The true cost of Radon

General Inspection Topics Legislation, Licensing, Ethics & Legal Issues
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Good Afternoon Everyone,

First time posting here, but I think this is definitely an unethical practice and I wanted to see how many people this has affected, or what others opinions are.

I’ve started a new inspection services business and my service area is one that has a large Radon concern. Every competing home inspector offers the service and it seems to be one of those items that you have to have it in order to be successful in your service offerings. I like doing things through official mechanisms, so even though Wisconsin does not require NRPP specifically to conduct this service, it would be wise and safe to have the certification to stand behind. Plus, I looked up the pricing and the certification isn’t too much of an investment at $260.

At this point, I’m in.

First step, you need a third party education course. Luckily you if you are member of InterNACHI, that step is free. If you aren’t or you just didn’t see it, you’ll have to purchase a course for between $250-300. Still not too bad, only about $500 dollars in for a license.

Next step, the exam, but the exam cost is not built into the certification cost. Add on an additional $150 plus admin fees. Ok, we are getting a bit higher now. $650 in to the certification. Next step, exam study and prep. Of course, NRPP recommends their study guide through AARST, so add on another $25-50 if you also want the digital references. (Glad I did, since the exam did not match the course work very closely). Running total ~$700. At this point, you’re feeling elated with the success and being close to done. Hold on, there’s a catch.

You have to buy your device now, a device you are not currently certified to use yet, and you have to take that new device and send it to one of their chosen test labs to do a performance test. The cost of a CRM will be about $700-1000 each and you will need two to keep the crosscheck requirements going in the future. You have to bear this capital expense while also not being able to use the devices. This process is lengthy and will eat about 1-2 months of your ROI.

Considering leasing? Well, NRPP requires that you log all of your CRM devices with serial numbers and calibration paperwork to their portal and that process takes about 7 days to be approved and removing devices takes paperwork forms and longer, so welcome mayor of admin city every time you need to change out devices.

Now you have your devices and you have to send them to one of the NRPP certified performance labs. Lets say about $10-25 dollars to ship your devices to the lab. Lab rates vary, but generally it is $150-200 per device for the performance test, then you pay shipping back. At this point the cost of the license has ballooned up to $2700-2900. All while you are unable to recoup any of the investment costs.

Last costs to consider. During this process the clock is still ticking on your annual calibration. You will eat about 2 months of your 12 months of calibration for your CRMs with this process. Estimate another 2-3 weeks for the calibration. Let’s just say you chopped off an entire quarter on those devices making you any money. May not seem like much, but from a business standpoint, this puts your first maintenance cycle cost within your ROI period.

Large scale radon testing and mitigation businesses can tank these costs. Small businesses, especially recent start-ups, cannot.

The reason that I put this discussion in the ethics sub-topic is because I feel that this is a deceitful way to conduct business by the NRPP. They conceal true costs of obtaining their licensing and by the time you realize the huge investment it is, you are already so far in that you have to pay more to get something out of it. The RMP true cost standpoint for a small business is almost $3,000 if you aren’t paying yourself or your employees to study, take the course, and do all of the administration. The advertised cost is $230…

I’m considering filing a consumer protections case with the FTC and North Carolina Attorney General’s Office (where the NRPP is registered). I think practices like this have to stop and are killing small independent businesses by monetizing every single step and concealing the true cost of a license until you are fully invested and can’t get out.

I look forward to hearing other’s opinions about this.

Thanks!
Nathan Brewer

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Sounds like a pain to do the NRPP thing. I would go with this…

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I’ve done one in five years. I must be doing something right, I’m booked until 11th of October.

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Haha Very true Ryan.
Unfortunately, you don’t know its that big of a pain until you’re already a few hundred in. At that point it becomes a question of if you want to take the loss and have nothing to show for it. Or keep going and hope you come out with something.

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Kind of like buying a stock that you really like and it keeps going down. You buy some more, it goes down. You buy some more, it goes down. Before you know it, you’re broke.

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Lovely! Inspiring some confidence in my ROI calculations!

If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your service area?
My service area is showing almost 50% is >4pCi/L, so maybe I’ve incorrectly assumed the value of this.

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We don’t have rocks or soil with uranium in them where I live. I’m on the coast.

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My first question “Is the cost really concealed?” During your training, all the calibration expectations etc. are clearly illustrated.

Could a reasonable person list potential costs and start asking questions?

I am not against you, I just think this may be their argument.

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Stop throwing good money after bad, would be my advice. Testing for radon is not rocket science. Don’t give NRPP all of your profits. Yes, there are some things to know, but I wouldn’t give them fee after fee after fee just to get their certification. Most of the knowledge you need is available for free on the internet. And clients aren’t going to care at all if you are NRPP certified or not.

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I have 2 CRMs and have the calibration timing split to about 6 months apart. This way I am never without a monitor.

I went through the NRSB for certification and don’t have to go through as many of the headaches you mentioned with my devices. Yes I had to send one to a lab and take a proctored exam as well but it comes with the territory.

My state requires a license for radon testing, so if I wish to offer that service, then I have to deal with it. It’s just part of doing business…

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Fair and valid points. Absolutely.

The calibration part; I get that’s just the cost of using any device that has a calibration requirement. I was more talking about how in general you never want an equipment maintenance cycle to occur within your ROI window if you can help it. The processing of each step of the RMP process is burdensomely long where it ends up pushing you into this situation that ends up extending your ROI, which you would not have accounted for in the initial estimates. You don’t know this before entering into the process. It would be equivalent of purchasing a device with calibration requirements and then getting it and seeing the calibration occurred two or three months ago before you purchased and you are now short cycled.

The performance test is a whole other matter. As you noted, the performance test is to be performed biannually at one of the NRPP-approved radon test chamber. It says nowhere that you need to do this to become qualified. It is such a weird situation to be in, where you are hinging a qualification on someone buying something they, according to NRPP, are not qualified to use. How their statement can be interpreted being right before the annual calibration requirement is that you do your annual calibration and every two years you submit for a performance test. This would make sense as the device is hopefully paid off and you are seeing yields from it in your business. You then are able to budget for the calibration and performance testing as part of your pricing structure.

To clarify, none of these things are inherently bad when being properly applied. My beef is that NRPP makes the process look very low cost until you are in the door and then they slam you with tons of initial requirements that would normally be done a year or two post qualification. It seems very predatory to small companies or individuals just starting.

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Totally agree. Definitely not a difficult job.

I saw it as the same as InterNACHI CPI. My state has it’s own separate licensing and I don’t need to be a CPI, but the process was clearly laid out and did not have any hidden costs up front to be a CPI. I calculated it out and saw value in it. That value and cost did not change throughout the certification process. I did the same approach to NRPP and only once I was into the process did these issues arise, eroding the previous value assessment.

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The cycling you are doing with your CRMs is exactly where I want to be. 6 months apart of calibration, but NRPP requiring you to do these steps up front just to qualify makes doing that impossible unless you short cycle one CRM by 6 months or over the period of a few years keep short cycling one of the devices until they are staggered like you are describing.

Wish I would have known a lot of these details before I started, but with an initial cost of entry only being a few hundred, it doesn’t seem that bad in order to get the value back. When the investment barrier keeps rising, that’s when all these tiny things add up.

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Nathan; I agree with @mdurante; It’s part of the business. I also have two CRM’s. I’m in MN, a licensed state for radon - unlicensed for home inspecting - opposite of WI.

You should call Radalink and see what they can do for you. With your concerns, I think they would be a good partner. You lease their devices; they take care of all your paperwork and reports. Working through Radalink, maybe you don’t have to get any certifications at all. No need to be any more qualified than your competition on the radon side. You just need to do it right and follow a Quality Assurance plan, which Radalink sets up for you. You might find this strategy to be simple and does not require you to address all your concerns. If it doesn’t work out, send the devices back to Radalink. K.I.S.S.

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BTW, forget the perceived NRPP “deception”. Their “deception” does nothing for your business. Take a positive approach, forget NRPP, and focus on your business plan!

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In my unregulated state, I use NACHI’s advanced radon certification as my credentials.

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Thanks for the advice about Radalink. I will look into them. I, unfortunately, am already fully down this hole with NRPP, I have my CRMs, they have been sent to the lab.

I normally agree to take a positive approach, I just like to try and help others not make the same mistakes. There’s tons of certification and professional licensing companies out there that take advantage of young new people trying to get into a field and break away from big corporations. If others have had this experience and just didn’t say anything or try and improve it, then they are just allowing the next generation to find themselves in the same spot padding the pockets of these certification companies while they are stuck grinding trying to pay the rest of the way through something they think they need to be competitive. Trades are shrinking fast and I firmly believe that this hidden nickel and diming is one of the big reasons that it is happening.

I will definitely look up Radalink and share it with my little group of like minded home inspectors here in Northern Wisconsin. I’m sure it will help someone.

Thanks.

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Maybe just use charcoal tests. Non of this will apply and the initial investment is very low. The bad part is waiting for the results, but we do it with mold and water tests all the time.

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When I started, there were no license requirements, so I used a rental CRM. Shortly after, I purchased 2 CRMs from another inspector that was closing up shop and moving out of state. Got a screaming deal on them. One unit had just been calibrated and the 2nd was due in a couple of months at the time. Guess which one was sent to the lab. After the second one went through calibration, I was set. After a while, I gave up the rental and now only have the two.

Point is, you don’t have to purchase brandy dandy new equipment. People are selling used CRMs all the time for fairly decent prices.

You already stated that you don’t need certification to get started, so get started w/o it. Pick up a used piece of equipment that is good for a bit, make a few bucks, use that money to buy another, and use that one to get your cert while still making money with the first. Before you know it, everything is paid for and it’s all profit from there…

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However, in order to assure that tampering has not occurred, you need to secure the home with tamper tape on the windows. If closed house conditions are not present when you arrive, you have to establish closed house conditions and return 12 hours later to set your test kits. You need to secure your carbon test devices in such a way that they cannot be removed from the room and they cannot be covered with a plastic bag. Radon testing requires a Quality Assurance Plan that includes procedures, including procedures to assure against tampering. That’s why radon testing professionals tend to use CRM’s that take hourly readings and also monitor home environmental conditions. During my training, I wanted to use carbon test kits, but I soon realized I could not economically assure against tampering. I test using CRM’s.

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