Originally Posted by
Aaron Miller
If ASTM wants to write a standard for HIs, why reinvent the wheel? What is wrong with current versions of IRC and NEC. Seems we already have a national standard and just refuse to recognize that fact.
Before some of you begin to howl and moan about how current IRC/NEC should not be used to assess existing homes, let's look at it more closely. Model codes are minimum standards designed to protect life, limb, and property. Why is that so different from what HIs are doing now?
Aaron
The problem with that theory is that the codes are owned by ASTM. ASTM makes their money selling publications and by testing. If you really want to see what a home inspector standard would look like take a look at the convoluted and meager standard for commercial inspections.
This issue will rear it's ugly head down the road, it might be two, five or ten years but it will come up again. When you look at the various HI associations standards, they are not all that different. They are all have been derived from the ASHI standards. The current standards are free for all to use, with ASTM that would not be the case.