If you are providing a report on the existence (or not) of termites and are NOT providing it on an NPMA 33 … you are a fool.
NPMA is a private non-profit organization. They are not overseen, regulated or controlled by the Department of Agriculture in any way.
Each state is different in how they handle pest management. Most inspectors that have their Structural Pest Inspectors license in WA do not use the NPMA-33 form. It does not meet the requirements of the state.
Inspectors that do not have their pest license are not allowed to mention termites, carpenter ants, or other WDI.
Not touching this program with a ten foot pole. Besides, I’m only a six foot Pole. :mrgreen:
I am licensed in my state and Missouri does, indeed, encourage the use of this form. I will provide no reference to the existence (or nonexistence) of wood destroying insects in any other format.
This does not pass my smell test in FL!
And I am not about to give up putting food on my table doing WDO insp’s to save my customers some money.
The National Pest Management Association is mostly pest management companies that must have a license to apply EPA registered chemicals to control pests. The Department of Agriculture regulates chemical applications and therefore the pest control industry in all the states I am familiar. I think only Montana does not require a license to apply chemical for hire. If you are charging for a termite inspection in Florida or anywhere else and you have a license because you want to complete the necessary state or NPMA-33 form, you can still warranty the inspection for 90-Days.
Could it be you do not have any competition in your city? If one home inspector offered a 90-Day service warranty for termites the the other one did not, who do you think they would select to do their inspection. Of course you can always hope no one finds out about the 90-Day service warranty that is renewable. Good luck.
But the Dept of Ag does not regulate the NPMA as you stated earlier. In fact the Dept of Ag has nothing to do with pesticides. The federal department in charge of pesticides is the EPA. While your colorful map is nice, it is not the exact same as the latest version that I linked in the same message. I will use the official map as accepted by the IRC.
Applicators and Pest Inspectors have different licenses in Washington. You must have your SPI in order to identify and report on WDI/WDO or specify damage by WDI/WDO. An applicator cannot issue a pest report. Washington State Dept of Agriculture regulates pesticide use in this state.
I chose not to renew my pest inspectors license. The liability vs reward (net income) was too lopsided. Since this state chooses to be very strict about pest inspections, I don’t even want to mention termites, termite inspections or termite warranties. The potential of a nasty letter from the state with this program is not worth the possible frustration.
Of course it is your choice to not offer a ServiceAccess 90-Day service agreement for FREE. The map is from the National Pest Management Association. It is almost a mute point for Washington State. To just clairfy the EPA, Dept. of Agriculture question. The Dept. of Agriculture regulates the application of EPA pesticides “for hire” in every state. Some states have their own Structural Pest Control regulations in addition to the Federal regulations. Our agreement is acceptable to all because we are not a pest control company as we provide service when needed by licensed service providers for the state we have the agreement. Most pest control companies do not want to see you offer a FREE 90-Day termite service agreement. Lastly, I was born in Seattle, so I know you live in a beautiful part of the country.
Don’t know if I responded to this question. The potential payout is a treatment for either subterranean or dry-wood termites. There is a $100 deductible during the 90-day coverage period.
What does a typical treatment cost, since they would have to pay $100
So this “warranty” doesn’t cover structural damage?
If you say the house if free of termites (which is a stupid thing to do in the first place) … and you are wrong … your client, after proving that there were no “pre-existing conditions” (whatever that means) … will, after paying $100 out of his own pocket, be able to receive a termite “treatment” that has yet to be described.:roll:
Stephen Stanczyk writes:
Florida does not use the NPMA-33 form either. It is not a very good reporting form from the inspector’s standpoint IMHO.
I of course like http://www.nachi.org/wdo-report.htm because “visible” is a ridiculous standard for inspectors to meet. “Observed” is what your WDO form should read. A plaintiff can easily claim that something was visible to you, but can’t claim that it was observed by you. Only you can determine if you observed it or not.
Nice job dancing around the issue. In Nevada HI’s are not allowed to report, verbally or in writing, about the presence or absence of any wood destroying insect or organism. Also, under the regulations of the Nevada Real Estate Division, the one that regulates Nevada home inspectors, an HI may not offer a warranty of any kind. You may argue that the HI is not “offering” the warranty however I would like to see what the lawyers would make of this.
You can keep it. I’ll continue to provide WDI/WDO inspections and let the applicators do the warranty gig.
I did the same thing Stephen (Stanczyk). Given the fact that our home inspection license allows us to report on conducive conditions for WDO’s and wood rot now, there seems to be no reason for the SPI license. “Incidental observations” of WDI’s can also be reported to a buyer if you are very careful and use the State’s specific language. Fortunately that rarely every happens. Honestly WDI’s are not the problem here. Mostly wood rot decay. I rarely get asked for a pest report anymore.
No, it only covers treatment.
No pun intended but the whole concept behind this “Warranty” BUGS me. I see nothing but potential liability and law suits with absolutely NO benefits to us as the responsible party to the inspection. It’s like a bad hand in hold em and all I can say is…I’m out.
Jim
Some are trying to make the complicated and it is not. First of all, pesticide application for hire falls under the Dept. of Agriculture who regulates the licensing required to apply EPA registered pesticides that are going to be applied for hire. The National Pest Management Association is comprised of “licensed” pest control companies and therefore fall under the regulations set down by the Dept. of Agriculture.
There is a hold harmless clause in the terms and conditions so if you have the buyer register for the 90-Day service agreement he is holding you harmless.
There is nothing in our service agreement that says we inspected or treated the property.
Thank you for your comments, however this has been tested in every state and it is reasonable to provide the buyer with the option to register for the 90-Day service agreement and should the choose not to do so, you have improved your liability risk, not added, ask your attorney. Having a defensible position is better then no defense at all.
No one is making a statement there are no termites. The terms and conditions on www.serviceaccess.com state, “known” infestations must be treated before coverage. If termites are found regardless the buyer has a $100 deductible and a licensed and insured service provider will provide the required treatment and ServiceAccess pays the service provider. The treatment depends on the location of infestation and the species of termites. Size of area to be treated, construction and other factors determine cost of treatment. By registering for the 90-Day Free service agreement the buyer will receive an option to continue the coverage.