Retracted. Bad mood rant. I am proud of what Texas inspectors did.
THIS WAS NOT A VICTORY FOR INSPECTORS. TREC HAS THE TABLE SET TO ELIMINATE LIMITS OF LIABILITY.
- Reports will become longer
- Inspectors will leave the business
- Insurance will increase (10k per year?)
- Prices will go up
- 1st time buyers cannot afford an inspection
- Years from now lenders and insurance will require inspections
- 10 to 15 years from now an inspection will cost 1 point or 2 to 3 percent and take 2 to 4 days.
- Option periods will become a catastrophic problem for sellers and Realtors
- More things will happen that I defer for the moment.
- Buyer will have no choice if the want the loan.
It is an interesting evolution.
I have to ask. If Realtors are not the driver of these prophesies, then who?
Commerce is the driver. Follow the money trail.
Had a good turn out at the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) inspector meeting Friday prior to the 2-day NACHI/TPREIA educational event. There is so much going on concerning our industry that every inspector is needed to*attend the inspector sub-committee and committee meetings as well as Commission meetings.*You can find out what’s going on by following the current and upcoming TPREIA newsletter and announcements for up-to-date information. No, we were not thrown into the bowels of hell. The TREC publically stated they do not care about contracts between you and your client or what you attach to your report (extra information, contracts, attachments, summaries, etc, or even a song and dance). They are concerned about what happens within the promulgated form 7-2 and especially under the preamble section.
Clearly the room was overwhelmed by NACHI/TPREIA members. It became a “standing room only” attendance.
These meetings determine your rules, education, enforcement and standards of practice and*include TREC legal, enforcement and education staff as well as the Administrator. Unless you attend and let your voice be heard or your presence be felt we will be influenced by others. The inspector sub-committee and full committee members are NOT all inspectors.
Of any mails you (Texas) received since Sunday concerning the meeting the TPREIA mail is the most accurate and complete.
Please do not rely on others that take the time to go to these meetings to fill in for you. It can’t work that way. Your physical presence adds one more effective soldier to the support Texas inspectors need. Parking across the street from TREC was very easy in the Capital complex area with more (covered parking) spaces than cars.
Theodore Roosevelt (1908) said, “Every man owes a part of his time and money to the business or industry to which he is engaged. No man has a moral right to withhold his support from an organization that is striving to improve conditions within his sphere”.
Inspectors in Texas need to show up at these meetings that direct and control what you do. Take a day off, bring a fellow inspector, go to Austin and see for yourself. Get together and rent a van or bus and pack it with your area inspectors. Just get to Austin. Once you do you will want to come back. All you have to do is be a physical presence.
Additionally, at the TREC meeting were representatives of the Texas Fire Marshall’s Office and another gentleman that represents the National Assn. of State Fire Marshall’s out of Washington that came down to speak on CSST gas piping and its lack of electrical bonding in order to warn Texas consumers about the hazards and lack of electrical bonding. Additionally, a Dallas area lawsuit was brought up concerning an insurance company subrogation to a Texas inspector for a great sum of money on a home that previously caught fire. The insurance company claim is that a failure to follow the Texas SoP and not report the lack of “grounding and bonding” as our SoP mandates as a deficient condition was a contributing cause for the fire and the insurance company is now suing the home inspector for what they paid out. Naturally this turned out to be a hot topic during the NACHI/TPREIA educational event. There were inspectors that did not know (surprisingly) what CSST was nor of the requirement to bond. I can only assume report writing additions are being made throughout Texas Monday (today) concerning CSST but that is what these great educational events are all about.
The TREC agreed to add an article about CSST in a future Texas Advisor newsletter to inspectors. Coincidentally, the 2-day NACHI/TPREIA educational event had field trips to under construction homes where the CSST was installed and not bonded or installed to the manufacturer installation instructions so that was an added bonus of education and attendance. If you want specific information then you can “google“ that information or contact a qualified electrician with knowledge of bonding and CSST. In the past you may have believed that the TREC SoP did not require you report on the type of gas lines in the house and they still do not. That is not the issue. The problem is the lack of “bonding and grounding” reporting under the SoP which is the basis of this litigation. Code cycles have no bearing on this topic but if you have a need to know then historically, for decades (metallic) gas lines, metallic piping shall be grounded. (NEC 250). Bonding requirements in the same decades.
Additionally, an Oklahoma (NACHI) inspector attended the 2-day NACHI/TPREIA educational event at Texas A&M University over in College Station. He was a great guy.
There was a “hoop and holler” going on when we learned Saturday night interNACHI bought licenses into the patent for thermal infrared inspections to avoid patent litigation. This just reinforces the benefits of being a interNACHI/TPREIA member.
Note - I was at TREC and I was at the 2-day educational event. I have no official capacity with interNACHI or TPREIA. You should rely on information from TPREIA that was and may be provided to you. Most of us just got home from being out
for the 3-days and it takes time to regroup and assimilate information.
BTW - Thank you interNACHI & TPREIA.
Jim Hime
Dickinson, Texas (Galveston)
ICC/IRC Combination Code Certified Inspector
Texas Real Estate Commission Professional Inspector 1646
Texas Dept. of Insurance - Residential Property Inspector 16708061031
International Association of Certified Home Inspectors - InterNACHI (CPI)
Texas Professional Real Estate Inspectors Assn. 435 - (MI)
Texas IRC County Bldg. Inspector (Galveston, Brazoria, Chambers) - HB2833
Legacy Southern Building Code Congress International - One and Two Family, SBCCI Combination Code 4614
Infrared Thermography Certified
Legacy Texas Residential Construction Commission Inspector 1590 (Dispute Resolution)
Born on the island (BOI)
Yes I met a bunch of very nice guys and gals at your training event and I wore my red hat. I would like to thank the young lady inspector that drove us Old inspectors around the second day to the various homes we viewed.
Grumpy mood. I retract my prior post. I am speculating too far into the future. The meeting was a victory because a heck of lot of people showed up. I saw a lot of new inspectors becoming involved. The solution to the questions seems like it will work. Keep in mind the inspector committee has no authority. If there is any chance of a change you do not agree with you really need to come back to the Commissioner meeting that posts the topic as an agenda item. Look at it as a good excuse to visit Austin. I was surprised at how easy it was to find the place. TREC and inspectors worked well on this one. As usual, I spoke too much.
Mr Hime, great notification on several issues, Wayne Rogers has agreed to send an article for TPREIA-InterNACHI Professional Inspector enewsletter on the CSST issue…watch for it.
There was quite a ground swell ending in the many inspectors who showed up for the TREC Inspector Advisory Council meetings last Friday. Thank you and thanks to those who wrote and emailed.
The IAC approved language which is in other TREC contract forms. The problem is that our report is not one of their contracts…it is a report.
TREC is paranoid about what inspectors put in their reports based on two complaints which had nothing to do with the issue. I did the math, the RE Center says that there have been 191,000 closing as of 8-31-13. The percentage of complaints on this SUPPOSED issue it .00000495.
Darn, I would be paranoid too!
I wish I could say it was over with but it is not and the approved IAC language will be brought to the full Commission likely in the February meeting. BUT be aware that legal can bring their own language to the Commission at that time also.
You may not be aware that legal’s first proposed rule stated that nothing but inspection info could be placed in a report and I mean Structural - Electrical - Plumbing - A/C - Appliances - Other. NOTHING ELSE.
There original proposed rule disallowed inspectors from including the contract anywhere in the report…read the very first paragraph in the report form where it states that we CAN do that specifically.
As Jim Hime said TPREIA/InterNACHI will continue to update you thru emails. Please read them for content, this is not a scan it an go thing, also this is a moving target, nothing remains the same. Legal has brought 6 proposed changes up by my count so far.
One other caution…look at John Cahills piece below…no one seems be thinking about the long term effects of this and other things being approved. Education has been overwhelmed and your CE providers AND you are being micro managed by TREC. Look up from this screen and you will likely be able to see the cliff that we are moving towards.
Share this, get this out. Watch TPREIA/InterNACHI emails. Heed the CALLS TO ACTION. Don’t ostrich or be too busy. You cannot afford to ignore what is going on.
Every inspectors presence is needed in Austin at these meetings.
Do not rely on others to protect your interests. If you do not show up you have no right to complain. There needs to be 100 or more inspectors at every single TREC meeting. Too many things are changing at the same time. Getting to TREC is very easy. There is plenty of parking across the street and there is plenty of covered parking. There is a fresh food court in the building. Plus you get all the new Buccee’s on the way to Austin. If you need a ride call TPREIA.
Thanks to everyone for the comments and involvement with the TREC IAC. We need everyone to be actively involved. Keep on keeping on.
Thanks for attending this event. It was a pleasure meeting you. Please feel free to come to any of our classes.