New in Florida

[Jim Rogers]

Greetings all,

I'm Jim in Florida panhandle. I've been a residential remodeling contractor for over 30 years and am now making the transition to inspections.

I have not decided (1) which national association I should join, (2) Wheather I should go franchise or independant, and (3) if I go independant, which software is best, which school I should attend, etc.

Any help from you fine folks would be greatly, greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[Bruce Ramsey]

I have not decided
(1) which national association I should join,
First decide why you are joining an association.
Join an association that meets locally so you can meet and get to know the other inspectors in your area. Consider one that keeps abreast of your local licensing board if licensed state. Association should also provide training opportunities at the meetings, sponsor conferences, or other.

(2) Whether I should go franchise or independent,
What is the franchise offering you that you cannot do yourself with the same money?

(3) which software is best,
Order the demos and try them. All of them will require you to re-write the text to be in your style and not sound like a canned program statement. Choose wisely because you will invest hundreds of hours in customizing it and will feel reluctant to jump ship.

(4) which school I should attend,
Whichever school you choose, make sure you go on as many ride alongs with different inspectors as you can. The school is mostly about how houses are built and systems are supposed to function. Not until you get in the field will realize how much they don't teach.

Get a copy of the International Residential Code and begin reading. Dry and boring but the best resource to back up your intuition that something is wrong with the house.

[Scott Patterson]

Greetings all,

I'm Jim in Florida panhandle. I've been a residential remodeling contractor for over 30 years and am now making the transition to inspections.

I have not decided (1) which national association I should join, (2) Wheather I should go franchise or independant, and (3) if I go independant, which software is best, which school I should attend, etc.

Any help from you fine folks would be greatly, greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Before you really do anything you need to do some research into the FL Home Inspection license law. It goes live I think in July 2010. You need to contact the folks at the license board to see if they have approved any education providers yet and if they have selected the National Home Inspector Examination - The Examination Board of Professional Home Inspectors (http://www.homeinspectionexam.org) as the state exam that is required by the law.