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http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/after-four-years-is-bc-home-inspection-licensing-failure-by-craig-hostland-rhi-cahpibc-1772825.htm



March 27, 2013 18:20 ET
After Four Years Is B.C. Home Inspection Licensing a Failure? By Craig Hostland, RHI and CAHPI(BC) President

KELOWNA, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - March 27, 2013) -The end of January marked the four-year anniversary of the province's announcement of a licensing program for B.C. home inspectors.
On January 30, 2009 a news release issued by the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, John van Dongen, announced the regulation of the home inspection under Consumer Protection BC, declaring, "… consumers need to have confidence that the person who is doing the inspection has the qualifications to make a professional assessment".
Unfortunately, this has become less of an assurance and more of a hollow statement due to the methods used for legislating home inspectors and the failed way decisions are being made to address the many serious problems in the home inspection industry.
If not corrected, licensing will continue to only benefit those who want to make a fast buck off recession-weary B.C. consumers.
What has happened?
It took ten years of aggressive pushing by the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors of British Columbia - CAHPI(BC) - media focus, and unified support from more than 50 B.C. municipalities, before the provincial government finally found the resolve to listen and regulate the industry - and to exclude from licensing a U.S. based fly-by-night group whose anti-consumer practices were reported on by The Sun and Global TV in 2006.
As recently as the one-year anniversary of licensing, we wrote in The Sun that Consumer Protection in BC was off to a strong start.
A great deal has happened since, but much of it as disturbing to the legitimate B.C. home inspection industry as it is dangerous for B.C. consumers.
In February of 2010, an Ontario-based home inspection association was accredited for licensing in BC.
This organization was formed out of that U.S.-based group whose online quizzes - in which a person could sit down, take the quiz, and for $200 be pronounced a 'qualified home inspector' - attracted Vancouver Sun and other media attention and perhaps was key to the BC government's announcement of a licensing program.
Yet this organization now "met all the necessary criteria" and that its associate members qualified for licenses to inspect BC homes.
As a result, this new group began accepting for membership home inspector candidates who did not meet the high qualification standards of the two organizations initially recognized by Consumer Protection BC - CAHPI(BC) and the Applied Science Technologists and Technicians of BC (ASTTBC). Reputable home inspection training providers, including B.C. community colleges, were reporting that students were bypassing rigorous training in order to join this new group, where they could immediately be granted licenses to perform home inspections in British Columbia.
Therefore, under-trained and under-qualified individuals were being supplied with B.C. licenses, and able to enter people's homes and provide assessments on a condo, a house, or a property, so long as they promised to get training and education at some future date.
The shame is that the very people that B.C. government licensing was supposed to protect consumers from were being licensed through a loophole in the licensing regulation that has now allowed yet another out of province licensing body.
We saw this as a broken promise to BC consumers and brought this to the attention of Consumer Protection BC.
On our recommendations and diligent prodding, they implemented basic criteria that needed to be met by all new inspector applicants: 150 hours of formal home inspection education; academic examinations with a passing grade of 70%; a minimum of 50 hours of supervised field training; Peer Reviewed Test Inspection, an inspection by a qualified examiner who is aware of the deficiencies and safety issues of the property; and minimum continuing education hours of 20 per year.
CAHPI(BC) knew that, although a good first step, these qualification requirements were still woefully inadequate.
But then, Consumer Protection BC advised that in the future they would not change inspector entry criteria unless all 4 approved associations agreed in unison.
At the urging of Consumer Protection BC, in December, 2011 the four associations came together and spent a day ironing out critical changes that we all agreed were essential for the protection of the public.
Those changes included: a minimum of 300 hours of formal home inspection education; academic examinations with a passing grade of 80%; and a minimum of 100 hours of supervised field training prior to licensing. When the letter addressing these issues was prepared, one of the 4 associations declined to sign the document.
Since the Government requires unanimity amongst the 4 associations, the one association (comprising of less than 20% of the BC home inspectors) was allowed to stop progress.
After much delay and no sign of moving forward, in July of 2012 CAHPI(BC) took it upon ourselves to address these issues and a letter was sent to Consumer Protection BC explaining the crisis level need for these stiffer requirements in the industry, outlining our positions, and calling for early adoption and leadership in this drama.
To date, our initiative and efforts have been stymied by a rule that makes no sense. CAHPI(BC) comprises the majority of inspectors in BC but only has one vote - which is worthless when the only means of adoption is by unanimity and one player refusing to participate.
The fact is, the crisis in the home inspection industry is not about having only one association, although we wrote legislation for it more than 10 years ago, and it's not about only having one standard, it's all about not being able to implement logical important critical changes in licensing to ensure more demanding and powerful standards are adopted promptly and without stonewalling by a very small portion of the industry.
Consumer Protection BC is all about protecting consumers; but is severely limited by the Government of BC setting unattainable decision making criteria.
The home inspection licencing system should be continually enhancing consumer protection, not undermining it by allowing the continuation of accepting unqualified people into B.C. homes where they can influence the biggest spending decision British Columbians are ever likely to make.
One thing is certain.
Licensing has set a bare minimum standard that is woefully inadequate and has painted every home inspector in BC with the same brush.
Consumers beware - it's just like before licensing - the wild wild west - except now inspectors are licensed to pull the wool over your eyes.
We call on the BC Government to convene a meeting of the 4 associations and hammer out the necessary higher standards, or let those who want to work with Consumer Protection BC implement these important and critical changes.
Why do CAHPI(BC) home inspectors care?
Because for over 20 years, CAHPI(BC) has led the charge for higher standards in the industry - now 275 Province-wide Professionals linked arm in arm - and I for one am proud to be a part of this grass roots effort and will never, never, never give up.

Craig Hostland is an Okanagan home inspector and president of the Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors of British Columbia

opinions on the discoloration on this radiant barrier?
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Here is the thread that deals with individual anxiety as to what will happen for possible Licensing. I have pulled it up again to show all Ontario Home Inspectors that you need not fear as most if not all InterNachi courses will most likely be accepted by the Ontario government.
So really you can panic and spend thousands more than you really needed to.
Really with that being said it is in your best interest to at least get close to the minimum training provided by InterNachi provided for a license in Alberta as quickly as possible. Again I stress there is no way of knowing what the Ontario Government will ask for as the minimum.
http://www.nachi.org/forum/f48/carso...pectors-62772/

Is there a particular distance the laundry sink drain should be from the P-trap of the standpipe? Image attached.
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Type B water heater vent terminates into copper stack / cap but is not directly connected. New home. OK? See picture. TY
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I'm pretty sure that a/c disconnect wiring must be stranded type not solid. I this the case?

Also, is stranded wire for a 40 amp furnace ok?

Happy birthday Charley.

That's users who actually registered to use this message board.

Onwards and upwards!

Posted with Nick Gromicko permission:

ASHI on The Road Regional Meetings

These training events are FREE to all Associates, ACI’s of ASHI, CRI’s of NAHI, and members of InterNACHI and are approved for 2 CE’s with each association

Northeast Region

When: Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Time: 6:00 – 6:30 PM registration - Training will start promptly @ 6:30 - 8:30 PM
Where: Twinsburg Public Library – 10050 Ravenna Road – Twinsburg, Ohio 44087
Topic: Roofing – New, Old, Residential & Commercial
Speaker: Ken Harrington – Ohio Chapter of ASHI – President

Contact: David Christopher @ 330-815-0013 to register

*Seating is limited - you are strongly encouraged to register!


Southwest Region

When: Thursday, April 25, 2013
Time: 6:00 – 6:30 PM registration - Training will start promptly @ 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Where: Cincinnati State Community College Work Force Development Center – 10100 Reading Road – Cincinnati, Ohio 45241
Topic: HVAC Identification and Inspections, Heat Pumps, Air Conditioners
Speakers: Ken Harrington – Ohio Chapter of ASHI – President & Tim Buell – ASHI National Board of Director

Contact: John Cordell @ 513-793-3552 to register

*Seating is limited - you are strongly encouraged to register!

FREE food, light snacks, Sponsored by Palm-Tech, to be served.

I ran into a situation last week that really got me thinking. We know all thermally insulated windows have a shelf life and will begin to have gas leaks at some point in time. If I notice a defective thermal seal within a new window or the common 3-year warranty period than I would definitely consider it defective, however, if a window is far beyond it's warranty and I notice it just starting to lose it's thermal seal, would it really be fair to report it as being "defective"?

Reporting a window as being "defective" will often prompt the buyer to ask for a repair or replacement but it doesn't really seam fair to ask a seller to repair or replace something that's "beginning" to show signs of deterioration but also still functioning as intended. Basically everything in or on the house is "beginning" to become defective when you really stop an think about it.

Over the past few years, I've often reported windows as being defective when noticing thermal patterns indicating an argon gas leak. I believe I've been in slight error in my reporting methods. If something is in the process of going bad due to common aging than it's not really "defective". Wouldn't you agree?

I was scanning a house last week that was 7 years old and noticed a few windows that indicated a thermal seal leak. I decided not to report the windows as being "defective" because they weren't showing signs of condensation, still contained argon gas, were still pressurized and providing an R value, and were beyond the common warranty period.

When you discover windows in the same conditions as these, do you report them as defective or within the Repair or Replace section of the report or just leave it alone?

Sorry for the long post..
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Please follow link if you need a nice hunting rifle:

http://www.nachi.org/forum/f70/remin...4/#post1018760

I have a Remington 30-06 model 740 with a Bushnell 3 X 9 scope with see through scope ring/mounts.

Great condition and a tack driver at 100 yards  Contact me for pictures and to negotiate price.

It was my first 30-06 and I have 2 others since my father passed away so I am willing to sell this one. It has nice fancy checkering on the nice wood stock.

Call me anytime after 10:00am EST 954-922-0584

I'm having trouble locating a minimum throat depth requirement for interior stair stringers, although I have found a couple of references to 5" for deck stairs. Can anyone cite a reference?
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I am not sure which plumber to believe. One says to not be concerned about the green stuff and the other say's it is a leak waiting to happen. what say you?
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For my Senior citizen nap the floor was nice and warm.

I sure am seeing a lot of thse heated floors anymore perhaps its the quality of homes ya think
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I live in the southeast where about 25% of homes have gas water heaters.
(Florida) are all gas water heaters required to have expansion tank if so where is proper placement of the tank?

Bill Warner and I were having breakfast with Nick and Chris this morning.

Nick asks, ....Dale, how much of a need is there for commercial inspections?

About two seconds after Nick asked the question SMOKE started to flow from an air conditioning duct right above Nicks head, we could smell wire burning.

I'm not making this up folks, strike me dead, the God honest truth, I couldn't believe I was watching smoke billowing from the air condition register about two second after Nick asked the question.

We left the restaurant, I could hear sirens walking back to the house Nick rented.

A home built in 1952. Homeowner recently spent $7,000+ to install an interior perimeter floor drain system with sump pump because of water leaking through a horizontal crack. The appraiser for the new buyer flagged the crack as a structural problem and I was called to evaluate the issue. Turns out the horizontal crack was a cold joint about 2 foot from top, all the way around the foundation. The wall structure was fine, walls were straight and no signs of shoving. The water seeping through the cold joint was the result of poor surface grading and downspouts discharging next to the foundation. Four downspout extensions and simple grading in one small area was all that was needed.
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