John Dickinson Ethics Essay 3/06/2017
I had just completed my first home inspection. Then I went to turn in the report to the realtor. At that point the realtor asked if I was interested in making a deal. I said what kind of deal? The realtor proceeded to say that he would send me a lot of customers if would give them a lower price. I told the realtor I could not do that. It would not be fair to my other customers and it would be unethical.
Well hello to all! Just taking the Code of Ethics Course, so first time post. The hypothetical conflict of interest or violation of the Code of Ethics would be as follows: As a home inspector at the time of the inspection, the realtor approaches me without my client, potential home buyer, around and discloses to me a problem with a crack in the basement wall/foundation, asking me to overlook the possible concern and in return the realtor will guarantee to give me many more clients in the future. The realtor does not want the crack in the basement wall/foundation to “kill the deal”!
I would start by saying this is made up. A realtor offered to send me more people if I would give him a kickback. I said no so now I get none from his office.
I looked in your index and could not find any article on ethics. So I went back to the DBPR website to read on Florida’s ethic rules.
This is my ethics essay:
My wife, who is a realtor, and I actually had this conversation before I left to attend the 5-day Home Inspector Course. I was telling her that I was uncomfortable getting experience from my first paying customers. To get experience I posed that I could provide free home inspections to her clients that were listing their houses with her. She immediately rejected the offer as a conflict of interest under real estate regulations. I initially thought that there would be no conflict since no money was changing hands. However upon further reflection I can see that there is monetary value flowing to my wife and, by extension, to me. So even though it would be a great value to the customer, it would be inappropriate as a payoff to the realtor. The InterNACHI member shall not: c. offer or provide any disclosed or undisclosed financial compensation directly or indirectly to any real estate agent.
During a home inspection I ran across a natural gas water heater in non working condition. The customer noticed I was wearing a Bradford white hat. He then asked me if I could fix it for him and write up in the report that it was in working condition. I then declined his potential offer and gave him a licensed contractors number being that it would be a hypothetical conflict of interest or violation of the Code of Ethics
Research essay: I reviewed the Library article; “Electrical Service Panels”. It was very effective in conveying how dangerous inspecting a service panel can be. By being specific about what those dangers are and what precautions you should take, it will help me deal with them. Be observant to signs that water may be present; in the box or on the floor. Test for a hot panel before you touch it. Be certain that you have an uncluttered space to work or retreat if needed. I was also reminded to be vigilant for the safety of my customer.
Looked at the “doing damage at the inspection, its your job” article. Consumers asu e because it worked until you touched it, you should fix it. They need to be educated about regular service and maintenance of difderent parts of a home. Since it was found during the inspection, now it can be looked at and corrected by a contractor. At least it did t cause an
Emergency because it failed at a time when the consumer touched it.
Here is my Code of Ethics essay
A real estate agent approaches me about entering into an agreement whereby he will direct all of his clients to me to perform inspections in exchange for a fee (kick-back). Basically, he is asking me to set a pricing structure that includes his fee and he will ensure that they contract for my services because he will endorse me as a reliable and trustworthy Inspector.
This essentially is collusion and this act of collaboration and scheming is in direct violation of InterNACHI’s Code of Ethics. Specifically, Duty to Public #6
a. Offer or provide any disclosed or undisclosed financial compensation directly or indirectly to any real estate agent, real estate broker, or real estate Company for referrals or for inclusion on lists of preferred and/or affiliated inspectors or inspection companies.
Conflict of interest:
My sister is selling her house and I am called to do an inspection on the home by a client who is unaware of my relationship with the seller. I do not disclose the relationship and perform the inspection and take a fee. The Conflict is that there will be an assumption, or perception, that the inspection was not done unbiasedly or to the inspector’s best ability. This, in turn, is not acting in the clients’ best interest.
I researched about decks. Specificly, spacing for fasteners of a ledger board. Fasteners must be a minimum of 2" down for the top of the ledger board and they should be staggered across the length of the ledger board.
another topic I researched is handrails to stairs on a deck. A handrail to a stair must have a minimum of 1 1/2" space behind the handrail of a stair to the face of the guard rail.
The inspection of this house that had problems of water leakage in the kitchen, which were easy to fix, a pitted walls, a window where the air was put in and I offered to the realtor and the owners of the house solve these problems, and Charge more money for fixing the house problems, and they accepted. The Realtor and I would have made a deal where he would give me extra money and offered to give me more houses if I gave the report of the house to him and not to the person who contracted my services with the condition of giving me other Houses to inspect
Library Article
Basic Waterproofing for Basements
by Nick Gromicko
Signs of water penetration include peeling paint, mold, foundation rot and collapse and bad interior air quality. So, with keeping in mind the primary methods utilized for keeping water from seeping into basements are focused on diverting water way from the housing structure. Ensuring a basement is waterproof; one should start by ensuring that the ground around the structure is sloping away from the structures foundation. The diversion of roof run-off away from the structure by use of gutters and downspouts is essential to this integrated system. As well, as ensuring the water is deposited 4’ – 6’ (ideally 10’) away from the structure’s foundation. Lastly, ensuring the foundation has had a good waterproof sealing compound (after proper surface preparation) applied should ensure a good and dry basement.
Knowing leaks start with the pressure created from pooling water ensuring the external diversion and drainage system is in place and functioning correctly is always where an Inspector should focus their inspection if there are signs of water penetration.
A realtor that I have known for a while called a requested an inspection on an older home. After I arrived and had begun the inspection, the realtor arrived at the house and came into the kitchen where I was inspecting the appliances. She stated that this home had been on the market for over a year and most of the deals had fallen through due to all the problems that existed in the home. She said that she had personally shown this home 20 times, but of the 7 people that were interested, each one backed out after receiving an inspection report. She asked me if it would be possible to write the report in a way that made the home seem as if it did not have as many defects as it actually had, so that the current prospective buyer might be more willing to take a chance on the condition of the home.
Green home inspections:
The use of green homes are increasing quite substantially in SA and across the world.
The current InterNACHI Standards of Practice takes these issues into account to a certain degree, but the term “green” home inspection implies that the inspection will be expanded past the residential Standards of Practice to include the three below:
energy efficiency; (this is related to the materials and methods used in building the home, its design, and the efficiency of the appliances installed)
the use of sustainable materials and/or practices; (encourage environmental responsibility and resource efficiency throughout the life cycle of a building)
The features of a home that promote human and environmental health.( Certain features of homes are kinder to human health than others. Carpet may be comfortable to walk on, but it also catches and holds dust, dirt and other particulates, including allergens)
Code of ethics class
After completing my inspection I informed the realtor that there was some serious concerns that I was going to put in the report the realtor informed me that he has not made a sale in over two months and was wondering if possibly I could leave them concerns out of the report so the buyers wouldn’t get scare off. I told the realtor that I do not work for the realtor I work for the buyers and that I’m not going to tarnish my reputation just so he can make a dollar.
Thanks jcorbat
Fred was inspecting the exterior of a house for a client when he came across rotted decking. The client knew that Fred owns a deck building company and offers to give Fred the job of reconstructing his deck. Fred exlpains to him why that is against InterNACHI policy and the repercussions it could have on his inspecting buissines and respectfully declines the deck job.
When performing certain jobs it is crucial to use the correct tools and ppe. Tools for most any job can usually be rented saving you, the homeowner time and money while helping to assure a job well done. It is always a good idea to wear your ppe to ensure the job is done safely and everyone can go home with all there fingures.
A potential ethical violation could be accepting payments from tradesmen for calling out deficiencies on components that they service. This would prevent a home inspector from honestly evaluating the system or component.
I read the article Performing Commercial Inspections. I learned that InterNACHI has developed a Commercial SOP which is one of the only ones out there. I also learned about the difference between a residential and commercial inspection. A commercial inspection may require hiring a subcontractor, and the report is a useful negotiating tool for the client. I also learned that there is a national network for inspectors that perform commercial inspections called ComInspect