Question about home inspection in Ontario?

Hello,

I live in Ontario and the Ontario Association of Home Inspectors in the licensing body for the designation of RHI and I need to use their SOP, COE and contract. Their standards seem to go beyond InterNACHI standards. Can I use CAPHI or ASHI standards of practice while belonging to InterNACHI?

I like InterNACHI for the training however OAHI is the licensing body in my province and I am a bit confused how to go about this. Help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Welcome to our forum, Richard!..Enjoy! :smile:

Someone from Ontario will be along to help you with that…inspectors usually have to use the state or province’s SOP and such, I believe.

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Thank you Larry, I look forward to their reply :grin:

No need to wait. Internachi requires you to abide by the licensing agency you are regulated by. Internachi accepts this as your minimum.
Remember that MOST (not all) jurisdiction SOP’s are a Minimum and allow you to surpass. A few have Restrictions, so you need to read and understand them completely to be in compliance.

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Hi Jeffrey, is it okay to belong to both InterNACHI and OAHI and use OAHI contract and SOP?

There are only two provinces in Canada that are licensed and Ontario is not one of them.

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Hi Marcel, thank you for your reply. OAHI states " The Ontario Association of Home Inspectors (OAHI) is a self-regulating body created by the Ontario Government with the passage of the Ontario Association of Home Inspectors Act 1994 Pr158. The OAHI has the exclusive right to define qualification requirements, regulate its members and grant the designation “Registered Home Inspector” and “RHI” to qualified practitioners in the Province of Ontario."

Does this mean that RHI isn’t a license or how does it differ from CPI and can I do business successfully with CPI in Ontario?

RHI is only an accreditation much like CPI or CMI are. Presently in Ontario, anyone can print business cards and be a home inspector.

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Marcel is correct, only Alberta & British Columbia require licensing for home inspectors. RHI (Registered Home Inspector) is a CAHPI accreditation.

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Thank you so much Larry, Jefferey, Marcel, Junior, you are amazing to take time out of your day to help me. Really, really appreciated!!

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OAHI is NOT a licensing body, it offers the RHI credential. Like Marcel G indicated currently there is only 2 province (BC & Alberta) that requires a license to perform home inspection in the respective province. On the use of other associations standards the ethical (right thing) to do, is only the standards of the association that you are a member of. The other factor is the standard may be used where there’s an agreement between the association such as ASHI Standards. The only claim is OAHI can claim and protect the right of the use of the RHI designation, even that is a debatable questionable since CAHPI claims the right.

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Richard:
OAHI and their members think the sun shines out of their A…
You aren not a the mercy of OAHI. Get in touch with Claude. He will guide you in the right direction.
You may wish to work toward the National Home Inspector Certification Counsel’s (NHICC)
designation of National Home inspector (NHI)
Claude will guide you.

Hope this helps

Cheers

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You have to comply with licensing requirements of your state licensing board

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OAHI is a way over priced, cash grab designation. They are supposed to be dissolved when Ontario licensing is finally implemented.

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Same as what Marcel and Claude said. Ontario has no licensing in place currently. OAHI is only an association and their designation is the RHI.
I found InterNachi to be the way to go for me.

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Morning, Richard. Hope this post finds you well.

Sense Roy Cooke Senior is no longer with us, he sat and chaired at OAHI prior becoming InterNACHI CPI and an INCHI leading voice in Canada, let me try to help.

1: OAHI is the licensing body for the RHI designation. No more. No less.
2: OAHI does not carry provincial licensing/regulation weight in Ontario due to the FACT that; there is no provincial home inspector regulations in Ontario.

The fact is, OAHI got ahead of itself self proclaiming they were the official building inspection regulators for Ontario and ministers went along for the ride. Ontario Ministers opened the door too early for the group. That has sense changed. The RHI designation is recognised only.

Ontario discussed regulations for 5 years but both shoes did not drop and regulations were shelved. Tabled discussions allow provincial members of parliament and home inspection organizations to open a dialog and pinpoint what were thought to be industry weaknesses.
The tabled Home Inspection Act, 2017 did not succeed. Read more

As for SOP.
SOP is a minimum inspection standard.
The PIA, Property Inspection Agreement - Contract, holds you harmless. Just be sure everything is in legal order and you carry E&O + GL insurance.

If you are an InterNACHI CPI, Certified Professional Inspector you can use and practice their SOP, COE and PIA.
If you belong to another home inspector organization and successfully completed their courses and exams you can use their SOP, COE and PIA.

The fact of the matter still remains, only Alberta and British Columbia regulate home inspectors. The regulations were forced through very fast with little regard for the registered businesses and livelihoods that would be affected.
The same holds true for regulated home inspectors stateside except for the state of Texas. Little regard was considered for the registered businesses and livelihoods that would be affected. Lobbying by insurance and RE gave way to some very loose rules. The state of TEXAS on the other hand did a service to building inspection regulations and purchasers.

Hope that helped.

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Hi Claude, thank you for your reply. I found your answer very informative, I am going to use the InterNachi SOP.

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Thank you Douglas, your post brought a smile to my face and I really appreciate your knowledge and time.

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Greetings Robert, thank you for the post, the information was top notch. :grin:

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Greeting, Richard. Very kind of you to submit you remarks. You’re The Best!

An old adage comes to mind through. It goes like this. “While some may agree, other may not :wink:
Just follow some of the rude and vulgar comments certain members of Awards Committee leave on the MB.
Too bad.
So Sad for the organization as a whole.
Seriously. You think they would do better for the Organization as a whole and leave the petty personality squabbles behind.

Keep well.
Robert