No, I was never looking. I am and have been of the opinion that a licensed contractor does not need a home inspector license and can advertise that he does home inspections per the CILB Koning Dec statement.
The grandfathering clause clearly shows that everyone regardless of their license is required to complete Home Inspector training and examination in order to conduct Home Inspections, after July 1,2012. Notice it was not an exception from having a Home Inspectors license.
It is clear that the Statute (Title XXXII, Chapter 468) dose not view any contractor as qualified to perform Home Inspection services without a HI license. Even though they are one of the related fields.
No board, or committee can do anything about this unless complaints are filed[FONT=Verdana]. Help me put a stop to this unlicensed activity. Print the form and submit it, for those individuals you know are unlicensed. You can go to [/FONT][FONT=Verdana][FONT=Verdana]Unlicensed[/FONT][/FONT]](http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/reg/UnlicensedActivity.html)[FONT=Verdana][FONT=Verdana] [/FONT][/FONT]](http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/reg/UnlicensedActivity.html)[FONT=Verdana][FONT=Verdana]Activity[/FONT][/FONT]](http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/reg/UnlicensedActivity.html)](http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/reg/UnlicensedActivity.html)for more information.
FL Statutes AND the Koning Declaratory Statement both say that you cannot advertise or “hold yourself out to the public” as performing full home inspections without a HI license. How many times does this have to be said.
By the way, contractors have been doing home inspections even before home inspections took off in the 80’s. That was the whole reasoning behind the Koning thing.
So were professional home inspectors.
If I am not mistaken, contractors in Florida were doing re-roof jobs prior to 1973 too. Connect the dots
There is whole lot of “scope of work” grandfathering for a contractor licensed before 1973. A pre-1973 GC had the opportunity to add a roofing license without testing I believe. And even today, any FL Div I contractor can do a cold-application re-roof if damaged by a named storm.
Re-read the Koning Dec. statement:
The board hereby issues a declaratory statement that
home inspection services as described in the petition
are within the scope of licensure of a Certified Division
I contractor, provided the Division I contractor is not
holding themselves out specifically as a home
inspector licensed under Chapter 468, Florida Statutes
As long as their advertising doesn’t state or imply that they are licensed under FS 468, they are good to go.
Lets assume that your are correct and that I am wrong for discussion. Even if a licensed contractor cannot advertise that they do home inspections, they can still do home inspections under the scope of their contractors license. Correct?
Assuming yes, Chapter 489 (contractor statute for those unaware) does not have any standards of practice with respect to home inspection. In fact, no where in the statute is the word inspection or home inspection ever mentioned. Additionally, there are no ethics provisions in the contractor statute relating to inspections. Consequently, there is no measuring stick to hold a contractor accountable for a bad home inspection. Assuming that is correct, the consumer is left holding the bag for a bad home inspection by a licensed contractor. As I have said earlier in this thread, any contractor with prudent risk management practices would drop his home inspector license. Finally, the current regulatory scheme (Koning Dec statement) effectively creates two sets of standards for home inspection in Florida. One set of standards for professional licensed home inspections who abide by a standard of practice and ethics provisions and can be held accountable for failing to perform to those standards- and no effective standards for licensed contractors performing home inspection under the scope of their 489 license. This scenario is truly a disservice to the unsuspecting Florida Home buyer.
You are correct. And validating my point. After the grandfathering window closed, the contractor needed to obtain licensure for roofing work. Same as for home inspection-unitl the Koning Dec statement.
I can see your point, however, I don’t see this as any kind of problem in the industry. If anything, a Div I contractor doing real estate transaction home inspections, has even more liability. He would be held to a higher standard than a generalist home inspector, even without following a listed SOP. To me it is a NON-ISSUE.
Good morning,
What specifically would that “higher standard” be? Currently, there is no standard of practice for a contractor doing home inspections under the scope of his contractor’s license for home inspection. With no measuring stick, there is no enforcement. While you may not see it as an issue for the industry, (and of course you are entitled to your opinion) I see it as a big problem for our industry and a disservice to the unsuspecting Florida Home buyer.
Steve, this is not an issues specific to Florida. In states that haven’t adopted licensing, general contractors do a lot of home inspections. Those states don’t have a state-mandated SOP. What does the contractor do? Most of the time he/she performs home inspections to InterNACHI’s SOP as we are the largest inspection association (everywhere) and so our SOP is thee “industry standard.” Why would someone inspect to an industry standard even though they are not required by law to? For many reasons. One being lawsuit defense. Courts look at “industry standards” and generally expect professionals to meet or exceed them, even when they aren’t specifically required to by their local jurisdiction.
Nick,
Thanks for the input. What facts do you have to support your position regarding contractors in non licensed states doing “a lot” of inspections? and to NACHI’s standards of practice? Even assuming your statement above is based on facts, Florida is a licensed state now and has a state mandated SOP and ethics provisions for professional home inspectors. As licensed contractors are currently exempt from home inspector licensing (per the CILB Koning Dec statement), they are not bound by the standards of practice mandated in FS 468 (home inspector licensing law). Chapter 489 of the Florida Statutes regulates contractors. Their statute makes no reference to “inspection” and has no standards of practice or ethics provisions relating to home inspection. Consequently, there is no legal measuring stick to hold a contractor accountable to for a home inspection. As you know, membership is voluntary in NACHI or one of the other inspector associations. As such, compliance with any of their SOPS is also voluntary and not required or mandated by state law. As I have stated above, this current regulatory scheme in Florida creates 2 standards for home inspections in the State of Florida- one for professional home inspectors licensed under chapter 468 of the Florida Statutes which requires the inspector to abide by a standard or practice and ethics provisions- and no standards or ethics provisions for a contractor conducting inspections under the scope of his chapter 489 license. This current situation is a disservice to the unsuspecting Florida Home Buyer. Finally, using John’s logic relating to insurance (in another thread), it would be logical and only at matter of time before a Realtor gets sued using the legal concept of “negligent referral” for referring an unsuspecting and naive client that the realtor has a fiduciary obligation to represent said client to a contractor inspector doing inspections under his Div.1 contractor license. It seems pretty clear to me that any Realtor that refers a client to a contractor doing inspections under his chapter 489 license would be in breach of their contract to represent their client’s best interest- especially when the contractor has no state mandated SOP or ethics provisions that he is required to abide by when conducting a home inspection.
In unlicensed states, nearly all home inspectors come from the trades. It’s just what many of them take up when they get older and their back or knees wear out. They already have a lot of contacts (agents, past clients, etc) and they already know how to run a business and market themselves. It’s a natural progression for them. They have inspection-related knowledge, a past client base to tap, and business experience.
In licensed states, where anyone can become a home inspector with zero construction experience and get a state-issued credential (license) to flash around, home inspectors come from all walks of life; geeks, landscapers, nurses, truck drivers, insurance salesmen, etc. Why? Because in licensed states, the government establishes a clear (and simple) path to becoming a home inspector. Licensing attracts non-business people who have zero construction experience. The government-issued license makes them feel competent.
Now back to SOP. Even contractors who might legally be permitted to do a home inspection outside of SOP in FL, typically won’t (they don’t even have software to do them). They either don’t do inspections or if they do, do them to SOP. I don’t see much evidence of competition from contractors who are doing some strange version of a home inspection on lined paper attached to clipboards if that is what you are concerned with.
Totally agree with you on your assessment of licensed states- especially here in Florida. However, it does not change the fact that we currently have 2 standards in Florida with respect to home inspection: One set of standards for the licensed professional inspector who abides by a standard of practice and professional ethics provisions and can be held accountable for failure to perform to those standards and another standard (or lack of) for the licensed contractor performing home inspections under his Div.1 contractor’s license who has NO standards of practice and no ethics provisions to be held to when conducting a home inspection. These are the current facts here in Florida. Again, this is a disservice to the Florida Home Buyer.
I am not concerned about the competition. I am concerned about the double standard and the lack of accountability for a contractor performing home inspections under his contractor’s license. This scenario is a disservice to the Florida Home Buyer. I am also concerned with the credibility and image of my chosen profession.
I agree, it is a disservice to the home buyer. But those contractors who do home inspections any old way they dream up, are not InterNACHI members. I have zero sympathy for any home buyer who hires a non-member. They call here every day of my life complaining about non-members. I instruct them to sue their agent for steering them toward a non-member who isn’t part of the world’s largest inspection association.
I then go on to explain my personal opinion, which I have provided in numerous depositions: Any agent who steers their unsuspecting client toward a non-InterNACHI inspector should be hung from a bridge, upside down (like Mussolini was) so that mothers can show their little children and explain to them that this is what happens when real estate agents harm their own clients.
That’s typically the point where everyone goes out into the hallway and settles the suit. LOL!
Florida Div. 1 contractors cannot advertise as home inspectors if they do not have a HI certification.
They can do inspections and leave out one item in the standards or claim they are not certified Hi and do inspections.
I believe that you are mistaken. A division 1 contractor cannot advertise or hold himself out "specifically"as a licenced home inspector per chapter 468 of the Florida Statutes. He can however, advertise home inspection services under the scope of his division 1 contractors license.
Additionally, The division 1 contractor doing home inspections can do whatever they want with respect to home inspection with no accountability. They can follow an SOP, partially follow an SOP, not follow an SOP, abide by professional ethics provisions, or not abide by professional ethics provisions when performing home inspections under the scope of their division 1 contractors license.
I don’t believe that contractors would do many if any without advertising and I don’t believe they can advertise for home inspections.
The reality is it is so easy to get a home inspection license, much easier than the contractors license. Why would they risk losing it?
If you file a complaint it can be done on all licenses, regardless.