Thanx. for the honesty.
Steven
Where is James B?
He must have something good to say about these unlicensed, unregulated inspectors!
I can’t imagine how a regulation could serve to protect anyone from this type of practice! :-0
Screw the HI regulation. IRS anyone?
Licensing is not the answer.
Licensing is an “equalizer”, putting the licensed inspector with a week on the job at the same level as the 35 year veteran. In the eye of the consumer, both of them are equally competent and qualified to be certified by the State as able to do their inspection. The next step…which of these equally qualified and competent inspectos is the cheapest?
Put a licensing rule in effect and your $195 inspectors have just climbed a notch and have become even more formidable in competing against you, now that they share the same level of competency (as indicated by their license) as you do.
If I do a marketing presentation for a Realty company, I typically hand out coupons for $50.00 off the 1st inspection referral. The coupons all have expiration dates and each Realtor is entitled to only one.
I look at it like this: I would never get their business if I didn’t entice them somehow. If I loose $50 on the first inspection but gain years of referrals, the cost of that one-time marketing was insignificant. Typically very few redeem their coupons–about 5%. But the 5% who try me tend to be loyal afterward.
If you’re trying to build your business, you might want to consider it. If you’re already busy, then I would not.
My intention was a once only thing. What I have found if that if you can get the realtor to use you once you have a good chance (if done right of course) of getting more. The best way is to give some thing to the realtor that they can pass it on to the client. Each inspection should get you 3 potential oppourtunities.
Home Seller is buying
Listing Agent (If you help close the Deal)
Buyers Agent (Future Referals)
CAPHI is the assoc that requires 250 paid inspections to become certified so who do you think is lowballing to get certified. For an association to demand that the consumer pay an uncertified (unqualified) person before CAPHI will certify them is unacceptable as far as I’m concerned.
Makes a lie out of looking after the consumers interest don’t you think.
To become a professional engineer new graduates must now do four years of related work under the direct supervision of a professional engineer and then pass some more exams before getting their license.
CAPHI demands 250 unsupervised paid inspections.
BTW Bill is this where all the bad inspections and come from?
When I was on the OAHI DPPC I did not see any difference from old or new Inspectors.
. Going from memory it seems to me to have been about the same .
Some of the new inspectors needed to be more carefull on writing their reports .
Some of the older ones seem to just get a little relaxed and blase.
As for cupons this has been gone over many times on this BB and just about every one has tried them and just about every one says they are on No advantage and most said they would not do it again from what I saw
.
Roy Cooke
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It’s CAHPI, not CAPHI
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I don’t know where you get your information, but before anyone new gets the National Certification, AND before he/she does even one inspection, he/she must take at least 200 hours of home inspection training courses (courses must be on the accredited list) related to the National Occupational Standards and he/she must pass all related exams (all proctored). He/she must complete a minimum of 50 hours of mentoring on actual inspections, and pass one Test Inspection with Peer Review. After getting to this point, he/she reaches the Candidate level which he/she stays in for one year, during which he/she can do at least 150 inspections. These inspections are all subject to spot-review. They cannot move up the ladder any faster even if they reach 150 inspections before one year. At the end of a year, he/she must do two more Test Inspections with Peer Review.
At that point, he/she submits his/her information and has it asessed by the National Certification Council to ensure it is all valid. If all of this is in order, he/she can then become a National Certificate Holder.
Now, are they better or worse prepared to do inspections than someone who takes a short, unproctored online quiz with the help of anyone available and then goes out and buys a flashlight and screwdriver and has some business cards printed up??
Bill Mullen
A flashlight and a screwdriver? Do I need that too?
Having heard this regularly from the ASHI inspectors it has not been proved .
It is just a rumor that some love to spread around and some just never seem to give up saying this regularly.
I would have to say those who have only
(unproctored on line quiz with the help of anyone ) They are still much more ready to do inspections then the students who have paid their money to XXX/XXXXX and they are doing inspections .
Having been a member of various other associations I do know for sure the opportunity at NACHI to increase ones Knowledge is the best.
So much for not ridiculing the other associations .
I guess we are both guilty of this Bill .
Roy Cooke
Actually Bill, I have a few thousand dollars in tools and equipment for the home inspection work that I do and yes I take the NACHI on line test regularly (it’s a different test every time) all by myself too! NACHI COE and SOP are pretty much the same as every other association, possibly better than most others. My credentials and experience in building science, home building and renovating speak for themselves. Am I better prepared to do home inspections than someone who took a few courses and got “Nationally Certified”? Yes. Will I pay the ridiculous fees that they are charging for non-Cahpi members to go through the NC process? No!
No disrespect, Roy, but who other than yourself has decided that you are ‘better prepared’? From what you say, you have never had your credentials or your inspection skills verified as to whether they meet any standards. We can’t just say we are qualified; we have to prove it. I am a licensed carpenter, was a building contractor for twenty plus years, yet not until I took a few home inspection courses did I realize that while my experience served me well, I was missing some pieces of knowledge to make me a good Home Inspector.
As far as not paying for the National Certification, that’s entirely your choice.
Bill Mullen
What actual “***proof” ***exists, regarding one’s qualifications as a home inspector, aside from an accurate, comprehensive and understandable report?
Does any credential of any sort from any source guarantee a flawless inspection anywhere to anyone?
And who, other than the person purchasing that report, can judge it as being so?
Roy:
I was responding to a remark from Vern Mitchinson in which he apparently did not understand the requirements of the National Certification. I merely pointed out the difference between it and the NACHI certification. Mentioning the online quiz hardly qualifies as ridiculing it. I merely stated that it could be done with someone else’s help, and that is true. You cannot get the National Certification anywhere nearly that easily, nor should you.
Bill Mullen
My opinion on the NATIONAL CERTIFICATION .
If I was to spend the $1,100:00 to become certified would I make any more money .
I do not think I would make one more cent then I do now .
It would not make me one bit better an inspector then I am now.
I think this NC is nothing but a lot of mere window dressing designed to pump up interest without fundamentally changing how home Inspects are done.
It’s a lot of sound and fury ,essentially signifying nothing.
Not that there’s necessary anything wrong with these changes ,mind you.
Just take them for what they are : lots of smoke and mirrors designed to create a BUZZ, little of lasting substance to cause any real change.
There is no earthly reason why we can expect to be any better then what we have now.
It ain’t Broke why try and fix it .
Roy Cooke … Join NACHI be Happy
I see. So in your world there is no need to learn how to do a job and be tested in that knowledge before one actually does it. That sure could change how the world operates. If I need brain surgery I sure hope the surgeon has taken a few relevant courses and has had someone show him how to do it. But, I guess if he screws up, I, as his client will tell him he screwed up so that’s okay.
Sorry, I don’t subscribe to that type of ‘end user’ testing.
I believe that the National Certification Program has developed a fair method of evaluating our skills before we are foisted on the public, and I think that makes sense.
If you disagree, that’s fine. It won’t change a thing.
Bill Mullen
That is not what I said.
Of course, in order to perform a home inspection and to write an accurate, comprehensive and understandable report…I would require knowledge and skill.
It is true that all persons who will do a good home inspection will require knowledge and skill related to it. It is false, however, to say that all who have knowledge and skill will do a good home inspection…which is what your “certification” implies.
That’s fine, Roy. I have never expected you to sign up anyway. All the National Certification Authority has to do is offer it to every Canadian Home Inspector, and we have done that. You can take it or leave it.
Bill Mullen
At least we actually test those skills in the field and provide peer review and feedback. Our system tests the skills and knowledge and ensures an inspector has taken courses that prepare him before he does any inspections on his own.
I didn’t say that all who have knowledge and skills will do a good inspection. I will say, however, that someone who has taken and passed accredited courses and has been tested and reviewed by his peers stands a better chance of doing a good inspection than someone who merely appoints himself an expert.
Bill Mullen
Bill Mullen
I have never expected you to sign up anyway
Sorry Bill I was the very first one to send in my application to take the NC.
It was in the CAHPI mail box at the post office box two hours after it was posted on the net.
I only lived 1/3 of a mile from the CAHPI PO BOX.
I guess I really have no choice as many know I cheated to get My RHI you and George Webb have said this so many times and many other not nice things about me .
I also like to put my investments where there is some chance of a return.
I do expect that many who get the NC will be grandfathered in and a change in the cost to take the NC.
Roy Cooke