Home : Blogs : Mike Parks ESI, RBO ,RPI ,RIUI ,OMHI- Ohio : Electrical and Residential Building Inspector in Ohio

Just curious?

I am wondering how people in different areas of the country (that have no licensing of home inspectors) address, and/or feel about, the fact that they (some home inspectors) claim to be certified?

Do you have a problem with the fact that the public assumes that a 'certification' must be given by your state?

Is it deceptive to advertise yourself as 'certified'?

If this is a profession should it not be nationally recognized?

I for one am tired of all the 'papermill' certifications.

Am I alone?

Posted by Mike Parks ESI, RBO ,RPI ,RIUI ,OMHI- Ohio on 03/23/2007 04:28 PM

Comments (6)

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6 Comments on Just curious?

MAR

2007

No you are not alone. And you probably won't get much comment because most home inspector organizations certify their inspector. And it becomes I am better certified than you.

This is from my web site

"Many home inspector organizations have become marketing tools for the inspector. Somehow they have lost their direction. Some new home inspector groups will give the inspector the title of certified inspector by passing a on line non proctored simple test. So be careful when choosing someone to inspect your prospective property."

Basically the general public has no idea what is going on. And only by sites like this will they learn.

No you are not alone.

Certifications can be bought in just about every profession. Some have simple requirements, some have no requirement and then some do have requirements that involve education, testing and experience.

True certifications will be endorsed or meet NOCA/NCCA guidelines. http://www.noca.org/ NCCA accreditation is what makes a true certification program. The reason we don't see this in the home inspection profession is due to the cost and that most of the organizations can not meet the requirements to get an NCCA accreditation.

You will not find any home inspector org or building code organization that meets these standards at this time.

Certifications can be issued by manufacturers. You can be certified to install a particular building product. Organizations certify that individuals are members and have met their membership requirements. ICC issues certifications for folks that pass their test. The list can go on and on.

Ok, Mike, I'll bite.

Scott....You know all Mississippi inspectors meet NOCA standards for licensure....I'm guessing you are more critical of STATES that don't have these requirements more than that...(ahem) 'other' HI organization. Say it's so, Scott!

NOCA/NCCA is for organizations not individuals. Organizations work to have their programs accredited by NCCA. This is the highest and most recognized accreditation affiliation that is available for an organization. None of the home inspector organizations have this or can attain this under their current structure. One should read up on this, it is very enlightening.

Scott,

I would think that a good set of standards for home inspectors, under NOCA, would be ICC certification, NHIE, plus ACIA....are there others that you would suggest?

Those could be part of it. The problem with ICC would be that home inspectors really do not inspect to code. As home inspectors we need realize that we might be looking at homes that were constructed under no codes or codes of various ages. They can be allover the board. Don't get me wrong, codes do have their place but not in every single home inspection. Another difference between a home inspector and a code inspector is that home inspectors are (should be) trained in defect recognition. Code inspectors have a set of written rules(codes) that they must go by.

The NHIE would not make a good certification exam. The NHIE is designed as a minimal or basic knowledge exam. A certification exam would need to take it to a higher level, but it would still need to be developed just like the NHIE as a psychometrically valid exam. I would estimate the cost for the development of an exam like this to be around $200,000 and then it would need to be maintained with an annual cost in the $150,000+ range. And to top it off the exam has to be rewritten (the exam blue print) based on a new role delineation study every 3-4 years, and this would cost in the area of $150,000. The kicker to this would be that it would not make any money for anyone. Certifications do not make money for the organization that develops and provides it. This is one reason we have not seen it happen in the home inspection profession. Rumor has it that NAHI is attempting to do this but they have run into some snags in funding and in the psychometric validation part.

Sorry to go off an a tangent, but testing and the associated science is a passion of mine.

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