We’ve come a long way, but we’ve got further to go.
History
After 40 years of development, why is the home inspection industry still operating like the “Wild West”? In the 1960’s, when used car sales practices became questionable, governments stepped in with rules to protect the public. Today you can confidently purchase a car on your credit card, but are completely exposed when making the single largest financial purchase of your life, a new home! Unfortunately, in some states and most provinces, anyone can print a business card, build a web site, make up credentials and call themselves a Home Inspector. Even where governments have implemented licensing, most require less than three weeks of home inspector education. Further, governments continue to let realtors promote ‘blind-eye’ inspectors that help make their sale.
Currently in Ontario, Canada, the government is implementing home inspector licensing. To date their actions appear to primarily focus on the needs of industry practitioners, i.e. Home Inspectors, Realtors and Insurance companies, leaving the “Consumer” with a false sense of protection!!
We believe that this is wrong and that it is the responsibility of the legislators to first and foremost serve the needs of the general public. Our advocacy efforts have been underway since 2013 with the formalization of CFRHI in 2015.
Success to Date
- We have currently gained a position at the table with the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services and the full support of the official PC Opposition Critic. From this vantage point we are increasingly aware of the lack of consideration to consumer needs, and the missing components required for responsible legislation.
- We are lobbying the Ministry of Colleges and Universities for formal full time education for future Home Inspectors.
- We are working with one of Ontario’s largest colleges with the hope of developing a formal full-time curriculum for Home Inspectors.
- We are formulating an action plan to lobby both the Alberta and British Columbia governments where licensing efforts have been less than successful.
About the founder
In his heart, Bruce McClure has been a consumer advocate since his first full-time employment as the General Manager of the Elmira Chamber of Commerce, followed by his role as the Assistant General Manager of the Ottawa Board of Trade. “These jobs opened the eyes of this small-town boy and I learnt the difference between ‘the big guys’ and ‘the little people’ and how the powerful feed on the weak and unorganized… After moving through what I’ll call life’s obligations, I’m again dealing with my passion… The basic belief in right vs. wrong”.
After having been involved in many construction projects, including commercial and custom home design and building. It was in the late 1990s that I first became aware of the home inspection industry. In 1998 I became a Registered Home In specter and by 2002, the president of the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors (CAHPI).
Right from the get-go in 1998, I realize that there was something wrong with the industry. It wasn’t until later that a chain of events led to my writing of and releasing the book, ‘Buy or Run - I’m a Real Home Inspector Not a TV Celebrity’, in 2013. What makes this book different is that it is not about me being the perfect Home Inspector and then subsequently becoming an author and selling books. ‘Buy or Run’ is my attempt to educate the public and wake up legislators and lawmakers in order to bring attention to what’s really going on behind closed doors. In 2014, we produced a five-point series of YouTube videos that explain the real problems and why current licensing practices don’t provide adequate consumer protection!
If you read my resume, you will see that in 2007 I took a three year sabbatical. During this time I acquired a real estate license to better understand the other side of the real estate transaction. In 2009, I returned to the home inspection side of the industry and after releasing ‘Buy or Run’, I became the president of the Ontario Association of Home Inspectors (OAHI). Although I was pleased to find that independent home inspectors across both countries unanimously supported me in principle, behind closed doors as organized groups, they are totally against anything that could possibly interfere with their relationship and dependence on Realtors for their business.
Understanding that neither Home Inspection or Realtor groups are open to change from the inside, in 2015 I officially resigned as OAHI President and CAHPI Board Member In order to advocate for ‘the little guy’, that is, the consumer. As founder of CFRHI, and as an outspoken advocate for ‘right vs. wrong’, it is my initial objective to bring major change to the Home Inspection and Real Estate transaction in order to protect the best interests of consumers.