It isn’t that the contractor isn’t qualified, it is that they expect to be able to legally perform home inspections and then use that as a revenue generator. Do I have a problem with it? No.
I think you should be able to give the Client all the information you can. What is wrong, how to fix it, and what it is going to cost to fix things wrong.
It is my opinion, that if you can’t do that, you are not even as qualified as the mechanic is to inspect a home, or a car.
Remember too… Cost to cure is the standard for commercial inspections.
The car/mechanic thin is way off key here.
For sure on this I agree, to inspect and to give the client what defects we find is what we are there for as a paid Inspector. I am not there, nor am I paid for giving estimates or how to fix something. I have been in the building/remodeling industry close to 20 years prior to inspecting for the past 5 years and I don’t throw estimates around to get many wound up tighter than a whistless toy like others have here. I have been asked many times over if i can give an assesment on the price OR cost of repairs and I do not say anything. I certainly have the knowledge and the background to give them, but do not. I refer them to contact a qualified licensed contractor. I DO NOT have a licence for GC nor does my insurance cover me to give that determination and I am not about to throw out an ESTIMATE just to satisfy anyone and jepordize myself.
There seems to be a confusion on what our title as a HOME INSPECTOR IS. Why can’t you all make a position on this and move on.
Maybe some feel comfortable with doing this and some may not. There are no stadards with NACHI that states we have to. After all, you are posting on NACHI and maybe you should do so accordingly.
Contractors can do what they will.
I AM A NACHI CERTIFIED AND A LICENSED HI in FLORIDA and that is what I am honored to be and proud to be part of a great organization.
That bout’ sums up my 85 cents worth.
This you:
Florida Limited Liability Company
TOP PRIORITY INSPECTIONS, LLC
Filing Information Document NumberL10000127543
FEI/EIN Number274220739
Date Filed12/13/2010
State FL Status ACTIVE Effective
Date12/13/2010
As I told the resident attorney, just because something says your aren’t required to, doesn’t mean you are not allowed to.
I am not picking on you, to prove it:
Florida Profit Corporation
MAGNUM INSPECTIONS, INC.
Filing Information Document NumberP94000043508
FEI/EIN Number650497858
Date Filed06/10/1994 State FL
Status ACTIVE
Each individual is free to run their business as they see fit. For 17 years, mine has been running pretty well.
Newer is better…No? 
No!:mrgreen:
I never said not allowed to do them Eric, just that I don’t.
Just because I filed for an EIN number in DEC that you researched all on your own and what point you are trying to prove, doesn’t really mean a thing. You seem to be pretty quick on picking up on who and what about people. I applaud and commend you for your unique characteristics that you have. Not many can do that in this day in age with the internet and all. Anyone is entitled to do as they wish with what they want to do above and beyond inspections.
I am not sure on where this is going with you but it does not have anything to do with the discussion at hand as an inspector giving an estimate.
I see it like this…
I don’t want to take the time nor add to my liability by providing estimates; however, I would be quite pleased to see all of my competitors do it regularly…and recklessly… and would do or say nothing to discourage them.
Jim, if you are going to cite case law, please be accurate.
As I have requested many times, show me a case where the inspector was successfully sued for providing inaccurate estimates **alone. **
The reason this inspector was sued is the same reason that most are sued, negligence. It would appear, he didn’t know what he was doing as he somehow missed 200K of structural defects.
You stated you have been inspecting for five years, so I checked. I am assuming you worked for someone else with regards to your construction experience as well as your inspecting experience as there are no companies listed with your name, with the exception of your inspection company, which was started last December.
It is just that when someone comes on and claims certain things and starts throwing big words around like “tw*t”, I am a little leery as to their true intent.
I provide the best inspection I can for my Clients which includes providing them with all the information I would want to know, which includes permit searches, contacting manufacturers, as well as anything else needed to get all the information they need. It is just the way I conduct my business.
I don’t hide behind the SoP and fear liability. I try to limit liability by doing the most complete job I can.
I wish you luck in your first year of business.
Thank you Eric, We do have a common interest in giving the client the best inspection possible only with one exception is that I don’t give estimates.
Eric…I’m not showing you crap. I don’t care what you do.
When I read the article, I read about a client that bought a house that needed $200,000 in repairs that the inspector “estimated” to be only $20,000. The client presumably paid for information that was incorrect and caused him financial damages that the court allowed him to recover through the inspector’s insurance company. I am certain that this…and no other factor…was the catalyst for the lawsuit. This was the discrepancy that brought him down.
Did he do other things wrong? Probably, but the only damages that the court required him to pay…the dollar amount that he had to take from his own pile of chips and move to the other side of the table…was only the amount that he under estimated the repairs to be.
Like I said…estimate all you want. Who cares? Thinning the herd is a good thing. As long as it is not unethical and could cause harm to the entire profession, it is strictly a business decision and nobody’s business.
The reason you won’t show is that you can’t. Neither can anyone else.
If that is what you gleaned from that article, that the inspector was sued because of giving estimates, then there is no help for you.
He got sued because he mad a mistake and then compounded the mistake by giving an estimate when he didn’t even know the extent of what was wrong.
The Judge, and without the transcript, I can’t say for sure, most likely agreed with the plaintiffs attorney who put forth the argument that the inspector made a misdiagnosis, failed in is fiduciary duty to his client to make him aware of ALL of the consequences, and as a result, this is how much the plaintiff is out of pocket.
Thinning the herd?
You are still 12 years behind me…and always will be…until I decide to retire.:mrgreen:
I have always given estimates. It was the way I was taught and it had nothing to do with Realtors or any other wild theory you have come up with.
What others do is their business.
I said that, already.