As you know, most states prohibit home inspectors from offering or making repairs on any home they inspected within the past 12 months.
InterNACHI, Florida’s largest inspection association prohibits it too. This from our Code of Ethics: “The InterNACHI member shall not perform or offer to perform, for an additional fee, any repairs or associated services to structure on which the member or member’s company has prepared a home inspection report, for a period of 12 months. This provision shall not include services to components and/or systems which are not included in the InterNACHI standards of practice.”
And even Florida’s own Mold-Related Services law which was implemented along with their Home Inspectors Law lists in its prohibitions: “Perform or offer to perform remediation to a structure on which the mold assessor or the mold assessor’s company provided a mold assessment within the last 12 months.”
However, in Florda’s Home Inspectors law, section 468.8319 (f) oddly reads:
“Perform or offer to perform, prior to closing, for any additional fee, any repairs to a home on which the inspector or the inspector’s company has prepared a home inspection report.”
Notice the words “prior to closing” inserted in there.
Did the GCs figure a way to offer home inspections at a reduced fee or even for free, just to get the repair lead and offer to do the repair work after the home closes?
We’ve seen “free home inspections” being offered by roofing contractors in California.
After I brought up the blatant conflict, The contractor lobbyist incorrectly stated at the meeting in Tallahassee that the law prohibited them from doing repairs on homes that they inspect. After he spoke, I spoke with the DBPR rep at the back of the room and showed in the actual statute. - So, DBPR is away that the lobbyist was not correct in his statement.
So…GC’s want to be “grandfathered” and want to offer free home inspections so that they can affect the repairs when the buyer takes possession of the property.
My, oh my…Home Inspection Legislation should come with an illustration of the hundreds of positions that come with the myriad of ways they screw people.
This was pointed out many times over the course of months that we FL inspectors were writing and corresponding with our reps. In particular the “prior to closing” statement. This bill (law) was/is actually worse in many ways than many of the previous bills that were vetoed by Jeb Bush and bills that got stopped in committees years earlier. This was a political “football” that was finally walked into the end zone in the closing seconds of the game by Charlie Crist.
Foundation repair companies offer free foundation inspections. It happens all the time here in Kansas. HVAC offers free furnace “cleanings”. Roofers offer “free” inspections. RE’s here are lining up contractors to give their buyers “free service checks” instead of having buyers pay for inspections. Many conflicts of interest here. The home inspection board here in Kansas is leading a blind eye to this. Licensing will not matter, since we are soon going to be all out of business, unless this “board” or the state of Kansas acts. We cannot do it for free, unless we shaft the sellers/buyer for the repairs, needed or not. All of this is not ethical to any association, but the lawmakers do not see it that way. They should.
As the law presently is written, grandfathered contractors can pay for a Home Inspector license and give away free state licensed home inspections to promote their repairs after the home is purchased.
Meanwhile, home inspectors are squabbling over the crumbs that are left over.
This is what I was told months ago by a supervisor for a GC.
*" We have a home inspector doing Wind Mits and 4 points for us. He does the inspections and refers us for the repairs and we sign his forms for him.
He’s working 7 days a week to keep up." *
I tried to tell him if the inspector screwed up they would be the ones on the hook !!
" Oh he does a good job, and any thing that’s border line he reports and we get to fix it. "
Yes, technically, except the client does not realize this. They think they have hired a home inspecter from abc? home inspection and he just happens to know a good local GC that can do there repairs and upgrades.
Your contractor and Realtor relationship you described sounds familiar to me. Most of the inspectors and Realtors in my area have about the same relationship. Sad but true.
many contractors already offer free or discounted inspections, i.e-$150, which will include an estimate to repair and/or replace any problem areas. its better than a free estimate
Using home inspection to sell other products is the future of the business. It is impossible to regulate ethics. Show me any rule and I will show you a way around it. Cry “ethics" you may but money talks and BS walks.
Inspectors are guilty of the mayhem they created. All home inspection licensing law and ethics rules written in the past 30 years has been to protect the industry under the guise of protecting the consumer.
Home inspection has torn itself to shreds by imposing Standards written to tell the consumer what they must have rather than providing a service the consumer defines.
Today’s inspections take 3 to 6 hours. A good major defect inspection can be done in 30 minutes. People look at the 20 page reports, shake their heads and lay them to the side because 1) they do not understand them 2) they do not care about 90% of what is said.
In Texas people are forced to pay to be told their home does not meet code but are denied life span statements. In the real world the consumer wants to know “money pit” problems and how long something will last. Inspectors do all they can to deny that and then tell then the consumer the GFCI is not current.
Most home inspectors are nothing more than savior personalities running amok.
The home inspectors that succeed in the future will be the ones that give the consumer what they want regardless of the over regulation and useless ethics rules. It cannot be stopped.
