CanNachi Approved in British Columbia

[Raymond Wand]

Consumer Protection BC Approves CanNachi to Credential BC Home Inspectors

Consumer Protection BC Approves CanNachi to Credential BC Home Inspectors (http://www.consumerprotectionbc.ca/index.php/news/home-inspectors/795-cannachi-approved)

{February 5, 2010} - VICTORIA, BC – Consumer Protection BC has approved the Alliston Ontario based Canadian National Association of Certified Home Inspectors Inc. (CanNACHI) as an association appropriate to assess the qualifications of home inspectors applying for licenses under the BC Home Inspector Licensing Regulation.
Consumer Protection BC will recognize the CanNACHI designations of Associate and Certified Master Home Inspector.


CanNACHI joins the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors (CAHPI BC), the National Certification Program for Canadian Home and Property Inspectors, and the Applied Science Technologists and Technicians of British Columbia (ASTTBC) as organizations who are acceptable to issue credentials which serve as the basis for licensing under the BC Home Inspector Licensing Regulation.


The existing three organizations were approved by the BC Government as part of the introduction of the Home Inspector Licensing Regulation on March 31, 2009. CanNACHI is the first group to be approved by Consumer Protection BC having met all the necessary criteria for an organization to train, qualify, oversee, manage and discipline its members in home inspection practice.


A complete list of the criteria Consumer Protection BC uses to evaluate an association or authority can be found on our web site under the Home Inspector licensing section (http://www.consumerprotectionbc.ca/index.php/businesses-home-inspectors-home/forms).
New entrants into the home inspector trade may now obtain a credential from CanNACHI and submit that as part of their BC home inspector licensing application. Existing licensees who obtain the credential from CanNACHI may also use that as the basis for continued licensing and renewal of their BC home inspector licence.


Please click here (http://www.consumerprotectionbc.ca/index.php/contact-us/contact-information/contact-inquiry) for General Inquiries.
Please click here (http://www.consumerprotectionbc.ca/index.php/contact-us/contact-information/contact-licensing) for Licensing Inquiries.

[Leim Pindar]

This is a good thing, right?

Leim,

[Vincent Van Egmond]

I'm just kinda new to the whole inspection scene here in Ontario, but on the one hand it's a good thing. IIRC, BC requires inspectors to have a license, one more place to get in.
On the other hand, too many chefs in the kitchen.
From what I understand, the national and provincial bodies (here in Ontario, at least) are still debating where the buck stops.

I guess BC in making decisions to see what sticks and doing what can to have qualified inspectors.

I'm from an engineering background and each province has it's own governing body and self regulates very nicely for professional engineers.

[Raymond Wand]

Vincent,

Welcome aboard.

Contrary to popular belief there is no licencing legislation by the provincial government in the works.

As you may also know home inspectors now have 7 associations to choose from in Ontario. Pick one. ;)

[Steve Panting]

To readers considering joining CanNachi, check out their continuing education policy. Their web site contains the following
"Members must complete 50 hours of continuing education per calendar year..."
That level of continuing education might make sense if you were a brain surgeon or rocket scientist but a home inspector?
CAHPI(BC) requires 40 hours per two years (with some conditions) and the National Certification Program requires 20 hours per year.
Unless you live in a large urban center, why would you join CanNachi?
Does anyone know what was the rationale in setting the bar so high?

[Raymond Wand]

Likely to stand out from the rest.

[Kevin Luce]

\
Does anyone know what was the rationale in setting the bar so high?
Wow, somebody saying that NACHI is setting the bar too high.:eek:

[Darren Miller]

Wow, somebody saying that NACHI is setting the bar too high.:eek:


LOL I was thinking the same thing.

Funny, they want 50 hrs a year for CE; yet here in NJ they fought (and won) a total of 300 hrs for a new inspector to get a license.

Setting the bar too high; FUNNY!!!

[Scott Patterson]

Wow, somebody saying that NACHI is setting the bar too high.:eek:

Don't forget that it is all on the honor system with no verification or consequences for not obtaining them....!

[Sean Wiens]

"That level of continuing education might make sense if you were a brain surgeon or rocket scientist but a home inspector? "

I respect CanNachi for setting the bar higher. They have a bad reputation to loose from their American counterparts and this is a great way to start.

But as Scott mentions - this is only useful if it is enforced and is reasonably accurate. The org I belong to has done a poor job enforcing this in the past and CAHPI BC pretty much gives the points away if you attend their quarterly meetings, providing 16 credits for a one day meeting with about 6 real hours of seminar (don't get me wrong - they were good seminars - but 16 credits?).

I have taken several of the online NACHI courses that I recommend in my Inspector Newsletter - 'The BC Inspector' and can say, if they give 6 credits - it pretty much takes 6 hours. The material is thorough and relevant.

Construction is always changing, as are the uses of the dwellings. It is important that we, as inspectors, keep up on these changes and those that do not will be left behind. This was actually the motivation for creating the newsletter in the first place and why it has such a large focuse on continual education.

I did not start out intending a plug for 'The BC Inspector' but it IS relevent, so anyone who is interested - please just drop a line to editor@senwi.ca. An example of the newsletter can be found here: The BC Inspector (http://www.senwi.ca/BC_Inspector/2010-01_TheBCInspector.pdf)

[Raymond Wand]

To bad limitations are set on what is considered worthy of CEU's. For instance I learn just as much from and other forums as I would attending a meeting. I also feel there are many courses which would benefit inspectors other then defined by ASHI for instance. And I know that ASHI spot checks for CEU's. As for CanNachi there is conflicting views as to whether CanNachi is absolutely free from Nachi.

[Sean Wiens]

Totally agree Raymond. That IS one good thing about BCIPI. They do take into account self study. You get 1 point for 8 hours or less and 2 points for more than 8 hours. I too learn a lot from forum review or other online sources of info and have many points from this style of activities.

As for CanNachi - I was not claiming they were separate (and in fact I know they are not based on past posts in their forum). Just that they have an uphill battle due to the poor rep of InterNachi and coming up with standards at least on paper that are apearing better than others is a good step.

[Raymond Wand]

Sean

BCIPI is much more stringent in it requirements than the other three contenders. To hear the NC folks talk they are the elite. However I would be remiss not to point out that until such time as they are certified to assure compliance with CAN P9, they really are not legally certified and are still only a self regulating body made up of home inspectors overseeing themselves.

Cheers,

[Joe Klampfer]

Sean

BCIPI is much more stringent in it requirements than the other three contenders.

I'm curious Raymond, seeings how you're from Ontario, what makes you think BCIPI is the most stringent in BC ?

I have been a member of all the BC associations (even at the same time, many years ago) and in my experience, CAHPI-BC is leaps & bounds ahead of any association that i've ever been a part of.

Now before everyone starts flaming me, I'm not saying we're better inspectors. As an association, we are probably about 10 years ahead most in terms of:

1. very stringent requirements
2. highest membership (in BC)
3. own our offices (with full-time staff)
4. perform approx 80% of all BC inspections
5. first HI assoc in Canada to be self-insured
6. healthy financials

I'm not saying we're perfect but we do have a very strong membership and a terrific executive board who have worked tirelessly to get us here.

[Raymond Wand]

Hi Joe,

About BCIPI :: General Information (http://bcipi.asttbc.org/about.html)

Certification Policy
http://www.asttbc.com/registration/technical_specialists/2008PIPolicyApprovedMay22.pdf

Cheers,

[Sean Wiens]

Hi Joe,

As a member of BCIPI, and having been to one of your CAHPI quarterly meetings, I would generally agree with you on most of your points. The 1 point I would disagree on from a historical basis, is point 1. Only BCIPI inspectors certified by ASTTBC have had a form of field mentoring and assessment for years. This ensured that the new inspector is fully trained in the field BEFORE they are providing inspections to the public. All the other organizations had a system of the new inspector 'practising' on the public unsupervised untill they had enough inspections to become 'certified'.

Now within the last year, the other organizations have caught up and now also have SOME field training requirements. This is an excellent step for the industry.

The other difference is the requirement for continuing education.

This is the requirements for each org as shown on the websites

BCIPI/ASTTBC: 20 credits a year or 100 credits every 5 yr cycle
CAHPIBC: 80 'hours' of credits
NCP: 20 hours a year
CanNachi: 50 credits a year

On the surface it looks like CAHPIBC has the highest requirement. However you need to then look at how these credits are earned.

For BCIPI, any standard seminar less than 8 hours earnes 1 credit
Seminars that are a full day would be 2 credits
Therefore each credit earned usually represent multiple hours of instruction. If the average seminar is 2.5 hours it would take 50 hours of instruction to receive 20 credits

For CAHPIBC, they heavily weight their membership meeting credits to get members to come to the meetings (not a bad idea - but does not mean they have the highest CPD requirements). The meeting I was at consisted of around 5 hours of seminars (which were excellent) and some networking and lunch. Overall we were there for a 6.5-7 hour day. The day earned the CAHPI inspector 16 credits. The next 1 day meeting is also slated for 16 credits. So for a CAHPI member to earn the 80 credits, they only need to go to 5 x 1 day meetings which works out to a max of 40 hours.

NCP is generally the same as CAHPI, in that they accept CAHPI credits, so you need 2 CAHPI meetings to meet the NCP requirements.

CanNachi are new on the block in BC. On paper, the 50 hour requirement is on par with the others. However, I do not know how credits are earned in that organizaton.

[Raymond Wand]

Sean,

Thanks for the clarification. Is BCIPI enacted under legislation vis-a-vis ASTTBC Act?

[Joe Klampfer]

For BCIPI, any standard seminar less than 8 hours earnes 1 credit
Seminars that are a full day would be 2 credits
Therefore each credit earned usually represent multiple hours of instruction. If the average seminar is 2.5 hours it would take 50 hours of instruction to receive 20 credits

Really ?... BCIPI is doing a seminar on Mar 16, 2010 and are showing it as a 2 hr event. this is taken directly off their info-sheet...

Presentation – 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Upon registration you will receive your participation certificate awarding your attendance with two CPD points based on 2 hours of attendance.

[Sean Wiens]

You are absolutely correct. I have pointed out this error and am waiting for a response from ASTTBC.

This is the ASTTBC cert policy in regards to CPD's
http://www.asttbc.com/registration/technical_specialists/AppendixB-CPDMay2008.pdf

[Joe Klampfer]

I don't think it was an error, I attended that seminar and have the two (2) credits certificate in hand.

It's always been one credit per hour in all Associations as I recall.

[Sean Wiens]

Hi Joe - Yes I too got the 2 credit cert. This is the first time a 2 credit cert has been awarded for such a short seminar. This is not per ASTTBC policy. I am still 'discussing' this with them. We have always had a policy of needing 8 hours or more of instruction to get 2 credits. Everything else was one credit. See pg 2 of the policy (http://www.asttbc.com/registration/technical_specialists/AppendixB-CPDMay2008.pdf)

Many members would not be happy with the watering down of the cpd credits policy. If ASTTBC continues handing out 2 credits for these short seminars, BCIPI members will have the weakest CPD policy in the industry.

Sean