Licensed Home Inspectors

Update Jan 21, 2011

Since I first wrote this posting, in April of 2009, things have changed significantly in the home inspection industry. Now all three organizations (soon to be four) accredited by Consumer Protection BC, to certify and train home inspectors have virtually the same programs in place. All have an education requirement, all have a field training requirements, all have a Standards of Inspection that are almost identical to each other, and all have a requirement for continual education. All have a Code of Ethics and a conflict resolution program. They have to or they would not be accredited by CPBC which considers all of the points above the minimum set of requirements for licensing.

This is excellent progress and a direct result of licensing I feel (and I feel as a result of the pressures put on the industry by the former BCIPI). The down side is that it has led to a complacence in the public's mind. The public is lead to believe that all inspectors have been through these systems, have the same training and provide the same service. As such they feel that a home inspection is a commodity that can be shopped by price alone. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The facts are that most if not all associations have significant numbers of members that were accredited before current requirements were put in place. These members may have never had to take any courses or receive any field training. Yes they may have been doing the job for 5 yrs, 10 yrs, or even 15 yrs - but is it being done right? When licensing was put in place there were inspectors that joined ASTTBC (in order to get licensed) that had been performing home inspections for years. But when they took the field assessments they failed. They had never had the benefit of any type of passing down of knowledge from a more senior member of the industry.

There is also a vast difference between inspectors that receive a majority of the business through Realtor referrals and those that offer an independent service. The former usually provide a simplified check list style report right on site and often take 3 hours or less to inspect a single family home (1 hour or less for a Condo style apartment). This is the service expected by the agents and preferred by them because it does not cut in too much into the agent's schedule and often the limited time on site can mean many of the defects are not uncovered or reported on. An independent inspector who relies on word of mouth or past client referrals for their income, usually puts in a lot more effort into the process to protect you, the buyer and make sure you are satisfied. Most of us will spend 5-8 hours for a single family home (2.5 - 3 hours for a Condo apartment) and most of us provide a custom written narrative report with annotated photos at the end of the process. We do this because we feel that the report is the most important part of the process and that it needs to clearly identify ALL of the areas that could be improved with the dwelling and let you make an informed decision on what is important to you (other inspectors often make those decisions for you and only show a selection of the more severe defects). A select few of us even goes as far as identifying possible remediation plans to not only tell you the problem and the significance of the problem, but also possible ways to address so that you, as a buyer, can get a better feel for the cost of the defect (most reports just state there is a problem and to hire an XYZ professional to further investigate - which you as a buyer often do not have time to do before subject removal).

The bottom line is that although the industry is almost identical from association to association 'on paper', the actual service provided differs greatly from inspector to inspector. You as a buyer need to understand this and research what service you are getting for the price you are willing to pay and ask yourself - 'Will this service allow me to make an informed purchasing decision?'.

Original Post ***

In a press release dated January 30, 2009, the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General announced that, as of March 31, 2009, all those providing home inspection services must be licensed. To verify your inspector is licensed, please ask to see their inspection certificate or search the BPCPA "Home Inspector Search" page.

The benefit of the licensing is that all those who provide home inspection services within the next 2 years will need to belong to an accredited inspection organization that ensures a standard of education, a standard of practise, a code of ethics, a requirement for continuing education, and a mechanism for handling customer or peer complaints. The licensing requirement stops those with no experience in the field from getting business cards and a flashlight and setting up a business. The requirements also stop those (carpenters, engineers, contractors, licensed plumbers, electricians, etc.) who may have training and experience in one or two building components, but lack the training required to inspect the dwelling as a whole, from providing inspection services.

Licensing inspectors is a great first step for the industry and provides an added layer of confidence in the system for the public. It is, however, still important for you to choose your home inspector wisely.

Only BCIPI inspectors certified by the ASTTBC are required to be fully trained before they offer services to you the consumer. BCIPI is unique in this practise. A new BCIPI inspector must pass a series of mentored field training exercises and supervised inspection assessments before they are authorized to provide services to the public. The new licensing does not yet require this from all organizations and allows those that have ONLY written a theory examination to be licensed and work unsupervised while gaining enough work experience to become “qualified” by their organization.

At SENWI, we feel that like most professional occupations and trades, some form of apprenticeship is required to hone a student’s skills and prepare them for practise in this field. Book smarts can only take a new inspector so far. A form of apprenticeship is needed to take them the rest of the way and should be a mandatory requirement for new inspectors coming into this industry.

You can rest assured knowing that all SENWI inspectors are fully qualified to provide their services to you.

Carbon monoxide law draws criticism

Manitoba has just announced it is making it mandatory for all homes to be retrofitted with a CO sensor. I applaud this decision and hope that it will ripple to other provinces including BC as well.

As a home inspector, I ALWAYS recommend a CO sensor in any home with gas appliances or an attached garage. I am dissapointed that some mayors and building officials in Manitoba only look at the logistics and costs of the inspections or false alarms.

Is saving a life not worth all the false alarms that may occure over a year?

This article explains CO gas and where the sensors should be located.

BC Home Warranty Program - CBC Story

After reading yet another news storey about home owners that have not found relief from their home warranty provider, you have to ask - Is the system working???

The concept of having builders pay a premium to have their homes covered by a warranty program, in case problems arise post construction is sound. But it will only protect the public if the following is in place:

• The program is not relied on as a catch net for shoddy workmanship (this should be caught by the municipal inspectors and they should have the jurisdiction to comment on workmanship, something they are currently not authorized to do)
• The home actually gets inspected throughout the construction by the warranty provider inspector to ensure compliance with warranty specifications
• The warranty inspectors are required to be trained to the same levels as a municipal inspector and required to update their training on an ongoing basis (they need to be Certified or preferably even Licensed)
• The specifications for the finished structures need to be improved significantly. Homeowners would be shocked at what is not considered a 'defect' by the warranty companies policies. These specifications should be set by public and industry consultation, and not be some big secret locked in the warranty companies vault. There should be a panel of industry experts that sit around a table and discuss what makes a good long lasting dwelling. This panel should include members from the building enclosure science industry. Why not make a home covered by a warranty, a sign of building excellence instead of the same minimal standards represented by the building code.
• The fees paid by the builders need to reflect that particular builders track record (and this should track the head contractor personally and not just a company name). If they build poorly, require a lot of supervision, and their structures result in a lot of call backs - they should be charged more.
• In general, the fees collected should be able to cover the industry re-work required. We do not want another repeat of what happened when the HPO pulled the interest free loans for leaky condo owners because the work required exceeded the money collected.

As a home inspector, I have performed milestone inspections for owners coming up to a warranty milestones, and have always been disappointed at how loose the warranty policies are. Things I would consider a deficiency during a regular pre-purchase home inspection are items the policies do not cover and my clients have no coverage for. I regularly hear from other owners who have had the same concerns in their struggle to get items addressed by the builder to only be told the deficiency is not covered.

We are coming into a new way of building homes in 2011, when the building code introduces changes for phase 1 of a push for more energy efficient homes. These changes come with a need to fundamentally change how walls are constructed (the increases in thermal insulation of walls will require externally insulated assemblies in most cases) and as such, we are going to need the industry to understand the science behind these changes. Externally insulated walls require a fundamental change in how we address vapour barriers and how we build to ensure homes are more air tight and there is less likelihood of warm interior air condensing somewhere within the wall assembly. I believe the vast majority of builders are building things 'the way we have for the last 30 years' and as such, we are setting ourselves up for the next big mass of residential building failures. As such, it is more important than ever, to ensure the consumer is protected from the liability that may be present in these new structures.

My recommendation is to hire your own inspectors. Talk to your municipality - they may have a recommendation for retired municipal building, plumbing or electrical inspector that provides supplementary inspections for home owners who are contracting to have a home built. You can usually also just pay for extra municipal inspections. Some home inspectors may also be able to provide this service, but most do not have the building code training or do not perform building code inspections enough to remain current.

Lastly, make sure your specifications provide a house that YOU will be comfortable with, this often means a home built to best practices, as opposed to minimal building codes. Be willing to invest a little more money and have a building envelope scientist look at the design and have all parties listen carefully to their recommendations. Do not let aesthetic design requirements override fundamental good building science. Make sure your builders/contractors are aware that you will be holding them to a higher standard.

In closing, I support the concept of a home warranty program. But the system, as it stands right now is not working, and even if it was would in my opinion, not result in a guarantee of well built homes. We need improvements to how homes are built, what is covered by the warranty, transparency in the program, and accountability by both the building community and the warranty providers.