Can anyone tell me the difference between the online courses offered by these 2 companies? Which is the one to take? Is one better than the other? Has anyone taken either of these courses? I can see they are both 16 hours.
Infraspection Institute
http://www.infraspection.com/courses_dl_building_inspector.html
Infrared Certified
http://www.infrared-certified.com/
Hi, I have the exact same question. Just purchased a camera and looking for training. I’m not sure if it makes a difference but I eventually wants to get my thermographer level 1 also.
Thanks.
There are plenty of good courses out there, but Infraspection has no equal. Infraspection is the InterNACHI of the infrared industry.
Infrared Certified is an InterNACHI designation, and carries no weight in the outside world.
Infraspection is a legitimate IR organization recognized nationwide (worldwide?). The linked offering is a special deal developed for InterNachi members only, as a first step on their path to get quality training prior to Level I, II, III.
I just did the Infraspection online course, very informative and well thought out.
They are the leaders in the industry and they give NACHI inspectors a huge discount on the Level 1 course, I believe it was $195, possibly $295 either way it is a nice discount.
Infraspection is the very, very best. No equal.
True, I was going to go to New Jersey for the Level II training at the beginning of October but since I am going to be going to Las Vegas in the middle of October I will take the Level II training a little later.
John’s course is less technical but is the best in one regard: It is designed PARTICULARLY for home inspectors. It isn’t solely for someone who is new to IR, but it is the best (IMHO) for home inspectors who are new to IR. Taking John’s course first is a really smart move if you are an existing home inspector considering adding IR services.
Either will get you your IR certification www.nachi.org/ir if that is your goal in taking a course. Because of InterNACHI’s prominence, Infrared Certified is what consumers inquire about. InterNACHI gets bombarded by consumers asking if a home inspector is Infrared Certified.
Conversely, the Level thing (Level I, II, III) is an unknown designation outside of the inspection and IR industries and carries no weight with consumers. It’s definitely more robust, but consumers never ask about levels. I can honestly say I’ve never had one consumer or agent mention the word Level. However, if acquiring different levels is your goal, and you plan on achieving further levels, Infraspection is the way to go and you should likely start with Infraspection to begin with.
They are each taught using very different styles. I prefer John’s style myself, but it’s a personal preference.
I hope that helps.
Awesome guys / gals thanks a lot, great feedbacks. Do you know if as an applicant I can get the Nachi discount? I won’t be an applicant very much longer anyway.
David
Yes, both organizations apply their discounts to all InterNACHI members, InterNACHI student members, InterNACHI applicant members, etc. Both will treat you very well if you are InterNACHI. Both John and Jim are long time members. Actually both are two of InterNACHI’s very first members, so either way, you are dealing with fellow members.
The two biggest issues with the Level thing are these:
Almost no consumer has ever even heard of it. It’s only an inspection and infrared industry thing and carries no weight outside our industries. So if you think you are going to get more consumer inspections because you are Level whatever, you are mistaken. In sharp contrast, Infrared Certified is everywhere. Admittedly, not because it is a more robust professional designation, but because of InterNACHI’s proficiency at promoting it. We get thousands of consumers asking if someone is* Infrared Certified* all day and all night. I don’t recall one ever asking about levels. Not one.
When asked, some consumers think Level I is better than Level III. It’s sort of a “#1” thing in marketing. In marketing there is first place winner, second place, coming in third, and honorable mention. Consumers are mistaken of course, but they think what they think.
So don’t do the Level thing for increased marketing, do it for increased competency. And if you do the Level thing, apply (it’s free) to be Infrared Certified anyway for the marketing benefit. It costs nothing extra.
I definitely want to have the infrared certified logo on my site and vehicle in the near future. I want level 1 to learn more.
I tried to shoot as straight as possible with my opinions here and I didn’t pull any punches. Disclosure: Both Jim and John are personal friends of mine.
Good plan.
Thanks a lot! I think you’ve answered mine and David’s questions.
They both sound good now!
That’s funny because in many thousands of client/prospect discussions I have never been asked if I was a CMI or even had anyone mention CMI. I use my Level-III designation to sell paid professional thermography services all of the time.
There is no comparison between the knowledge and reputation between the two education providers. One has internationally recognized thermography certifications, has trained thousands of professional thermographers, host an annual internationally attended thermography conference, has more than two decades of professional thermography experience and authored many of the standards in use by thermographers worldwide. The other holds no certification other than the one he gave himself.
If you have any aspirations of ever being paid as a professional thermographer, there is no question as to which is the choice for training.
I totally agree if one is to enter the commercial world of IR believe you me the client knows the difference between IR certified and levels one thru 3. I would not be getting calls from Texas Arkansas Missouri and Kansas if I just advertised I was a level I thermographer.
I’ve been thinking about this for a couple years. From what I gather, it seems there are a couple ways to go…
Either you want to be a Professional Thermographer, or
You want to be a Home Inspector that also provides Thermal Imaging as part of your home inspection service.
They both seem to have different qualifications…
Infraspection is capable of providing the appropriate level of training for those who just want to use the technology as home inspectors tool. That was the course that Nick first mentioned.
If I wanted to learn first aid, I would rather be trained by an experienced, recognized emergency room physician than someone who designated themselves a first aid trainer, even if I had no aspirations of becoming a doctor myself.