Home Inspection Certification in BC

Right now there are three organizations accredited by the BPCPA in BC to accredit home inspectors. Each have a separate set of inspections standards and accreditation standards. Who wins and looses in the arrangement? Well I can state who looses - the public.

Traditionally there was a big difference between the certification policies of the three organizations. Two of the organizations did not have a requirement for field training (a form of mentoring) and allowed new inspectors with only theory training and not field training, to provide services to the public and 'practice' until they had enough inspections to become 'Certified'. This work practice was in a vacuum as it did not require any peer review whatsoever. Thankfully, during the last year or so, these organizations have added a requirement for field training and now, on the surface, all organizations are becoming more alike than different.

The problem lies in the fact that there are many inspectors, belonging to all three organizations, that entered the industry when the standards of that organization were much lower and as a result may not have received the required training they needed to ensure they are able to offer a competent service to the public. The National Certification Program is currently the only organization that requires their inspectors to be audited on a 5 year cycle, (the inspector must submit him or herself to the scrutiny of industry peers). I believe this is an excellent component that should be mandatory for all inspection organizations.

Now that all organizations have become very similar, we need to look at setting higher standards to become accredited in BC. We need more education and field training that is not just a turn style but a guarantee of quality. It would be best if the BC Government, through the BPCPA took over the management of inspector certification in BC. This would allow for one standard to exist and allow that standard to be easily improved at any given time. The existing 3 organization structure is not in anyone's best interest and none of the existing organizations would be suitable to run the whole province in my view. Because there are so many standards, the public are generally in the dark on what to expect from a home inspection. Because the public does not demand a high level of service, it is up to each inspector to decide what level of service they will provide and often that decision is based on how fast they as inspectors can get in and out but still meet the minimum standard they need to in order to get paid.

Too often standards are set at a really low benchmark for quality (an example would be the BC Building Code). We need standards that guarantee elevated levels of public safety, are hard to achieve, and ensure a quality product. These standards will only come about if you the public ask for them.

Home Inspector successfully sued

I am excited that this case has come before the public and that BC home inspectors are taking notice. In my view the #1 reason this inspector was sued (granted none of us have all the facts) is that he appeared to rush the inspection and as a result missed looking at one side of the house. A proper inspection by a well trained inspector takes time. The only way to speed up an inspection is to start leaving components out of the inspection process. In my view - the #1 reason inspectors rush their inspections is because they are pressured by the public and the real estate industry to offer inspections for $400 or less and/or 3 hours or less.

A good inspection takes up to a whole day (5-8 hours) for an average house, longer if the house has considerable defects, it should also cost $700 up to $1000+ depending on what the inspector is bundling in their service. Inspectors that take 5-8 hours to inspect a house get harassed regularly by many of the Realtors. 'You are going to take how long?', 'Aren't you done yet?', 'I have to lock up in an hour'. The average time an inspector spends on site in the industry is 3 hours or less for a house (1 hour or less for an apartment). I will often spend 2-3 hours on just the exterior, crawlspace and attic alone.

The answer to this industries problems is for the public to not immediately ask 'How Much' as their first question while looking to choose an inspector.

We also need legislation that prevents the referral of a inspector by a Realtor (conflict of interest) and further restricts the Realtor's ability to interfere with the inspection process (time on site and commenting on inspector's findings). Those that do a glorified checklist and are not capable of doing a more thorough inspection will eventually be weeded out and the standards of the industry will improve accordingly.

The first step rests with the public. They must recognize that they get what they pay for and that quality does cost money. Is this really the area in this process where you want to cut corners? Is there any other person in the transaction that has your wellbeing as their sole concern?