So Len - what will be the implementation outline? ie readings, passing, setup of structure and your idea of timelines?
Thank you
Allan-
My understanding is that the first reading had a unanimous approval. PR158 went through in 2 weeks, so there is nothing to suggest that given the will of all members of the Assembly on both sides of the house to get something sorted WRT the Home Inspections profession, I would think that the Second and Third readings will go through fairly rapidly.
My guess is that the Bill may require 1 committee hearing at most, and then be signed into legislation sometime late March/early April.
Following that I would expect the LG to ask the Minister (Hon David Orazietti MPP) to convene a meeting to draw together the foundation for how a DAA could be established/authorised. It is not known at this stage if a new DAA would be created or if an existing one would be tasked with taking on the Home Inspectors.
Following that, the DAA would then have a number of items to create, for the regulation. Much of what they need is already in the recommendations document, and I suspect in the 18 months since the Recommendations paper was submitted to the Minister, his staff and others have been busy producing paperwork to this effect.
Based on past DAA formations here in Ontario, I would guesstimate the whole process to establish the initial announcement for regulation to be in the timeframe to fit BEFORE the house rises for the summer. Following that I’d again guess at 12-18 months to finalise the regulations, complete the transition process and reach enforcement.
The whole process is a domino effect now, using well established procedures.
Unless something stops the Bill from getting Royal Assent, I would surmise that we would be in a state of enforced regulation with all Licenses issued before the next Provincial Election.
I worked in government for a large number of years, so this is all hypothesis, but it’s hypothesis based on past experience. That said, it’s politics, so anything could happen. 
Good comment Roy. With all the people we have spoken to, in the profession, in the staff of the civil Service and the Politicians, I think this is going to go to an independent DAA.
To take an existing Ontario Incorporated NPO Inspector Association and make it a DAA would require the removal of membership rights and with at least one, a change in regulation.
Such a change was not mentioned in the “Acts Affected” part of Bill165.
As there are only two Ontario incorporated NPOs with sufficient IT infrastructure to provide the Ministry with what it needs, one is subject to an Act change and the other hasn’t even asked to be considered, it won’t, IMHO go that direction.
RECO can’t handle it, because that would create a real conflict of interest. TICO is way outside our scope to be able to help. The TSSA might be able to take the regulation on-board, but that may cause confusion between the Home Inspection Consultancy Profession, and the Trades that are regulated under TSSA. So my gut feel is it’s going to be a New Streamlined DAA.
As you said, great news for the profession.
Hey Len, I read that architects Association were really ticked about the whole thing as they perform inspections on houses all the time and they do not feel they should lumped in with the rest of us.
That being said, where is the line going to be drawn for other trades that “Inspect” their systems of the house? Will all municipal Inspector have to be licensed too?
Because of the CSA guideline could other trades be used for not following and not being licensed?
My understanding is that when the DAA is formed/announced one of the first things they will be doing is defining what a home inspection is, and who is allowed to carry one out and who will be exempt from the regulations.
This is specifically set out in Bill - 165 itself in section 29.
“**29. **(1) The Lieutenant Governor in Council may make regulations,
(a) exempting any person or class of persons from any provision of this Act and attaching conditions to the exemption;
(b) prescribing types of inspections to be included in or excluded from the definition of “home inspection”;”
Hope this clarifies.
We put a summary of the salient points of the Bill on the OntarioACHI website on Monday night.
http://ontarioachi.ca/ontario-home-inspector-regulation-process-launched/
We sent an e-mail blast out to the 1031 registered members on the website at 10:30 last night. The last emails were shipped at 5:30 this morning. As of writing (8:31 am) 106 have read the email, 89 have opened the background information and one person unsubscribed.
As we get more information, we’ll let both our members (registered and full) know as well as post here on InterNACHI if someone hasn’t already posted first.
If you are not getting the Newsletter and are subscribed, send me a PM and I’ll look into it. If you want to subscribe, you can do so from the front page of the OntarioACHI portal here
For Francophones I believe Gilles Larin at InterNACHI Quebec has translated the Bill into French. He sent me a link which failed. I have informed him and as soon as it’s working we’ll post it and I think he may well post it here too.
More as we get it.
Note on Bill165 for those that are interested.
Everyone was under the impression that this would be a Private Members Bill. In fact it is not, it is a government Bill submitted by a Private Member. It is not subject to the exclusion from the Assembly that a PMB would be (20 nays) It is subject to a majority vote.
The Liberal Government has a majority, but there is a huge cross party support, so the likelihood is this Bill is a done deal.
Given the recent and persistent (accurate or not) Media Hype around Home Inspections, anyone on either side of the house that votes against this Bill is likely to get their head lopped of in the Press.
Well i guess my work and family life slowed me down. I wanted to ensure this info i received early yesterday morning was posted and well…it has been.
Representing InterNACHI with this venture of licensing in Ontario has been awesome. I look forward to the work that we get to put in over the next couple months seeing it come to life.
Thanks Tim for all you have done much appreciated …
Be very interesting to see what the future brings .
My thoughts No association will have control .
I also feel existing home inspectors will be granted the License .
There could be a xx number of Hours served or a similar system .
Be interesting to see if I am correct …
** This could be the best thing to happen to our industry in Ontario.**
Couldn’t agree more, but… see what the President of OAHI has to say.
They will have to show they have attained a prescribed level.
Agree 100%
And now from OAHI…
*Bill 165 An Act to regulate home inspectors
*
*
As President I want to let you know about the introduction of provincial legislation introduced on Feb. 22, 2016. It’s now been several years since the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services let it be know that they intend to regulate home inspectors by an external self-regulating and self-financing body known as a Designation Administrative Authority (DAA).
This proposed legislation simply gives the government ministries the power to set standards for licensing, qualification, performance standards, insurance and any other matters related to performing home inspections in Ontario. It also lets the government designate an existing not for profit corporation as a DAA and sets accountability and operating standards for the DAA.
The first question you will likely ask is how this legislation will affect existing OAHI member home inspectors and non-member home inspectors. The answer is that the legislation does not mention the issue. It leaves it up to the DAA to decide. We speculate there will be some form of grandfathering, but there could be some form of testing. We can expect that there will be some time to migrate to the mandatory licensing as proposed.
The second question you will likely be asking is what happens to the OAHI. The answer is that it is not mentioned in the proposed legislation. We know that the pre-existing Ontario Association of Home Inspectors Act (PR158 from 1994) is a problem for the government, since there can not be two competing regulatory Acts for the same group and there is no precedent for taking away previously granted rights. We expect to have formal discussions with the government and will have a lawyer working on our behalf. Among the future possibilities are the OAHI becoming the DAA, the OAHI becoming a separate member advocacy body and the OAHI dissolving.
The third question you will likely be asking is whether I should renew my OAHI membership if there will soon be a new licensing body in place. The answer is that you need to maintain your membership to ensure that your credentials remain current and that you can take part in any future grandfathering, should it occur. The board considers there will be no change at this time to our education and business plans. There will be no change to the OAHI Annual Meeting or the OAHI Conference, except that we will make time for discussions of these recent developments and hear your views.
Murray Parish
President
Ontario Association of Home Inspectors & CAHPI Ontario*
My response is address to the second question and is slightly more upbeat than Murray’s.
This issue came up in the MGCS Panel meetings and it is possible for PR158 to co-exist side-by-side with Bill165. We established that existing Associations should not be affected by the Licensed Home Inspector situation, but it would be for those associations to clearly define that a Certification from them was not a License.
PR158 establishes the right of OAHI to exist and issues the R.H.I. designation. This is not, and was never intended to be a License to Practice.
It has been shown that 20+ years of OAHI has led the government to realise that OAHI Failed in their attempts to:
a: regulate the profession
b: Improve standards
c: Protect the consumer
If Bill165 intended to morph OAHI into the DAA it would need to make adjustments to PR158 as it would if it were to dissolve OAHI.
In order to convert OAHI into the DAA, OAHI would have to first become an association without members. That would radically change PR159 which would have to be repealed, effectively closing OAHI
At this point, there wouldn’t be an OAHI, so it couldn’t become the DAA.
As the Act that formed OAHI is not mentioned in Bill165 as an “Act affected” the likelihood is neither of these things will happen and OAHI will continue to be what it always has been, a member association with a Certification.
This is the simplest way forward, and no amount of legal argument from a Lawyer acting on behalf of an Association that does not represent all inspectors in Ontario should sway a sane politician.
OAHI of has been the back bone of the Ontario Home Inspection industry since the last century .
I would expect them to make their wants known to all.
They most certainly have advanced the home inspection industry over the years .
I expect in the end they will have no more control on the future of our industry then Other associations will have .
we can only hope.
We have National Home inspection Certification Council that is not an association and is not affiliated with any existing association. NHICC has a system in place for testing both educational and practical skills of the applicants. It will only be logical to designate NHICC as a DAA.
NHICC is a Federal Organisation, can’t be used as a DAA. Same goes for CAHPI and CHIA and CanNACHI.