Legislation to improve home inspection reporting and licensing was approved by the House Finance Committee, the full House and was concurred in by the Senate this past week. SB 1007 (Amend Home Inspector Licensure Laws), introduced by Sens. David Hoyle (D-Gaston) and Don Vaughan (D-Guilford), http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2009/Bills/Senate/PDF/S1007v5.pdf, clarifies what information should be contained on the summary page of the home inspection report. And the bill requires all existing home inspectors to take 48 hours of instruction over the next three years on inspection techniques and reporting requirements. The bill also changes the licensing procedure from an apprentice-style approach to one that requires pre-licensing education. In addition to the hard work of the Senate sponsors, the sponsors of the legislation in the House (Rep. Pryor Gibson (D–Anson) and Rep. Thom Tillis (R–Mecklenburg)) were tireless in advocating for this legislation.
Lawmakers must work hard because they know nothing about our industry. All of these “professionals” who think they can vote on something that they know nothing about are in the long term hurting home sales, and consumers. They just do not get it. I suggest we write reports according to their rules, regulations, laws, and let the consumers sue them when issues arise.
What burns me up is that the darn General Contractors Board is still allowing people to take exams without verifying their qualifications…this allows them to then apply to become an inspector after 6 months of which they often don’t know squat about building…how in the world are they suppose to know what they are looking at.
This is where the majority of the problem lie…add to the fact that you have ignorant inspectors citing codes (which there really is not a need to do that when you can simply states its a safety or manufacturer issue)…or trying to tell clients to bring a home up to modern standards…so between the GC board and inspectors themselves, we end up with crap like this…bunch of idiots.
How can it be surprising to anyone as to how a real estate salesman can benefit from the inspection of the new and inexperienced contractor? The less they know, the better they are.
As for the established home inspector…the real estate salesman must make it as expensive as possible to stay in business for the more it costs to stay in business, the more dependent the inspector is for the real estate salesman’s referrals.
Marketing? Read the books and discover how most “marketing” ideas involve marketing to real estate salesmen.
When the consumer opens his eyes to discover the conflicts of interests that these laws contain…created by varieties of special interest groups pretending, all, to be “protecting” him from the possibility of a “bad” inspection…it will be too late for him. Independent inspectors capable of unbiased, complete and accurate inspecting will be long gone.
I agree with you for the most part on this issue James however what licensing can do, if used properly, can hold the licensee accountable in several ways… including bringing criminal action against same when
they are acted outside their legal requirements. I have seen it work on the GC side…yet when common sense is not utilized, it becomes a nightmare. I put most of the blame on the GC board…yet since the realtors are more likely to kiss up to them, because it is the GC who gives them business, they are careful how they tread with the GC board.
Anyway, give it a couple years and consumers will have enough and it will go back the other direction…especially with all the foreclosures on the market.
