NH Licensing

I am concerned about licensing in NH and will be attending the meeting on the 24th. It may prevent me from entering the business.

I am setting up, hopefully, a new HI Business in NH. I’ve about 40 years experience in building commercial and residential buildings – both as a Tradesman and as a Project Manager, Estimator, and Owner. Recently I’ve done some classroom HI training and am doing the other required “homework” needed prior to opening my door for business (insurance, marketing & business plan, “tooling up”, joining the right organizations, etc). In addition, I’ve an advanced degree in business (an MBA).

I am now fearing that if a licensing requirement included fee-paid inspections, I will not be able to open my doors for business even though I feel quite qualified. Indeed, perhaps more qualified than someone young enough to be able to afford an apprenticeship to get their fee-paid inspection experience but without ever seeing how a house gets put together or how all the systems are supposed to work.

Can you tell me what the proposed licensing requirements are?

Thank you,

Andy Frost
Structured Consultants, LLC

It may prevent me from entering the business.
Hi Andy!
Nothing could be further from the truth. This law not only protects the consumers in New Hampshire but also protects the legitimate New Hampshire Home Inspectors who are already in business. So….if you are a Bona Fide Resident of New Hampshire and have passed a nationally recognized Home Inspectors examination you should not be concerned.

I am setting up, hopefully, a new HI Business in NH. I’ve about 40 years experience in building commercial and residential buildings – both as a Tradesman and as a Project Manager, Estimator, and Owner. Recently I’ve done some classroom HI training and am doing the other required “homework” needed prior to opening my door for business (insurance, marketing & business plan, “tooling up”, joining the right organizations, etc). In addition, I’ve an advanced degree in business (an MBA).
All of the above are good “stepping stones” to the Home Inspection industry. It seems that you are heading in the right direction.

I am now fearing that if a licensing requirement included fee-paid inspections, I will not be able to open my doors for business even though I feel quite qualified.
>I take it that this means that you have never inspected a home? <

Not to be argumentative but….if you have never inspected a home, and have never been in the Home Inspection profession your feelings as to “being qualified” might be misplaced.

In our State Chapter, we have a few engineers, Licensed Plumbers, Licensed Electricians, etc who are “Experts in their PARTICULAR Field” who tell me that even though they were under the false impression that their many, many, years in the industry “qualified” them to be Home Inspectors.
>They also told me that they were surprised to find out how wrong they were.<

Indeed, perhaps more qualified than someone young enough to be able to afford an apprenticeship to get their fee-paid inspection experience but without ever seeing how a house gets put together or how all the systems are supposed to work.
Andy, This association has some really good FREE continuing education On-Line courses available through NACHI. When you are a member then you can also accumulate CEU’s at our chapter meetings. I urge you to join NACHI and take advantage of the many benefits that are available to our members.

Can you tell me what the proposed licensing requirements are?
Quote: It may prevent me from entering the business. End Quote:
Andy, If you do not know what the proposed Licensing Requirements are, but you state that the New Hampshire law “Might prevent me from entering the business” then this tells me that someone has been lying to you.
Where did you get this miss-information?

You also state that you are attending the State Chapter meeting of The National Association of Certified Home Inspectors {NACHI}

**I have not received your RSVP or your check. Please make out your $50.00 check to NACHI-NH and send it to; **

NACHI-NH
P.O. Box 188
Chester, New Hampshire 03036

SEATING IS LIMITED**, AND WE HAVE MANY INSPECTORS REQUESTING ATTENDANCE. **

Andy;
Where did you go for classroom training?
I’ve been to ITA in CT but would like to find something closer to home.
I hope you join us and get involved, see you on the 24th

Andy,

Here is a prime example of someone “In the Trades” that did not bother to further his education. This and other examples like this are the reason for making sure that a “Home Inspector” in New Hampshire is required to show a minimum level of competency.

At this point in time their is no, and I repeat no, consumer protection in New Hampshire. It is people like this who give the entire Home Inspection Industry a bad name. It is time to protect ourselves from this type of situation.
{This New Law will also protect the legitimate Home Inspector in many ways. You will learn more on the 24th. Do not forget to RSVP and send in your check.}

January 10, 2006

Unhappy couple sues over inspection
They claim the house was found wanting

By ANN MARIE TIMMINS
Monitor staff

December 19. 2005 8:00 AM

Hope and Tom Ralph say they chose their $377,500 saltbox in Canterbury for its central air conditioning. So they were surprised to find after moving in that it didn’t exist.
According to a lawsuit in Merrimack County Superior Court, the home’s builder, Joseph Harnois of Epsom, and an Auburn home inspector made several false claims about the house that the Ralph’s say will cost nearly $78,000 to remedy. Among the most serious is an allegation that the heating system was so improperly installed that Eastern Propane investigated at the town’s request and shut off the gas. But the well has also run dry, the roof and basement leak, and the driveway washed away, according to their lawsuit.
The case is pending, but the heating complaint alone has prompted the Canterbury building inspector, Jim Snyder, to change the way he issues occupancy permits for newly built homes. He now demands to see a report from the company or department that signed off on the heating system before he’ll issue a permit.
The Ralph’s, who fixed some of the problems and live in the house at 139 Intervale Road, want out of their contract and reimbursement of the $377,500 they paid. They also want their attorney’s fees paid, plus other damages.
The Ralph’s and their attorney, James Rosenberg of Concord, declined comment and referred a reporter to the lawsuit. That lawsuit says the couple wouldn’t have bought the property if Harnois and the home inspector hadn’t assured them in writing that the home was in good working order.
The home inspector, [FONT=Arial]Dominic Scuderi, owner and sole employee of Premium Home Inspections in Auburn, said he did mistakenly confirm that the home had air conditioning when he knew the system was missing a critical part. "I made a mistake saying the (air conditioning) condenser was there," Scuderi said. [/FONT]
He said he has since offered to correct that problem at his own cost but that the Ralph’s refused. As for the Ralphs’s other alleged deficiencies about the well, driveway, roof and basement, Scuderi said he stands by his inspection and saw no problems with the house, which is about 3 years old.
“All I can tell you is that I did a good job,” Scuderi said. “The lawsuit is frivolous. The house is beautiful.”
Harnois, whose wife, Lori, is also named in the lawsuit, did not return a phone call. Rosenberg has asked a judge to attach their $435,000 worth of real estate in Epsom to cover the cost of any damages awarded to the Ralph’s.
Lawyer Earl Carrel of Manchester, who represents the Harnoises, is fighting that attachment and said he would comment only briefly until further court proceedings. “We feel that Mr. Ralph is being unrealistic in his claims,” Carrel said.
The case raises concerns every new home buyer considers: How do you know what you’re getting? And who’s responsible for pinpointing deficiencies?
In this case, for example, Scuderi said he didn’t evaluate most of the items the Ralph’s say are inadequate because he assumed the town’s building inspector had already looked at those items. But the [FONT=Arial]inspection checklist issued by the American Society of Home Inspectors would have obligated Scuderi to inspect things such as the roof, basement, heating system and attic. [/FONT]
Synder, the town’s building inspector, meanwhile, saw his role differently. “My primary responsibility is looking at safety,” he said, explaining that his inspection is not as thorough as a home inspector’s. “The home inspector industry is looking more at value.”
According to their lawsuit, the Ralph’s took considerable steps to make sure the house was without serious defect. They said they asked their Realtor, Steve Gagne, formerly of Hearts and Home Realty in Concord, specifically if the home had central air conditioning. They also asked him to check whether the Harnoises, who lived in the house before they sold it, had trouble with the home’s long steep driveway.
Gagne did not return a phone call, but according to the lawsuit, he told the Ralph’s that Harnois assured him the driveway posed no problem and also disclosed in paperwork for the house that the home had central air conditioning.
That same paperwork also said the well worked and provided adequate water, and that the roof and basement didn’t leak, according to the lawsuit.
[FONT=Book Antiqua]During a walk-through of the home, the Ralph’s said they inquired again about the central air conditioning system and asked Scuderi to turn it on. In their lawsuit, the Ralph’s said Scuderi worked on the system in the attic for about 15 minutes and told the couple that he had the system working. [/FONT]
Tom Ralph said he first discovered that the air conditioning didn’t exist when he arrived at the home in August to paint. When he couldn’t get the air conditioning working, Ralph called Harnois. “For the first time, Harnois admitted that there was in fact ***[FONT=Arial]no central air conditioning system,***” the lawsuit said. [/FONT]
The couple discovered other problems alleged in the lawsuit -the dry well, unstable driveway and dangerous heating system - in the weeks after moving in, the lawsuit said.
Scuderi, who started his home inspection company four years ago [FONT=Arial]after retiring as an electrician, said he is particularly upset with the Ralphs’s lawsuit because he believes they violated their contract with him. He says they are obligated to try to settle their claims through arbitration before going to court. [/FONT]
That particularly irks Scuderi, he said, because Ralph is an attorney with the state attorney general’s office.
Rosenberg responded to that complaint in a court filing and said state law allows the Ralph’s to take their claims to court and prohibits them from waiving that right by going to arbitration.
The case is scheduled for a court hearing next month, where a judge will consider Rosenberg’s request to attach the Harnoises’ real estate.

------ End of article
By ANNMARIE TIMMINS
Monitor staff

That reminds me of one of my first inspections under my own company, the realtor set it up and half way thru the inspection my client shows up, an attorney who also had family very high in NH politics. I almost s#@t, I kept on with the inspection, followed up a week later and they were very happy with me.

Lesson learned, 1 always talk to your client before the inspection.
2. Always do your best and then some, and as RR says be helpful.

Also ITA in CT

i sent a notice to fastreply@nachi.org saying that i’d attend & pay at the door. that was the direction in the post about the meeting.

does that work for you?

thanks,
andy

Frank:
I replied to fastreply@nachi.org; however, i will put the check in tomorrow’s mail.

Thanks,

Andy Frost

**I have not received your RSVP or your check. Please make out your $50.00 check to NACHI-NH and send it to; **

NACHI-NH
P.O. Box 188
Chester, New Hampshire 03036

SEATING IS LIMITED**, AND WE HAVE MANY INSPECTORS REQUESTING ATTENDANCE. **
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Hi Andy!

Sounds good. The place is filling up.

Please send me your contact information;
Name, Address, City & Sate, phone etc. to NACHI-NH@Comcast.Net

**Also, and this is important…if you get any E-Mail from NACHINH@Comcast.Net ignore it. **

  • It is NOT from usit is from ASHI.
    Please Note:
    The only difference is that ASHI has taken the “dash -” out of our E-Mail address.

Hi all,
If you have not net submitted your information to the licensing board to receive an app. go to the NH joint board of licensure and certification
and enter the Home Inspection page and then you are prompted to send your email and address to the board. We already have about 50 names in.
also an update
we had our first meeting yesterday and it went well. I was elected as the board secretary.
email or call me if there any questions
thanks,
Carla