New EBPHI website

[Scott Patterson]

Just thought I would pass this along. National Home Inspector Examination - The Examination Board of Professional Home Inspectors (http://www.homeinspectionexam.org/) has a new website. You will find all of type of information about the National Home Inspector Exam, practice exam and the various states licensing programs. The site will continue to be updated over the next few months with home inspection education providers being listed by state.

[Joseph P. Hagarty]

New look but the same Inaccurate Information.

Thanks Scott.

[Deleted Account]

Nice move getting vendors to to help defray costs, let me know how that goes.

Training Provider Directory
Florida Results

Currently we do not have any listings in Florida.

Training Providers: Want to be listed here? Click here for info.

[Scott Patterson]

New look but the same Inaccurate Information.

Thanks Scott.

Hi Joe, would you care to share what is inaccurate so that it could be changed. I have found a few things but I'm sure we could find some more with help. EBPHI wants to help and serve the profession, but with only a couple of employees and a volunteer board any help would be appreciated.

[Peter Drougas]

Sample test question taken from the site.

2) Which of the following conditions would be LEAST critical to your client's safety?
A. A pin hole in the heat exchanger
B. No handrails on an interior stairway
C. Lack of a pressure and temperature relief valve on the water heater
D. A non-reversing garage door opener
Answer: A

I know that when they say "most" or "least" there is room for arguement. So here goes mine. Humans for the most part know how to walk up and down stairs. If a railing is missing they can see that and perhaps be more careful. If there is a pin hole in a heat exchanger I understand that the amount of gas exchange would be limited, to none. However this they can not see and would not know if it got worse or another area, not visible to an Inspector may even be worse. And if they never wake up in the morning, falling down the stairs is hardly an issue. Add to that, aside from safety, replaceing a heating system is a bigger deal than adding a rail.

Not beating up on the site. I like it and I thank you for posting it.

By the way I did fine on the other answers

[Michael Larson]

Sample test question taken from the site.

2) Which of the following conditions would be LEAST critical to your client's safety?
A. A pin hole in the heat exchanger
B. No handrails on an interior stairway
C. Lack of a pressure and temperature relief valve on the water heater
D. A non-reversing garage door opener
Answer: A

I know that when they say "most" or "least" there is room for arguement. So here goes mine. Humans for the most part know how to walk up and down stairs. If a railing is missing they can see that and perhaps be more careful. If there is a pin hole in a heat exchanger I understand that the amount of gas exchange would be limited, to none. However this they can not see and would not know if it got worse or another area, not visible to an Inspector may even be worse. And if they never wake up in the morning, falling down the stairs is hardly an issue. Add to that, aside from safety, replaceing a heating system is a bigger deal than adding a rail.

Not beating up on the site. I like it and I thank you for posting it.

By the way I did fine on the other answersI have taken and passed the NHIE but as your posted question points out some of the question called for a subjective standard to be applied to the situation.

In each of the answers B,C,D a single fault situation is in place but requires a second fault for injury to occur.

The pin hole leak(of unknown size) is a fault that may or may not require additional conditions to exist before injury can occur. There is not enough information to determine the level of risk associated with the pin hole leak. Is the the flame adjusted correctly, Is the pin hole a mfg. defect or is it the first leak in a badly corroded exchanger that is about to fall apart?

IMHO this question and others should be rewritten for clarity's sake.

[Scott Patterson]

Hi Michael, Peter and anyone else;

Thanks for looking at those sample questions. They are just that, a sample. These questions were removed from the exam several years back because of the items you mentioned. The idea of the sample questions is to give a person an idea of how the test questions are setup and their design. It is not designed as a sample test. You can take a practice test, just follow the links on the site.

Every year new NHIE tests go live and the old tests enter into a "test question pool". Throughout the year, if questions do not perform well they are removed and proven questions from the "pool" that are testing the same domain/item are put in their place. Due to the process that the questions go through before they are put in an exam, this is not very common. This is all part of the psychometric process that the NHIE follows as well as all psychometrically valid exams.

Keep in mind that the questions on the NHIE are designed to make you think and to select the best answer. The questions are also basic home inspector knowledge questions. If you have a good number of inspections under your belt, you attended a good home inspector training school or program and you have brushed up on the basics before taking the exam, then you should not have any problem passing it.

[Joseph P. Hagarty]

....Thanks for looking at those sample questions. They are just that, a sample. These questions were removed from the exam several years back because of the items you mentioned. The idea of the sample questions is to give a person an idea of how the test questions are setup and their design. It is not designed as a sample test. You can take a practice test, just follow the links on the site.

.

How are the Sample questions Representative of the Exam if they are questions that have been removed due to their Poor Quality?

OR...

Are they Representative of the Poor Quality Test offered by the EBPHI?

Hmmmm.

Interesting point Scott.
Care to Expand upon the use of Poor Questions (by suggested consensus) as Representative Examples of the NHIE Exam?

[Scott Patterson]

How are the Sample questions Representative of the Exam if they are questions that have been removed due to their Poor Quality?

Who said they were Poor Quality? The questions were retired because they did not perform to the psychometric standards.

Are they Representative of the Poor Quality Test offered by the EBPHI?

Hardly, with all of the checks and balances that are required for a high stakes psychometrically valid exam like the NHIE it is not possible to have a poor quality test. All quality high stakes exams like the NHIE are required to undergo constant review of their questions to insure that they are performing to psychometric standards set by relevant organizations, including the American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, National Council on Measurement in Education, US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and National Commission for Certifying Agencies. Currently the NHIE is the only home inspector that can meet all of the requirements of the above organizations.

Joe, thank you for your questions. They show that you are a compassionate person with an interest in the profession and that you are looking out for what is best for the profession.

[Joseph P. Hagarty]

Scott,

Nice response but you did not answer the Question.

How does a Psychometrically Validated Question become Psychometrically Invalidated?

How are Sample Questions used as as Representative Examples Valid if they have been invalidated and barred from use in a Psycometrically Validated Exam exclusively endorsed by ASHI?

[Michael Larson]

Why would a admittedly poor question be used to represent a psychometrically valid exam?

Isn't that misleading to say the least?

[Scott Patterson]

Scott,

Nice response but you did not answer the Question.

How does a Psychometrically Validated Question become Psychometrically Invalidated?

How are Sample Questions used as as Representative Examples Valid if they have been invalidated and barred from use in a Psycometrically Validated Exam exclusively endorsed by ASHI?

Perhaps after the Christmas holiday I will attempt to help you understand, but I doubt that will be possible. Right now you are just trying to mix words in an attempt to help your cause.

Best to you and your family,

[Joseph P. Hagarty]

Who said they were Poor Quality? The questions were retired because they did not perform to the psychometric standards.

Hardly, with all of the checks and balances that are required for a high stakes psychometrically valid exam like the NHIE it is not possible to have a poor quality test. All quality high stakes exams like the NHIE are required to undergo constant review of their questions to insure that they are performing to psychometric standards set by relevant organizations, including the American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, National Council on Measurement in Education, US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and National Commission for Certifying Agencies. Currently the NHIE is the only home inspector that can meet all of the requirements of the above organizations.

Joe, thank you for your questions. They show that you are a compassionate person with an interest in the profession and that you are looking out for what is best for the profession.

Scott,

No need to explain.

You can not answer my question because you do not understand your own post. Your post is merely a Regurgitation of what is currently represented on the ASHI Test website.

Have a nice Holiday.

[Harvey Hempelstern]

A test virtually ignored by the largest home inspection association in the nation...and the tens of thousands of consumers who contract its members to inspect their homes each month...can hardly be considered relevant to anyone who has not taken it.

Still, Scott, good luck with the new site.