VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – An organization which qualifies home and property inspectors says tighter regulations are needed to make sure home buyers don’t get burned by bad assessments.
John Leech with the Applied Science Technologists and Technicians of BC says inspectors are always being held accountable in BC right now.
It’s because this province has four separate independent standards for home inspectors to become certified.
He says this isn’t good for anyone.
“There are different certification policies, four different approaches to handling complaints when something does go wrong. It is time, in the interest of consumer protection, for the regulation to be changed to make sure there is one common standard,” Leech urges.
They’ve been advocating this to the provincial government and Consumer Protection BC.
“There is certainly some interest in terms of the concerns we are bringing forward. At this stage, no decisions have been made,” he adds.
He says a move to license home inspectors was applauded a few years ago, but it’s time to push this issue even further.
He also has some advice for home buyers.
“They need to take extra care in making certain the individuals they hire as an inspector are regulated by a body that has the capacity to assure the highest possible standards… in terms of competencies of the inspector,” Leech explains.
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The IR camera is a tool, as a flashlight and a screwdriver are tools. If you are buying a house and want an IR scan as well, ask for it, and be prepared to pay more. People watch the Big Mike show and think they should get the full meal deal for the price of a home inspection? A proper IR scan takes time and prep to record temperature differences. It does not detect moisture, but it might help to discover moisture by finding a cold spot. A quick scan performed during a 3 hour home inspection is hardy conclusive and it could be a mistake to give the buyer a false sense that a full scan was done.
There are 1000′s of home inspections every year, but only the failures make the news or the TV shows.
The only way to Protect consumers is to eliminate the cozy relationship that most inspectors enjoy with realtors. Ideally inspectors would compete for business by providing better service: acquiring all related education and developing an exceptional inspection reporting product instead of courting agents for referrals which easily represents about 90% of all inspections. These inspectors do not have to provide anything like an exceptional service to get work as long as they don’t kill the deal.
Ironically people who have influenced like Mr. Leech for some reason never promote having a firewall between agents and home inspectors, I would say that is the power of the real estate industry. Real estate sales love their relationship with inspectors. For many people; inspectors and realtors alike: it’s all about the money!
Check out: independent home inspector of North America http://www.independentinspectors.org/
Is it a coincidence that Mr. Leech’s reach out to the media, is a response to the largest body of home inspectors in BC, the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors of British Columbia (CAHPI BC), announcement yesterday of their unanimous vote by its membership to align themselves with the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI – North America’s largest home inspection association) Standards of Practice? The BC vote reflects the same national commitment of some 1100 CAHPI members across Canada have already made.
CAHPI (BC) has worked very, very hard to ensure every home buyer in BC receives a competent and accurately conducted home inspection for over 20 years now. Our Standards of Practice are the best the industry has to offer. They are consistent and proven coast to coast and across borders and designed to give the best assessment of the condition of a home as possible.
Tighter regulations are not going to stop complaints. There will always be consumers who feel they have suffered a wrong and will sue only to have the court find otherwise.
Further I would not rely on Mr. Holmes as the defacto voice of competency since he only presents one side of the story, and cannot be seen as objective. After all its a TV show with built embellishments added in order to make for a good story. Even then Mr. Holmes and his crew have been known to give bad advice.
Home buyers have to learn to read the inspectors contract well before the actual inspection so they know what rights they have or are signing away.
The highest standards for home inspection in BC are those of CAHPI BC. The Canadian Association of Home and Propety Inspectors. CAHPI’s stadards are the “Gold Standard”
For more information go to http://www.cahpi.bc.ca
I imagine some home inspectors are good at their jobs but how many inspectors failed their clients as shown by Holmes on Homes? The common penalty, if you can prove negligence is refund of their fee. Not much. How many inspectors routinely use infra red cameras to check for faulty wiring, breaks in the ductwork or breaks in the insulation?