Home : Blogs : Paul Luczyk, ASHI : Paul 's Blog

Conflict of Interest

What is a conflict interest? According to Webster, "a conflict between the private interests and the official responsibilities of a person in a position of trust".

When a home or building inspector reports on list of issues or problems on the house, he/she offers to have their company make the necessary repairs at an additional cost. Example: replacing an old roof, repair/replace a deteriorated deck or porch, treating the bugs, carpenter ants or termites, or making repairs in bathroom, etc. If the Washington State new home inspector licensing law is passed, Senate Bill 6606, the inspector or their company will not be allowed for 1 year to make repairs or work after the inspection. Most inspectors follow the ASHI Code of Ethics which does not allow the inspector to make repairs or work, for 1 year, on their inspections.

Posted by Paul Luczyk, ASHI on 02/15/2008 01:54 PM

Comments (9)

conflict of interest

Post is included in group: Ethics and the home inspector

9 Comments on Conflict of Interest

FEB

2008

Ashi and Nachi both follow that guideline which is good, seems like common sense. I have been told that Nahi does not have this rule, and their memebers are free to make bids, but have not confirmed it for sure. Do you know?

Steve, I checked the NAHI coe on line and it looks to me as though they can fix what they inspect---not very straigtforward writing---hard to be very clear exactly what it does say. Regardless--NACHI, ASHI and NAHI make up a small percentage of the total inspectors in WA---the rest of which make up their own COE as they go---or may or may not follow one of the association COE's.

FEB

2008

A major conflict of issues! A major red flag!

FEB

2008

Charles, here's what NAHI has to say about it:

CODE OF ETHICS #6 An Inspector shall not, directly or indirectly and for compensation, perform repairs on or recommend contractors to perform repairs on any component or system included in the inspection under the NAHI Standards of Practice. An Inspector may recommend or offer ancillary inspection services.

Sounds pretty clear to me.

Paul, good topic.

Mike, I agree.

Joe, what you posted is what I had heard---and I hope it is true. I just did a google search for NAHI Code of Ethics and got the following:

CODE OF ETHICS #6

The inspector may recommend or offer products or

additional services to the client consistent with the

provisions of this Code of Ethics. If the services or

products recommended or offered by the inspector

are:

(a) to be purchased from or provided by the

inspector, their agents or employees;

(b) to be purchased from or provided by any entity,

organization, or venture in which the inspector has

an interest; or

(c) will result in any compensation or benefit to the

inspector, financial or otherwise,

then the products or services may only be

recommended or offered after a written disclosure to

the client of the inspector's interest in the transaction

and advising the client to obtain competitive bids.

Is this some previous version (I had heard that they changed their COE)----that NAHI just hasn't updated on the web? It doesn't read anything like your #6.

I followed the link from NAHI's main page and thats what I got. Go to my previous comment and click on the blue NAHI and it will take you there.

I just looked it up and the one you quoted is from 2006 while the one I have is from 2007, so it looks like they revised it.

Interesting---this is the first thing google finds: http://www.nahi.org/web-nahi-code-of-ethics.pdf

Clearly different. I like your version better:), and it is consistent with what I had heard. The last thing I want to do is spreading erroneous information----thanks for the feedback.

That has been in the codes in Texas for some time, but I recently discovered that some inspectors have not been following it. Just so that you are aware, there is an official way around it. If you have an HVAC license, you can inspect that unit under that license, and not include it in your inspection report. Then you are allowed to repair the unit if the client wants you to. I would rather avoid that situation though.

Charles, I have no doubt about that. You always have good, informative and honest posts!

Frank, interesting work-around. Some people will do anything to make more money.

Leave a response…

Name:

Email:
(optional)

Comment:

What does the graphic say?