Originally Posted By: Jeremy Faux
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Once the NACHI Online exam is passed, can an inspector claim to be “certified”?
Once the NACHI Online exam is passed, can an inspector claim to be “certified”?
Originally Posted By: gbell
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I think that you can CLAIM to be a certified inspector anytime you want. Do you feel like you are QUALIFIED to be a certified inspector.
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Greg Bell
Bell Inspection Service
Originally Posted By: Jeremy Faux
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I would feel that if I passed a certification exam that qualification on knowledge would be verified. What do you think?
"Certified Home Inspector" seems more marketable.
Originally Posted By: lfranklin
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I may be wrong here but that was just an entrance exam.
Originally Posted By: Nick Gromicko
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If asked “who certifies you?” members should answer: “The National Association of Certified Home Inspectors.”
Nick
PS In another case which NACHI was not involved in, a truly certified electrician used the word "certified" in his home inspection literature. He was not a member or certified by NACHI or any other home inspection association. The court found him guilty of misleading advertising.
PSS Here's an easy rule of thumb: If you want to call yourself a certified something or other...make sure you can touch your certificate. Plaintiff's attorneys and judges aren't idiots.
Originally Posted By: rking
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Good Answer Nick!
You are well versed in these matters.
Have you ever thought of getting into politics?  
--
Muskoka Home Inspections
"Wisdom is the Anticipation of the Consequences"
Steering Committee Member At Large
Originally Posted By: Nick Gromicko
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I sat on the board of one of the nation’s largest public sewer authorities once, but I didn’t have to run a campaign. I just opened my big mouth from the audience a couple of times and the local townspeople insisted I be appointed to the board. I tried to argue saying “What do I know about sewage? I don’t know $#it!”
No use.I also sit on the board of any charitable organization that unanimously elects me.
Nick
Originally Posted By: Jeremy Faux
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Thanks Nick et al.
I understand the whole "certified" matter. Thanks for the insite.
Jeremy
PS I mailed my application last week. 
Originally Posted By: Richard Stanley
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As an attaboy for passing the test, you are, of course, entitled to refer to yourself as ‘certifiable’.
Originally Posted By: Nick Gromicko
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We have a new quiz on our Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics being released soon. Members will have to take it their first year. Open book. Learning tools incorporated into it. Online and free of course. Really just a check to make sure everyone understands them and reads them at least once.
Nick
PS Here they are if you want them:
http://www.nachi.org/sopintro.htm
http://www.nachi.org/code_of_ethics.htm
Originally Posted By: Steve Kelly
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When the attorney say’s that you are certified then you must be an expert inspector? Then you say yes! Are you going to be able to answer any question he/she puts to you?
All they have to do is go on the internet and pull a bunch of hard questions that would be very hard to answer and I belive you would lose your case.
I have not gone through this but I would think they would not stop at are you certified, and say good enough for me you win!
Just my thoughts on this matter.
Steve
Originally Posted By: jpope
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are.
If you claim to be anything that you are not, you're putting your head on the chopping block. Even a "first year attorney" would have the skill to lop it off. Not because he's an expert  , simply because he's an attorney
--
Jeff Pope
JPI Home Inspection Service
"At JPI, we'll help you look better"
(661) 212-0738
Originally Posted By: Nick Gromicko
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The word “expert” is usually used to describe someone above and beyond just a home inspector.
"experienced" can be proven wrong of course but is somewhat subjective...experienced at what?
"professional" is clearly defined. You are generally a professional if you charge for, or make a living doing something. A professional golfer who never won a tournament is still a professional.
"insured" is something that you either are or are not (like being pregnant).
"certified" is something that requires a third party. In other words you cannot certify yourself. NACHI certifies home inspectors.
Nick
Originally Posted By: Steve Kelly
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Then why dose the B&P code in CA state that no inspector can advertise that he or she is certified unless they are an expert in the feild of inspection.
Originally Posted By: jfarsetta
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If you possess the requesite skills, possess the experience, and are a professional in a particular discipline, the term “expert” is generally accepted in most courts of law.
The local periatrician in our area, if he is board certifies in his field, is considered an expert. The chairman of pediatrics from Columbia Presbeterian / Cornell Medical Center in NY City is also board certified, and is considered an expert. Both have clearly different educational experience, and practical experience. Both are experts. The Columbia guy is not an "expert expert". The court views them the same way. Now, expert witnesses can disagree with one another. The judge or jury will decide who is more believable. Sometimes, the "expert expert" is deemed to be the unreliable witness, as his experience may be clouded by experimental or research daya or case studies. He may know everything about spinal memingitis,, but nothing about the flu. So, your expertise can be a 2-edged sword.
As to California's rule, they should have already spelled out what constitutes an expert in the HI field. If not, than an argument can be (successfuly) made that a little background, education, and experience qualifies you as an expert.
Does the NACHI exam make you an expert? Nope. Does passing the NHIE make you an expert? Nope.
I get compliments from SELLERS, whose homes I have just inspected, that wished they had ME as their inspector instead of Inspector X, when they purchased their home. Now, Inspector X may have performed 5000 inspections, have passed the NHIE, own a successful HI business, and be a full ASHI member. He may have also been an idiot when it came to performing an inspection. In the client's eyes, who's the expert then?
--
Joe Farsetta
Illigitimi Non Carborundum
"Dont let the bastards grind you down..."
Originally Posted By: Steve Kelly
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I agree with you, but you have to understand that if you end up in a CA court with your web site and whatever else says that you are certified, the opposing attorney will tear you apart.
Look up certified in the dictionary and you will find the word expert.
Originally Posted By: jfarsetta
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Then take Al Austin’s repeated advice, and pass the building code certification process. As most AHJs require their municipal inspectors to be certified in this manner, it’s a safe bet that the standards by which the state and local building departments measure THEIR inspectors as experts will extend to anyone with similar certs.
These exams are non-biased in my opinion. Again, its the benchmark for municipalities. An attorney woud be hard-pressed to prove that anyone with the qualifications to inspect for the city in which the lawsuit is taking place, is not good enough, or "expert" enough to inspect a home in a real-estate transaction. Home inspections are voluntary, while building inspectins for valid COs are mandatory.
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Joe Farsetta
Illigitimi Non Carborundum
"Dont let the bastards grind you down..."
Originally Posted By: Blaine Wiley
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Forgive me for being naive, but wouldn’t an “expert” certified home inspector be someone who performs inspections based on the standards of conduct and scope of inspection of the certifying body?
I must admit, I do laugh at the guys who have “expert witness” on their brochure, but then, most of them aren’t from Blaine
Originally Posted By: Nick Gromicko
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CA permits the use of the word “Certified” for NACHI members.
Nick
Originally Posted By: jhagarty
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–
Joseph Hagarty
HouseMaster / Main Line, PA
[email protected]
www.householdinspector.com
Phone: 610-399-9864
Fax : 610-399-9865
HouseMaster. Home inspections. Done right.