Capital City Inspection's Blog

TREC posts proposed Commentary for comments

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:46:04 -0600

Commentaries on the Standards of Practice, drafted by the Standards of Practice Subcommittee of the Texas Real Estate Inspector Committee, have been posted on the TREC website. There is an email link for you to send them comments, observations or just share your thoughts about these commentaries.

Input from everyone - Texas inspectors, brokers & agents, lenders, the public - is earnestly sought and welcome. Please distribute this message as widely as possible. Proposed commentaries to other sections will be coming later.

The link is: http://www.trec.state.tx.us/inspector/SpecialTopics/SoP_Commentary_2009.asp

Attorney General's Opinion

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:53:59 -0600

In June, TREC requested an opinion from the state Attorney General as to whether TREC has jurisdiction over inspectors who perform inspections for someone other than a Buyer or Seller of real property. The AG handed down his opinion today and the simple answer is No:

S U M M A R Y

The Texas Real Estate Commission does not have authority under section 1102.401(a), Occupations Code, to take disciplinary action against a person licensed under chapter 1102 if the person has not accepted employment to perform a real estate inspection for a buyer or seller of real property.

It is necessary to define the terms "buyer" and "seller" in the context of chapter 1102 in order to determine whether a person, in a particular factual context, constitutes a buyer or seller of real property for which a real estate inspector has accepted employment. As the agency charged with administering chapter 1102 and authorized to establish the standards of conduct and ethics for persons licensed under chapter 1102, the Commission must determine, in the first instance, the meaning of these terms.

Very truly yours,

GREG ABBOTT

Attorney General of Texas

The original request for opinion can be seen here: http://www.oag.state.tx.us/opinions/opinions/50abbott/rq/2009/pdf/RQ0804GA.pdf

And the AG’s complete response can be seen here: http://www.oag.state.tx.us/opinions/opinions/50abbott/op/2009/pdf/ga0748.pdf

TREC IAC Std of Practice Sub-committee teleconference

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:09:39 -0600

The TREC-IAC Standard of Practice Sub-committee has scheduled a teleconference for Tuesday, 12/1. If possible, I'll 'attend' this teleconference meeting and report my notes here after the meeting.

The agenda is:

* Call to order

* Discussion and possible action to recommend to the Inspector Advisory Committee on whether work will continue on the Commentary to the Standards of Practice.

* Discussion and possible action to recommend to the Inspector Advisory Committee as to where in the Rules of the Texas Real Estate Commission the proposed Commentary to the Standards of Practice shall be placed.

* Discussion and possible action to recommend to the Inspectors Advisory Committee that the Inspectors Advisory Committee request funding from the Texas Real Estate Commission for an independent, unbiased attorney to advise the Inspectors Advisory Committee so that the Inspectors Advisory Committee can properly represent the interests of the consumers of the State of Texas in inspection related matters. (Yeah, like that will happen, it's been shot down before)

* Request for new business agenda items

* Adjourn

TREC IAC Education Subcommittee teleconference

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 13:46:03 -0500

The TREC Inspectors Advisory Committee Education Subcommittee met via teleconference last Friday. Attached are my notes (bold, blue, italic) from the meeting. Pay special attention to the chat log at the end of my notes, some interesting side comments were made.

TREC IAC Education Subcommittee 101609

TREC SOP Commentary - Oct '09

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:04:33 -0500

The TREC Inspectors Advisory Committee SOP sub-committee met Tuesday, Oct 6th via teleconference to discuss the status of the proposed SOP Commentary that has been on-hold for the last several months. Shown below are links to my minutes from that meeting with my notes in blue, italics as usual. Also shown below are current drafts of the Preamble, General Provisions and Structural commentaries. Feel free to comment here or contact IAC members directly. Once the Commentary is complete it will be presented to the IAC for consideration then on to the full TREC commission for approval or denial and possible implementation. There will be a public comment period at some point as well but that is just a formality.

10/06/09 Meeting Minutes

Commentary Preamble

Commentary General Provisions

Commentary Structural Systems

Public Service Announcement

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 01:11:56 -0500

A couple of other Texas inspectors and I have been working on a Public Service Announcement (PSA) to describe a worrisome issue that is becoming somewhat of a problem in Texas. The issue is a fair number of unlicensed and expired licensed inspectors are continuing to operate throughout the state. The PSA is just about ready and we hope to get it published in as many Realtor association magazines and electronic newsletters as possible to warn people of the risks of using an unlicensed inspector. We are going to make it where any inspector in the state can put his by-line on it and submit it to his local Realtor association for consideration. So, it can act as a little bit of publicity for the inspector as well as carry an important message to the public and Real Estate professionals.

My kind of guy...semper fi!

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 19:33:02 -0500

..........

New TREC Administrator

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 11:26:39 -0500

The Texas Real Estate Commission has named Texas REALTOR® Doug Oldmixon as its new administrator. Oldmixon, an attorney and founding broker of Spillar Oldmixon Advisors Realty, formerly served as deputy commissioner of the Texas Veterans Land Board.

Oldmixon replaces Loretta DeHay who has been acting in the Administrator's position since Tim Irvine resigned late last year. The duties of the TREC Administrator include:

* managing TREC as its chief executive officer,

* developing policy recommendations,

* monitoring agency expenditures and determining appropriation needs,

* testifying before the state legislature on appropriative and legislative matters affecting the agency.

Having an Attorney/Broker in this position could prove interesting for inspectors. Dehay will resume her General Counsel responsibilities for TREC.

Lesson learned

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Sat, 09 May 2009 19:39:43 -0500

I learned a little lesson today. My inspection just happened to coincide with the Seller's garage sale this morning. So, no problem..I just get busy doing my thing. I have a new tool carrier that I keep all my expensive meters and doo-dads in that I take into the house so I don't have to run back and forth to the truck. Well, I set it down in the garage out of the way and went out front to the water meter to check on it and to a hose bibb to measure the water pressure. (Bet you can tell where this is going huh? ) I'm gone 2-3 minutes and when I come back in there's a lady sifting thru my tools and she has her arms full of stuff. I said M'am, M'am...those are not for sale! Well, she speaks no English and just keeps digging around...she's got my Tif8850, moisture meter, amprobe, tape measure and several other things in her hands. I finally just said NO! and had to 'help' her put the stuff back. She looked at me like I was crazy and just moved over to a table of junk that was for sale.

TREC Commentary is dead...long live the Commentary!

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Thu, 07 May 2009 17:07:19 -0500

OK, I admit to taking a little literary license with the subject line of this thread. My hyperbole is overstated somewhat (can that be done?) but not by much I don’t think. You can view or download today's meeting notes here and, as usual, my personal notes are in bold, blue italic font for easy identification.

The proposed SOP Commentary really took a hit today with a strong disagreement surfacing between the Inspectors Advisory Committee and TREC as to the logistics and politics of incorporating the proposed Commentary. Essentially, further Commentary work was tabled until such time as TREC and the IAC can get on the same page regarding this issue. Maybe the Commentary will be brought from the back burner in the next few weeks, maybe it’s done for now. Time will tell.

TREC SOP Commentary - Draft

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:28:35 -0500

You can download and review the new TREC SOP Commentary here. This April '09 draft version covers the Scope/Definitions and Structural sections of the new SOP. Other sections will be added in the next couple of months.

10th Largest Country in the World!

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:40:29 -0500

TREC Commission Meeting 2/23/09

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:02:49 -0600

Here are my notes from today's Texas Real Estate Commission meeting. As usual, my notes are in bold, blue, italic font. Try not to doze off....see: http://www.divshare.com/download/6639720-80a .

TREC SOP Commentary working session on 2/11/09

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:44:16 -0600

Here are my notes from the Feb 11th TREC SOP Commentary Sub-Committee meeting:

The TREC Inspectors Advisory Committee SOP sub-committee met by teleconference on 2/11/09 to continue work on and drafting of a Commentary to the new 2009 TREC Inspector's SOP. All four of the sub-committee members were in attendance along with four public attendees. The intent of this meeting was to continue agreeing on wording and drafting the Commentary which will then be posted for public comment sometime in the future, probably 4-6 weeks from now or so. The Commentary is to explain the thought process that went into the new SOP and to provide examples and clarifications. I will not go into all of the boring details of the teleconference but rather touch on a couple of the more interesting topics.

It is my opinion that one of the sub-committee members who happens to actually be the sub-committee chairman continues to have a mindset that the SOP should be more prescriptive rather than less and, in some opinions, to go well beyond the traditionally accepted scope of a visual inspection. He is single-handedly responsible for the new SOP requirement for Texas HI's to lift roofing shingles to inspect the fasteners. That same expanded concept of an inspection was clear during the meeting when the chairman proposed putting in the Commentary that electrical outlet boxes, especially those in a Kitchen backsplash, should have cover plates removed to inspect for proper maximum gap ( ¼" ) between the j-box and the cover plate. Occasionally, a j-box will be installed recessed too far into the wall or new tile, backsplash or other wall coverings will be installed that cause that gap to widen to greater than ¼" in which case, the NEC calls for a box extender to be installed to reduce that gap to less than ¼". The argument against including that example or requirement in the Commentary was that the SOP specifically says cover plates do not need to be removed unless there is evidence or suspicion of aluminum wiring in which case a random sampling of outlets and switches are required to be further inspected. Debate and discussion went on for awhile and a vote of the sub-committee members was taken as to whether or not to include that wording in the Commentary. The vote was tied at 2-2 at that time. Subsequent discussion resulted in another vote which ended 2-1 in favor of Not including that wording in the Commentary. It should be noted that one of the sub-committee members had left the meeting just prior to the 2nd vote so that is why the proposal failed. It could very well come back into consideration at the next sub-committee working session however.

During other discussions on another area of the Commentary it was proposed to add the word "reasonable' to the clause that refers to "in the judgment of the inspector". This clause shows up several times in the new SOP and the Committee's public member lawyer opined that the adding of ‘reasonable' actually made the inspector more liable rather than less liable. That wording could give any opposing counsel more ammunition to use against an inspector. For example, an opposing counsel could simply suggest that an action or opinion by the inspector was not reasonable in the counsel's opinion thereby putting the onus back on supporting counsel to defend the reasonableness of said action or opinion. All legal gobbledy-gook but nonetheless important. End result...the word reasonable was added to the Commentary where applicable.

I will post more notes after the next sub-committee working sessions.

Bond Tester

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 21:28:13 -0600

Texas Inspectors,

The new, 2009 Texas Real Estate Commission Standards of Practice for Home Inspectors states that the inspector shall “Report as deficient…appliances and metal pipes that are not bonded or grounded”. This can be accomplished in several methods. One, the electrical junction box at all appliances like the stove, microwave, range vent hood, furnace, etc, can be located and the cover removed and the ground wire can then be verified. Two, a sophisticated electrical circuit analyzer such as an Ideal SureTest model 165 with the appropriate cord adapters can be used but this method can be cost prohibitive at $330 or so if that is all the SureTest is being used for. Third, a simple battery operated lamp with alligator clips can be jury-rigged but this method will be fairly slow connecting the alligator clips and all. The act of electrically connecting the various appliance chassis together is referred to as Bonding and then a path is provided through the electrical branch circuits back to Ground. The CapCity “Bond Tester” is intended to be used to ensure continuity from exposed metallic parts of various home appliances to the home’s electrical Ground. This cost effective tester will dramatically reduce the time spent inspecting for appliance bonding/grounding and will pay for itself in just a couple of inspections. The Basic no-frills model is $24.95 +s/h and the Deluxe model is $59.95 +s/h. The Deluxe model has both visual and audible bond indicators for ease of use. See below for ordering instructions or go to www.capcityinspections.com/Bond_Tester_Order .

New TREC SOP Commentary

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 21:53:11 -0600

The TREC Inspectors Committee has been promising to develop a Commentary to explain in more detail what the rational is for many of the new SOP line items. Here is a 1st pass, very rough draft of a Commentary for your review. Please post your thoughts here about it.

Rough Draft Commentary

TREC Dec 15th meeting notes

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:06:22 -0600

Here are my notes from the Dec 15th TREC meeting in Austin. As usual, my notes are in bold, blue font for easy identification. See: TREC Notes

Realtor newsletter/blog exchange

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:10:21 -0600

I recently saw this exchange on another blog somewhere and got a chuckle out of it:

All indicators suggest a turn around and recovery of the real estate market now that the elections are behind us. The first quarter of the new year should result in rebounding home prices, fewer foreclosures and strengthening of home sales. - recent Realtor newsletter comment

More blather from the real estate world, more pipe dreams of how house prices should not be allowed to fall to their real values. A house is a box that sits in the rain and deteriorates. Therefore, the rain-soaked box falls in value, just like anything else. The cotton candy world of real estate wealth is over. No amount of crybaby, footstamping, breath-holding childish antics is going to stop this runaway train. It's over. Put some cotton candy on your real estate license, and eat it. Then, go to your room. - Anonymous response

New TREC SOP Commentary

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 14:26:11 -0600

The Inspector Advisory Committee's SOP Sub-committee met via teleconference on 12/9 to begin the discussions and process of writing a Commentary for the new Inspection Standards of Practice that is due to go into effect 2/1/09. The Commentary will expand upon the language in the SOP, clarify the thinking and intent behind many of the SOP line items and generally attempt to explain, in more layman's terms, what is expected of the Inspector. The first Commentary meeting was about two hours long and resulted in preliminary, draft explanatory paragraphs for about 1/3 of the SOP topics. What struck me most during the process was the fact that the Sub-committee members writing the Commentary are the same ones that wrote the SOP and yet there was considerable discussion and even disagreement on what the SOP meant to each of the members. Basic, conceptual ideas were not agreed upon in certain sections and some Commentary sections resulted in obvious conflict with the new SOP. There were even instances of proposed changes to the recently approved SOP wording. There's a huge amount of work yet to be done with the Commentary...don't expect anything before mid-2009 at best.

Eat more donuts & lose weight!

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 11:12:54 -0600

You think Fred may be being a little sarcastic here?

Infrared Thermography

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:38:45 -0600

For those inspectors that are considering adding thermal infrared thermography to their services here is an IR Camera Comparison chart that I recently put together. It compares the most important features of several manufacturers and models of cameras and can be a starting point for selecting a camera. The bold columns are the models generally targeted to the HI industry. Comments are welcome.

See: IR Camera Comparison

Holiday Ditty

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:38:45 -0600

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

New Texas Inspection Stds of Practice

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:01:19 -0600

The new TREC Inspection SOP has been adopted as many well know. Here is a short presentation, in pdf format, that I developed to use to familiarize other inspectors and even Realtors and agents on the more significant changes. This is a draft version at this time and subject to change.

Click here: New SOP

50,000 names

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:30:15 -0600

Well, as we come to Veteran's Day 2008 I was looking for something special to commemorate the day. You may not care for C&W music in general or George Jones in particular but this is a nice tribute to our veterans.

Click here: 50,000 Names

TREC Commissioners Meeting Oct 27, 2008

Michael Boyett (Capital City Inspections) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:52:15 -0500

Here are my notes from the October 27th Texas Real Estate Commission meeting in Austin. As usual, my personal notes are in bold, blue font for easy identification. Bottom line is that the new, proposed SOP was accepted as expected. The Inspector Committee recommends waiting until the promulgated 7A-1 form and new SOP are posted on the TREC website before using them but no later than 2/1/09.

See: http://www.divshare.com/download/5682483-d9f