Hello to everyone,

I'm a fairly new home inspector in the salt lake valley. I found this web site and decided to try it out. I do have a question for everyone.

what licenses / certifications are available and or required to become a home inspector?

There are several associations available, some good and others not so good.

Licensing depends on your state.

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Integrity Inspection Service, LLC
www.irsindy.com
(317) 345-1828

BTW,

Welcome to the board

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Integrity Inspection Service, LLC
www.irsindy.com
(317) 345-1828

James - Welcome to the board!
Certification/licensure differs by state, and sometimes, city. For instance, in PA there is a Home Inspection Law that we must comply with, but no state licensing. There is a license required in the city of Philadelphia, though. The state law requires us to be full members of a national organization, such as NAHI or ASHI, and to purchase E&O and liability in$urance.

In Utah you can be working in the coal mine yesterday and have some cards printed and be inspecting multi-million dollar homes up in the resorts today! Sad but true!

Right now in our profession we do not have any true third party certifications for the profession. All of the current so called certifications are done in a rather self serving manner. The various organizations certify their own members. One calls all of the members certified if they pass a simple online exam; other organization certify their members after the complete a number of inspections and pass a national exam; another had a couple levels that require testing.

Now if we had an organization that was not connected to any of the various home inspector associations that offered a true certification with testing, educational, experience requirement, CE, etc., then we would be able to say that YES, we really do have a true certification. A true certification program like this would be open to anyone that meets the requirements. I do not expect to see any of the current associations doing this simply due to the cost involved and they would have to allow anyone to get the certification that meets the requirements without joining their association.

Out in Utah AII and ASHI are the larger organizations.

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Scott Patterson
Spring Hill, TN
http://www.traceinspections.com

James,

I have an Inspector that has been with me just over 1 year from Salt Lake City, Utah. He had been an Inspector out there for a couple of years.

No Licensing in Utah currently.

Our Office Inspector is with NACHI ( Home Inspector - InterNACHI: home inspection/inspector ) and has just renewed his NACHI Membership today...


Some may claim to be larger but NACHI is Best...

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Joseph P. Hagarty
Main Line Inspections, Inc.
http://www.householdinspector.com

Everyone has their own opinion as to which orginization is the best or worst and it really depends on the person and how you feel. I personally do not belong to any orginization. I inspect according to the standards of the State of Indiana Home Inspectors Licensing Board, which are based on the ASHI SOP and continuing ed is a requirement for licensing renewal.

In the days of the past, I think that the biggest incentive for joining an orginization is to be able to state that you inspections are performed according to the XXXX standards and attend at least XX hours of continuing ed per year. In my personal opinion, if your inspections do not greatly exceed what the standards state as acceptible performance on the inspectors part, you have no business inspecting homes.

I have considered joining an orginization or 2 so that I will be accessible through their web site, but so far haven't bit the bullet yet.

__________________
Integrity Inspection Service, LLC
www.irsindy.com
(317) 345-1828

VERY well said.

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Jerry Peck, Construction / Litigation Consultant
Construction Litigation Consultants, LLC ( www.ConstructionLitigationConsultants.com )

I got a taste with ASHI and NACHI and at the time, they both didn't offer anything that I could have gotten somewhere else. When it comes to business through these organizations' websites, for me, it only brought in a couple of jobs.

Note: Most people do not know about ASHI or NACHI around here. Source: A few ASHI and NACHI members in this area and from my clients.

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I say lets merge all the home inspection organizations into one.

Seepaluce

Personally I feel all property inspectors should at the very least hold ICC Certification as a Combination Residential Dwelling Inspector. Of course this by no means guarantees success or that the inspector is better than anybody else, but does lend credence that they are somewhat serious about advancing their education. It takes a combination of selling one’s self image as a real pro and then following through and proving such to one’s clients and the agents who retain them. The reward is minimal compared to RE agents while the legal exposure great and has often made me wonder if most of us aren’t a bit daft? Our job may well be one of the most inequitable situations in any comparable field, but unfortunately the sad fact is it's self propagated by our own hand.
I could go on regarding this subject, but much has already been said and anyone contemplating becoming a property inspector or in its early stages will find a wealth of opinions plus a fantastic amount of collective knowledge by researching the archives of this bulletin board.

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Jerry McCarthy
Construction Consultant
www.expertbuildingconsultants.com

i,m proud to be a member of an organization----and even prouder to tell my client when asked--that i am a member of nahi---trained and certifided by ahit and have e&o insurance,, and that i try to average 35 plus hours of continuing education every year---i also enjoy and learn alot from our monthly rmnahi meetings -where you rub elbows with fellow inspectors-----if you ignore the politics of organizations and which one claims to be the best--they are well worth the $225 dues---i recommend joining

In all due respect Charlie 35 hours a year for continuing education is absurd ! 24 hours in a day, 8 hours work, 8 hours sleep leaves 8 hours for family, recreation and study. Say one studies a minimum of 2 hours a week less 2 weeks for a vacation. That leaves 50 weeks X 2 hours. That’s 100 hours Charlie and that’s what I would call an absolute minimum. Most of the inspectors I know personally are closer to 200 hours a year and then add association chapter meetings, tool boxes and state conferences not to mention on-line learning devices like this one. There is one S-load of knowledge out there and only a short career span to absorb it. Unfortunately by the time you think you know enough you’re too old to climb a ladder.

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Jerry McCarthy
Construction Consultant
www.expertbuildingconsultants.com

with what organization are your ceu listed and posted

sorry jerry that was meant for you

jerry after rereading your response-----i said i average---certified ceu--where u spend money to learn from an organization--not read web sites like this one or any other home inspector journal i buy or everyday on the job education---i believe u were being a little hostile in your response---if i add in all my readings on this web and other literture read during the year---everyones or at least mine are well over 500---i was only voicing my opinion on what i think organizations do in response to the opening thread--on organizations---there are alot of HI's----that do nothing and are unisured---chill out

Charlie,

Actually you said:

Nothing in there about "certified" CEU.

Also, "certified" by whom?

Now I'm down to about 60 per year for my contractor and inspector licenses, and about another 14-28 per year for home inspectors, and I'm a retired home inspector not needing any? Go figure.
I used to average about 80 hours per year in continuing education provided by code authorities (guess that would count as "certified" as it is acceptable for continuing education for my state contractors and inspectors licenses), and about another 80 hours per year for home inspector continuing education (guess that would count as "certified" as it was acceptable to various home inspector associations).

Then ... if I counted in my time here ...

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Jerry Peck, Construction / Litigation Consultant
Construction Litigation Consultants, LLC ( www.ConstructionLitigationConsultants.com )

jerry CEU STANDS FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION UNITS---CERTIFIED ORGANIZATIONS LIKE NAHI-ASHI AND MAYBE YOURS CALL THEM THAT-UNITS ARE POSTED ON YOUR MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA---AS I STATED I BELONG TO NAHI---AGAIN I WAS ONLY REPLYING TO THE GENTLEMANS OPENING THREAD---IT WASN'T A BRAGGING CONTEST BY EITHER OF US-----AGAIN BE HELPFUL TO THOSE ASKING ADVICE AND DON'T BE HOSTILE TO OTHERS GIVING SIMPLY THAT---OK

This year (2007) I only had 126 hours, and that sounds like a bunch but it really was not all that much. Right at 70 hours was a course held at a local community college on residental framing. It was a 3 hour class that met 2 times a week for 12 weeks. The time flew by, except for the homework. Yes, homework! The sad thing is that my 11 year old son had to help me with some math formulas!

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Scott Patterson
Spring Hill, TN
http://www.traceinspections.com

dealing with two jerry's now---james i hope you got something out of our advice-----education is great and there is not a contest on who has the most-where you get in from--but what you do with it----get what you can and when you can---the organizations is up to you---but check them out and do what you think is best for your business and your best interest--good luck and welcome aboard--over