Termites

Specific Inspection Topics Ancillary Inspection Services
21

I thought the Ga. DoA was tough, but it sounds like WA. DoA is out of control.

The Ga. DoA will go after individuals or Companies suspected of marketing or trying to sell WDO or PCO products or services to the public, that are not Registered, Licenced with the DoA.

I understand they have even cited some H/I’s that have gotten carried away with their opinions to the Client and/or R/E Agent. The complaint is lodged with DoA, they investigate, explain the law, maybe even a warning or fine.
I’ve never heard of an Electrician, Builder, Neighbor, etc. of getting into trouble for “being a good neighbor” and identifying a potential problem and recommending that they call and get help from a Pest Control Co.

I wear one hat at a time. If I’m a H/I with that client, I won’t change or comingle my services. I recommend calling for an inspection from a professional, to confirm my sitings and concerns.

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But they are such cute little buggers.

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23

Erby

Great shot of workers. Termites and Cockroachs will be here, when were dust and a memory.

24

Greg,

Well, if I was incorrectly informed I apologize, in advance, of the correct information. This is not the first time that I have posted this info and have not yet heard a contrary opinion from a State official - but the point of the post was to ensure that those who read these things don’t get a notion that NACHI has some sort of agreement with certain states that allow our Standars to overrule State law. It is difficult for us to say how someone in another state should conduct a home inspection if we are not intimately familiar with that states law. That was really all I should have said.

Because I have not secured the SPI license in Washington I am not even allowed to report flashing problems. Crazy as it is, it is the law - so I pay an SPI to join me at the site. Turns out that this gives me more time to investigate the mechanical/construction details of the home and as such the client gets a more comprehensive inspection than I could give by myself. I do charge more than the average inspector in the Spokane Area. In addition, and thanks to posts made by Russell Ray, this week I added a $1199.00 inspection (for the client that insist on having the most expensive Home Inspection in town.) I may not do one of these, or it may be a year or two before I do, but when it comes I will be most thankful for our healthy capitalistic economy. Keep the following under your hat: I have asked a company to develop a lightweight, easy to use Floor/Wall System Integrity Tester for the Home Inspection industry. We are hopeful to bring this product to the market within the next 12 months. More on this later.

Steven,
We need to go fishing together and put this politics aside!

Lewis,
Thank you for accepting the fact that my operation is legal; and, I am happy to send you a copy of my 2006 & 2007 Business Licenses if you were not able to find on our Washington State web site. Hey, why not join Steven on our fishing trip?

25

Dennis

Tell your Client about me if he decides to buy/invest in the North Georgia area. He will love the area (all 4 seasons).

Seriously, I get a few of those a year, and they are always a nice surprise.

Good Luck

26

Lewis,
Thank you for accepting the fact that my operation is legal; and, I am happy to send you a copy of my 2006 & 2007 Business Licenses if you were not able to find on our WashingtonState web site. Hey, why not join Steven on our fishing trip? -->>

Sorry Dennis, after my conversation with Dr. Soumi last week I know that in the view of the WSDA you are technically performing ILLEGAL Inspections, if you, in your Inspection Report mention anything that may be conducive to WDO damage and you do not have an SPI License you are in vilolation of the Law even if you use a Sub for the WDO Inspection. unless you Sub takes full responsibility and assumes full liability for the Home Inspection, DR. Soumi’s words not mine. I’ve argued over this asinine law more with soumi than I have with you or any other NACHI Member, last week I asked him specifically about the use of Subs, that was his answer.
Me, I don’t see anything wrong with subbing out the WDO Inspection, other than you could be putting the money in your pocket, but I didn’t write the Law. Those of us who have argued with Soumi know that it is almost useless, in the end he wins by saying “It’s The Law”.

As far as your business licenses I did findyou under Thomas Property Management LLC, but not under TPM, llc, when I set up my LLC in WA. I had to show all the alliases or names that my LLC would be called, maybe your abbreviation isn’t “registared”, I was searching for the number of NACHI Inspectors in Eastern Washington who had business licenses at all, as TPM, you don’t show up.

Other than making NACHI and its members look bad by your lack of SPI LIcense, I don’t care if you have one or not, but you shouldn’t get upset because I mention in my marketing and on my website the Washington State Requirements and the fact that many Inspectors are not Licensed SPI’s. If I buy a new IR Camera to use during Inspections I’ll mention that in my marketing too.

Have you checked with your E&O Insurance provider to find out if your Sub Needs to be listed on your Policy? My Allen Insurance Policy requires it, if your sub misses something that could lead to a lawsuit, it will be you that will be sued, the sub will just be an add on.

Like Steve said, talk to Dr Soumi, not some woman in the Office.

Fly Fishing’s been great, at least until all the rain the past couple of Weeks, the water in the North Fork of the CD’A River has risen way to high, hopefully it will drop with this cold weather.

http://structuralpest.wsu.edu/index.html

27

Curious question?

Isn’t Washington State about the same Latitude as Maine?
So why do they have termites and we don’t?
Maybe they have not been able to walk this far. ha. ha.

In either case, if we did see them here in Maine and I would notice in an Inspection, I sure the hell would care less where the Department of Agriculture were or have been.
I would note it as a potential WSDA and recommend further evaluation by a Qualified Bug Exterminator.

Then I would move on. Page two.

Marcel :slight_smile: :slight_smile: :wink:

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Marcel,

I agree with you, but Washington State has a Law that requires a Home Inspector to have a Structural Pest Inspector License for any Inspection where he even mentions conditions conducive to WDO damage. Nachi’s COE states that member must abide by all State and Local Laws, whether we like them or not.

I tend to agree with Dennis that the HI should be able to Sub Out the WDO Inspection, WSDA doesn’t agree with either of us and it would be almost impossible to follow the NACHI SOP and not mention thing condusive the WDO…It’s like I’ve said before, there are no Home Inspectors in Washington State, only Licensed Structural Pest Inspectors doing Home Inspections on the side.

29

So. that makes everything right, and now we have LSPI’s doing our job as a moonlight excursion and double dipping?
Something just seems wrong with this picture.
Pardon my ignorance for this part of the Country, but something just don’t seem ethical in all of this.

Marcel :slight_smile: :slight_smile:
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Nice to hear. I’ll definitely send them to you.

31

Marcel,

My
“No Home Inspectors in Washington State…” was a comment on the lack of licensing requirements for Home Inspectors within the State, but the mandatory licensing of those doing Home Inspections as Structrual Pest Inspectors. As SPI’s we don’t treat any conditions we find, we refer them to Pest Control Companines, just like we would in accordance to our SOP’s

So what are you required when you do notice this existence of such WDO and not licensed? You cannot legally Report it, even if you have hired a Sub to do the WDO Inspection, the Sub would have to sign off on your HOme Inspection and assume full liability. The requirement for licensing is simple, an easy test Identifying WDO’s and a $45 fee, along with a $25,000 Bond or Insurance.

So. that makes everything right, and now we have LSPI’s doing our job as a moonlight excursion and double dipping?
Something just seems wrong with this picture. Are we Home Inspectors or Structural Pest Inspectors? We don’t need a “Home Inspector” license to be a Home Inspector but we do need an SPI License, so what are we?

The law says that anyone who performs WDO Inspections for the sale, transfer exchange, or refinancing of any structure in Washington State must be licensed. WSDA’s and the Law’s claim is that any mention of conditions conducive to WDO is an inspection and it would be very rare to do a Home Inspection Report without mentioning at least some of the conducive conditions. What’s really stupid is that the State Legislators never made WDO Inspections mandatory for ALL sales, transfers, exchanges, refinances of Structures in Washington, its mandatory only for those which have Home Inspections. At least if they had made WDO Inspections mandatory for all Sale etc., it would give us another market of doing straight WDO Inspections.

Washington is an Agriculture State, and the Pesticide INdustry has a lot of power, what they have done is to pass off the costs and liability of the WDO Inspections to us, while still getting the referals for any damage we find. If the Law was designed to protect the consumer it would have made WDO Inspections Mandatory for all Real Estate Tranactions involving Structures. Its a Bulls*** Law, but then there are lots of those in this country.

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Yes Lewis, I am aware that I must not mention anything that has to do with water or pests invasion. I do not. Again, I have discussed this with my Sub SPI guy and he does take accountability for items that are his responsibility. That said, I do not mind sharing responsibility with him in a law suite - he is good at what he does. I too have seen very recent HI reports that do not include an SPI Report. That path is too risky for me. But, if the State makes stupid laws I will let them find the transgressors - I refuse to be their snitch.’ These guy’s that are not attempting to comply get their share of business and that doesn’t bother me - good for them for getting away with it. (One of the things that make America great is the majority of us play the game if we are not pushed over the edge - then, well, Republicans loose their majority.)

Sorry the fly fishing went sour - if you do any winter fishing and want company let me know.

mcyr:

When I think I am able to define the motivation of those HI’s that support this legislation I’ll pass it on to you. For now, I just don’t get why anyone would approve of the DOA law or the forthcoming “Licensing” laws. However, I would support the Licensing laws if convinced that it would eliminate the unscrupulous among us. We know better don’t we?
But, if you haven’t followed my thoughts on this stuff, I’ll tell you that sometimes I think maybe State Licensing would be better than NACHI (and the like) monitoring. And, then I think I should just ignore it all and do what I want to do until told otherwise. It’s a difficult world sometimes. Thank goodness the fish are biting.

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Marcel,

My answer to your question is that I do not mention nor include conducive or existing water or pests conditions in my HI written report. The SPI (Structural Pest Inspector) includes these in his report - his report is then attached to mine and given to the client. No lines are crossed, and completely legal. Perhaps this was the intent of the DOA - to get an SPI into every home that is being sold in Washington. As I have said above, this approach gives me more time to do a better job on the mechanical/electrical/structural elements of the home inspection. Bare in mind that our Standards/Ethical codes require that we comply with state law, and then provide the services of the Standards. All bases are covered and a thorough home inspection is accomplished without exception.
**Would you like us to package up some of these “powder Beatles” and send them to you? They make a home structure look like swiss cheese. ** :smiley:
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Then how do you abide by the NACHI SOP or comply with the ASHI SOP like your Website says?

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Lewis,

I just don’t know how to express it more clearly than I already have. If the following doesn’t settle it please clarify your concern: the NACHI & ASHI Standards direct us to comply with state law and then we can do the parts of the Standards that are not modified by state law. As I am doing as directed by our Standards (by my act of compling with state laws,) then I am in compliance with NACHI & ASHI Standards. Right?