New, Old, Home Inspectors

Mike,

You are not too critical. If you are a "Certified Master Inspector" and ask a question like this one. Ungrounded 12/2 wire supplying two 100 amp panels. Hmmmm....

Did you or anyone see my recent blog on a panel I found with a similar (defect???).

Mike,

This is the kind of find that gets all my senses going.  You have discovered someone who was dumb enough to do this.  What else have they done.  You have to call this out, call in a certified electrician to devise a fix, and then you have to look very closely at everything in this house.   This is the tip of the iceberg.  You have alot of other problems in this house.  Bank on it.

Bill,

I don't think the issue is whether this is a serious defect, it's whether the guy asking the question is serious. The man is a Certified Master Inspector or so it says he is on his web page. This implies, in my interpretation, that the person has extensive knowledge and experience. He's the "go to guy" when lesser mortal inspectors are stumped.

I believe the gist of Mikes post is a poke at the word certified. It is used way too much and means very little in most instances. The home inspection profession is littered with inspectors claiming to be "certified" for this, that and everything.

A good number of the institutions that give certifications to inspectors or who ever have a vested interest in the person being certified. They are not independent bodies, but most often business that will gain income from the certified individual. So their requirements and testing are usually, let's say not to rigorous. It really is a conflict of interest, but no seems to think so enough to clamp down on this practice.

So we get guys like our CMI above asking questions about electrical that any trained newbie inspector would know.

Oh NO......Not again.

Are you guys still picking bones?

Bob,

The only picking is on the guy asking a question that an inspector of his alleged knowledge and superior experience should know the answer. My comment on the use of the word certified applies to so many areas in our profession. Certified mold testing, certified radon testing, certified infrared thermographer and on and on. It is over used and often means marginally qualified.