Are you required to be with a licensed home inspector for your 100 pre liscense inspections?
Or can I do them on my own? What paperwork would I need if so?
That’s an interesting question. The way the law is written, you must join a national association of home inspectors that requires full members to have completed 100 inspections. So it is up to that association (InterNachi or AHSI) to define if there are any additional requirements that those inspections must comply with.
Title 68 Chapter 75 - The Official Website of the Pennsylvania General Assembly
According to Internachi, the current six steps to becoming a CPI (Certified Professional Inspector) include
Pass the exam
Join Internachi
Complete the code of ethics course
Complete the standards of practice course
submit your 4 mock inspections
Sign an affidavit after completing the previous five steps.
I’m not sure who is looking at your list of 100 inspections at InterNachi, but you can send a list of addresses (not the full reports) to interNachi at education@internachi.org and this will satisfy your requirement officially.
Personally, I believe that your 100 inspections should be supervised by an experienced and respected inspector who can show you the ropes and help you become good at inspecting homes in a safe and professional manner that serves your customer in a way that reflects positively on our Home Inspection Industry. Find yourself a good mentor here: Home Inspector Mentoring - InterNACHI®
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You don’t need in-person, on-site supervision for your first 100, but you do need an existing inspector to look at your first 100 inspections. InterNACHI provides the service for free for members.
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Can you really critique an inspector’s performance by just looking at 100 reports? At the same time, one hundred on-site supervised inspections seem excessive & costly. Would something like 25 ride along, 25 supervised, & then 50 reviewed reports be more of a benchmark on guidance and how an inspector is going to do?
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Nope. You can get a feel for their ability to generate a report, at best.
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Supervised by whom?
Then it is really nothing more than a feel-good requirement, so consumers can feel that the state is doing their part to regulate.
Great question. And where it would get extremely complicated.
It would have to be something like an accelerated apprenticeship. Not sure how many established inspectors would want to take that on though. The extra liability, additional E&O + GL, loss of time, expenses, potential customer and agent frustration, & potential harm to their company’s reputation just to train someone that will be gone in such a short period really is not all attractive. The trainer would have to be compensated handsomely.
Then is there also a potential where the trainee could file suit down the road? Claiming that they were actually an employee since they were taking the lead on the 25 inspections that the trainer charged the customer for.
Regulation used as a barrier to entry. With this set-up, and inspector would almost certainly have to join a multi-inspector firm or be locked out of the industry. This is good for the big firms, ya know, the ones who have influence with the lawmakers.
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I don’t think it’s that deep. I just don’t think legislators know the business when they passed it.
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Regulation has been the gate keeper to new business both nationally and at State levels for eternity. Maybe not in this instance. I dunno. My skepticism is bias.
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State licensing for home inspectors is starting to grow traction in my state. The larger MLS groups made a big push for it this year but failed. Supposedly they are going to try even harder next year.
I’m all for do kind of regulation. They just need to make sure that thought is put into it so there is some substance to it.