Home Inspector Association issues another Propaganda Rant

One of the home inspection associations in BC have issued yet another propaganda rant that is far from accurate, in an effort to boost their reputation in the BC marketplace.

The facts are that all 4 inspection organizations approved by BC Consumer Protection have basically identical entrance requirements and ongoing education requirements.  All of the organizations require formal education followed by field training and then field assessments.  On paper there is very little difference between the organizations.  As an inspector who moved from ASTTBC to CanNACHI, I can assure you it took some effort to provide all of the paperwork I needed to show that my original certification through ASTTBC met all of the entrance requirements set out by CanNACHI.  It was far from a cake walk.

Here are some of the inaccuracies contained within the CAHPI news release.

1) CAHPI actually fought against licensing at times during the process leading up to licensing because they were afraid ASTTBC would be named the sole licensing body (something that the ASTTBC certified inspectors at the time were not even in favour of). ASTTBC and the now defunct BCIPI were the only organizations to consistently work towards licensing.

2) Prior to licensing, the ASTTBC certifying process was the ONLY organization to require field training and assessment BEFORE allowing the inspector to offer services to the public. Organizations like CAHPI did not require field training prior to allowing their inspectors to 'Practice' on the public.

3) The CanNACHI entrance requirements have no similarity to the American InterNACHI entrance requirements.  You cannot enter CanNACHI after taking only a internet based exam. (see entrance requirements here).

4) CanNACHI applicants must complete 50 hours of field training BEFORE being granted an Associate Membership level and being able to provide services to the public.  They are not able to 'promise' that they will complete this at a later time and start practising immediately.

5) CAHPI indicates in their article that they are advocating for 300 hours of education yet still only require 150 hours for their new inspectors (which is less than other organizations requirements including CanNACHI, that require 200 min.)

6) The Standards of Inspection from all 4 organizations are virtually identical.  This is in a large part due to the fact that the standards have more to do with insurance limitations than what we as inspectors should be inspecting to provide a suitable level of protection to the public.

If we as an inspection industry are ever to become a profession, then we need to change some fundamental aspects of home inspection:

A) Remove certification of inspectors from inspector associations. 

I have heard horror stories about the certification process within each organization.  Inspectors appear to sometimes get through too easily and the requirements to pass do not seem to be consistent even within the same organization.

I firmly believe that BC Consumer Protection should take over the certification of inspectors as a neutral third party.

The inspection associations would then only be responsible for training, marketing, and providing social/networking events to their inspectors.  They could also provide seminar opportunities, but I believe that a much higher level of seminars education is available in the marketplace by attending events hosted by professionals.  Organizations like TECA, BCBEC, HPO, RCI, & BCSCA all host regular seminars taught by experts.

With the certification removed from the four existing organizations, their is a chance the existing organizations would become obsolete (a needed step) and a new single organization could be created to provide training and social interaction.

B) Remove the ability of agents to recommend home inspectors.

This is by far, the biggest barrier to the BC Consumer being protected during the purchase process.  It is estimated that over 90% of all inspectors rely on agent referrals for their livelihood. Organizations like CAHPI are very efficient at developing relationships between their inspectors and Real Estate agents.  This was one of the key reasons I decided to not pursue a membership with them when I left ASTTBC.

The home inspector is in a direct conflict of interest with the Real Estate agent.  The agents are primarily trying to sell a home and we as inspectors are advising whether that purchase makes sense from a liability standpoint.  The agents are looking for inspectors that are quick (under 3 hours for a house and 1 hour for a condo), provide a report on site (so a checklist or computer generated report that provides little in-depth knowledge to the buyer regarding the dwelling), and finally be non-alarming (in the agent's opinion).  This agent preferred inspector profile is not conducive to truly understanding the current conditions of a dwelling and leads to a purchaser making uninformed decisions.

Until agent based referrals are stopped, very little will change in the industry and consumers will continue making uninformed decisions.