Question, I live in a small town approximately 1200 people. The city came to me and asked if I would like to subcontract as the city inspector. They are using the county as of now and would like to get away from them and be more in house. My question is, would my certification through InterNACHI be enough for the inspections or would I have to pass the ICC certification? Advice would be appreciated, thanks.
Your INACHI certification does not train you or give you the authority to site building codes. I cannot image the towns legal council would allow you not to be ICC certified for everything you are inspecting.
I would also check with your insurer, accountant, and lawyer to see what they have to say before going much further.
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Do you know all building of codes for your area? Do you carry enough liability insurance to be covered if a house burns down after you passed the inspection?
You should run far away from this deal unless you have all the proper training. The basic CPI training doesn’t even come close to the knowledge you need to know. The city would be better off hiring a retired, builder, plumber, electrician and HVAC person.
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Where do you travel for home inspections?
Passing the International Code Council certifications could be helpful in both endeavors. Maybe the town could back you to get those and insure you while working for them.
Something to think about and maybe discuss with the town.
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I would go for it if you have openings in your schedule. Ask the city what you need as far as certifications, etc, and then go get them. The NACHI cert is likely not enough if you actually want to inspect to the code in your area. But, the training is out there for actual code inspections, and it might be a nice side income. I would definitely find out what they are willing to pay for these inspections before getting in too deep though. Early on, when I had more room in my schedule, I entertained a few municipalities and some private outfits (I’m rural as well) that wanted me to do rental and similar type inspections. I found out quickly that they didn’t want to pay much and none of them got back to me after I sent my fee proposal, lol.
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I perform inspections for construction in unincorporated areas of the County. The County does not care if the person is ICC certified even though I am. They will accept a report from any State licensed Professional Inspector with or without any ICC certifications.
A local municipality near me who will be left nameless has an ICC certified person inspecting homes. He is certified as a Property Maintenance and Housing Inspector which is quite a bit different than a R5 certified individual.
Unfortunately what I have seen is if you follow the money they really don’t want homes to be red tagged during construction. It only slows down the municipalities ability to start charging and collecting property taxes.
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The INACHI Training may be sufficient for inspecting a home as an average Home Inspector would. However if you work for the municipality you will be acting as a Building Official and expected to inspect by the minimum standards for building a safe and habitable home. That means inspecting to the various Codes and standards used to build that home. The buyers are most certainly going to expect this!
Knowing the codes and standards are a necessity to properly perform the job as a Building Official. Having the “Certifications” from the various agencies also help demonstrate that you are knowledgeable of these codes and standards. You can be knowledgeable of them without the certifications but the certifications lend credibility to your position. You would also need to speak with the municipality for their requirements for the position.
If you are going to subcontract for the municipality you should speak with an Attorney to generate a contract that provides you the same immunity that a full time Building Inspector would have. That means the municipality would have to indemnify you and hold you harmless in the event a lawsuit occurred.
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Ryan nailed it. Find out what the job is and requires. If it sounds good, do it. BTW, the ICC R5 will cost you a grand. It’s a good education for your job as a home inspector.
You would need to be a city employee on their payroll to avoid personal liability. A town of 1200 likely will not have a budget to pay much. Probably should get an agreed salary before going too far.
I think you check with municipality to see if they will cover you to get ICC cert and if they do, GO FOR IT! It’s a great future, with insurance coverage through the city, retirement and medical and from past experience your in 5 days a week with vacation time . And ground floor start of building department. I’ve been in this business since 1989 and I kick my rear end for not getting on city or county work. Less stress too. SO CHECK IT OUT..,
think you check with municipality to see if they will cover you to get ICC cert and if they do, GO FOR IT! It’s a great future, with insurance coverage through the city, retirement and medical and from past experience your in 5 days a week with vacation time . And ground floor start of building department. I’ve been in this business since 1989 and I kick my rear end for not getting on city or county work. Less stress too. SO CHECK IT OUT
You should ask the person who asked you to do the inspections. I once worked for an engineering firm that was contracted by the city of Toledo to do inspections that their inspectors weren’t qualified to do. I was a lead inspector and had no certifications other than my contractor license. ICC didn’t yet exist but BOCA and ICBO were still around. None of us had certifications through either organization.
They may accept your contractor license but it is unlikely that they will accept your InterNACHI certification though because home inspections have nothing to do with building code compliance.
Apparently, it’s a town of only 1200 residents. Something tells me they aren’t looking for a full time code inspector. This would be a contract side gig for a home inspector, nothing more, in my opinion. But still a nice little side gig if they can work it out.
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I’m looking into as of now. I have over 20 years construction experience with 10 years self employed. I’m already doing all the cities rental inspections. All rental properties within the city have to be inspected every 3 years. I appreciate the advice.
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What does that entail?