Online thermography course

General Inspection Topics General Inspection Discussion
21

OK John, you win. Taking the course you took from the school you used is the only good way, all else is junk. Not a lot of H left in your O is there?

BTW, I highly respect Certified thermographers but the simple fact is the only ones that are tested and certified by a national standards body are Level III. The Level I and IIs are “certified” by the employers or the schools. John Snell wrote a good paper called Certified or certified. If I can find it, I’ll post it.

Suppose TREC delegated ITA and other home inspector schools to license inspectors using standards the schools established based on guidelines set by TREC and then did nothing to monitor the schools? We would have to trust that they all did a good job of establishing and applying standards to their graduates would we not? For the home inspection business that would not likely work very well.

Fortunately ITC, Snell, and Infraspection (and some other smaller schools) **all **do an excellent job of following the ASNT guidelines and carrying that thru to their classes and tests leading to the school “certifications”. If they did not, the big employers of thermographers would not continue to send students to them. The thermography training market is self regulated by the big customers who demand quality for their money. After I take the proctored test in a couple weeks I will add the certified thermographer to my tag line because it is an accomplishment to be proud of. And I’ll bet that my Level I test is just as thorough as yours was. If it wasn’t, then Shell, Chevron, GE, GM etc would have pounded on my school till it was or pulled all of their students out and it would cease to exist. ITC, Snell, and Infraspection all have been around a long time and have excellent reputations with the big customers. Their continued existance demands quality.

One last thing and then I’m done with this thread. I need to clarify the quote you keep throwing back at me. When I said “While a live class is better…” it was in the context of which way is easier for **most **people to learn from NOT which has the better class material or is the better school or in any other absolute way. Everyone needs to make that decision for him/herself. The interaction with a good live instructor and among students can be very valuable for some people. For those, the classroom approach is “best”. For others, it makes little difference and the only thing that’s important is the quality of the course material. For those, either way can work equally well. And for some, a classroom is a big distraction and they actually learn much better on self study. Just check out the averages of the SAT scores of the big high schools and compare them to the averages of the home schooled kids. I should have made that plain and it was my mistake for phrasing it as an absolute.

You don’t know Mr. Hawley and how he learns, you don’t know me. Saying that one method is better or worse for everyone as a statement of fact is not and cannot be accurate.

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  1. I took and passed the NHIE. All Illinois Inspectors take the state licensng exam, which is the NHIE, with a few added questions with regards to state law. BTW: Around here, so many people have copies of the NHIE, with answer sheets, that the test is considered a joke. So much for “National Standards”. Also, BTW, “National Standards” has many meanings.

  2. The NACHI exam is also a “National Standard” (just as much as the NHIE is) and is given in a proctored environment when required or asked for.

  3. I have attended classes on Thermography given by both Snell and ITC. Their “Certification” is one given by a private company. Don’t get me wrong, it is good training, but not a national standard. I learned all about thermography way back in 1979, from courses taken at the University of Chicago. I have forgooten more about the actual physics of thermal imaging than most “instructors” I have met. I still took the classes and learned stuff.

  4. The Level I and II classes are only about 25% applicable to home inspectors. That is why I like the Building Science course better.

  5. It is possible to know a great deal about building science, residential systems and houses even if you never take a formal course. Almost all the inspectors who worked in Illinois, before licensing, never took a formal class in their life. They were members of two national associations and that was enough. Are you saying that they were not qualified?

  6. The “certification” given by the three major national associations have the same worth. This worth is not given by the associations, per say, but by the abilities and hard work of the individual inspectors. I have met inspectors from all associations. Some are really good and some are clueless. Association membership has nothing to do with their qualifications or their knowledge.

These are facts. I am sorry you don’t want to recognize reality.

The only one I have to worry about is myself. I exceed the state requirements for state approved CE (last license period, I was required to take 12 hours, but I took 96 hours and taught 12 hours) and the requirements of alll the associations. I don’t know how many other inspectors did this, and I really don’t care. I am only responsible to myself and my clients.

I also did 5 follow up inspections on inspections performed by members of other associations. In 4 out of those 5, the previous inspector really messed up. On 3 of those 4, I took along a newly licensed inspector (ride along) and the new guy found the things that the previous inspector missed.

It’s not about the association or the “certifiecation”, its about the individual and how much he cares about the profession.

Hope this helps;

23

But to each his own. Your milage may vary.

24

I totallu agree with John’s comments.

This is a new technology for home inspectors. National Certifiecation groups are way behind the leading edge as far as training. ITC does the best job, so far.