfair and unjustifiable advantage to some and effectively lock out others. In my years doing licensing classes for contractors, I have seen many very well qualified electricians, plumbers, HVAC mechanics, Hydronics mechanics, fire alarm technicians and others being denied an opportunity to sit for a license exam because the requirements were written in such a way that no matter how many hoops a person was willing to jump through, the hoops were out of reach. They were denied the opportunity to work in their chosen trades for no good reason. We wanted the CMI to be different.
Legal stuff - The Matter at Hand
Nick Gromicko is aware that a few years ago, I had a situation with the state of Nevada Department of Education. Acting directly on the advice of a member of Nevada’s Board of Regents, I got into some hot water with the Nevada Department of Education. It was a case of the right hand knowing and not agreeing with the left hand. At one point, I was caught I the crossfire and was even threatened with being thrown in jail.
Politics can be that way sometimes.
Just coincidentally, the annual ITA event was taking place during the period in which this was going on. Nick and I were working the NACHI booth at ITA so I told Nick about my situation. He gave me some good advice. I stayed out of jail. Life went on and we all lived happily ever after. That was 2006. My point in mentioning this is that Nick is on top of stuff that the members don’t always know about. Specifically, he
has been involved with Nevada for at least five years that I am aware of.
When Joe Ferry and the others we were all in New York working on the CMI project, we talked about individual states. Bill and Deanna, both being very aware of differences among the states, repeatedly brought up the needs for compliance in individual states. Of course, Joe had contributed enormously to those discussions too. Deanna, being the only NACHI representative on the team was amazingly well versed in State requirements.
That said, neither Nick or I are lawyers. It isn’t always about knowing everything. It is about having all the right phone numbers. So, after I got off the phone with Gordy, I called Joe Ferry. I asked Joe his opinion. Joe, who also was not yet aware of this discussion, said essentially the same exact things that Nick has said in this thread and that I told Gordy over the phone.
The Chapter
This thread was not a good way for InterNACHI members to get to know Gordy. As I said, Gordy is a good guy. You will enjoy getting to know him and you will see that he brings vast knowledge to the chapter. He worked many years in construction. He built many houses in the Valley. I’ve been in construction for more than 36 years. I’ve been doing home inspections for eleven years. I recently tagged along with Gordy on
three home inspections. I almost couldn’t take it all in. Gordy was firing so many things at me that at times I felt like a rank amateur. I must have said “I didn’t know that” 100 or more times in a week in the field with Gordy.
You also have guys Like Kevin G and Roger R there. I know that you already know Roger so I don’t have to tell you what a good guy he is. I know a lot of people in every facet of commercial construction and Kevin ranks among the two or three most knowledgeable people I have ever known. Kevin was the Clark County building inspector for nearly every major hotel on the Strip. He also happens to be a real down to Earth guy like Roger.
The Southern Nevada chapter has the potential to be a great chapter. Gordy has already arranged to have Key as the venue for meetings. As you know, it is a perfect location. It is centrally located, easy to get to from anywhere in the Valley, and the facilities are first rate.
Several well-known and well respected people (such as Mike Crow) have already agreed to do presentations at the meetings. I'll be doing some Electrical seminars for the chapter later this year. If there is anything I can do to help, don't hesitate to call me any time. I hope to see you at a meeting when I am there later this year.
Thanks, George, for providing this informative and enlightening history.
I’m sure that those who are predisposed to resent the CMI designation will remain unchanged in their (pardon the expression) “facts” - but your eyewitness account of the development and implementation of it is a very important record.
Good luck with the chapter.
Thanks George. Most inspectors aren’t aware that so many people worked so hard for the inspection industry to have CMI.
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Trademarks can be registered at both a state and federal level. PTO publishes all applications before approving them so that anyone who objects to the registration has an opportunity to do so.
If no one objects, the registration is granted. All federal repositories have the lists of pending patents and trademarks. Most large municipal and county libraries are federal repositories.
You can find a list of them here: http://catalog.gpo.gov/fdlpdir/FDLPdir.jsp
Also Trademarked in your country Brian: http://www.certifiedmasterinspector.org/cmi/cantrademark.html