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Washington State's Caste System For Home Inspectors

Come September of this year, home inspector licensing comes to Washington State.

Consumers and other real estate professionals wonder what this will do to the field of home inspection. I believe that, among other things, it will lead to a caste system for home inspectors in Washington State. My thought process is explained below in a way that should help consumers better determine how to hire a qualified home inspector.

My views were formulated after thinking about all of the discussion that has been going on about changes in this state's home inspector licensing laws. It seems to me that the changes, which will increase education and testing requirements for inspectors, but no longer, practically speaking, require a license as a structural pest inspector or the need to meet financial responsibility guidelines will lead to a caste system. The castes, that I expect to see, are described below:

At the top rung, you will have licensed home inspectors who choose to keep, or obtain, the structural pest inspector license as well. These inspectors will have been tested and licensed as both home inspectors and pest inspectors. By having the pest inspector license, these inspectors will also -- guaranteed -- be bonded, insured or at least have proof of financial responsibility.

Next, you will have licensed home inspectors, who are not licensed structural pest inspectors. But, of that group of home inspectors who are not licensed as pest inspectors, this second group down is special. These people do not have to buy insurance, because it is not mandated by law, but this group is nervous, or realistic, and they buy insurance on their own volition. These inspectors, not being structural pest inspectors, cannot do a full wood destroying organism inspection, but they can perform standard home inspections and they are insured by choice -- not just because they had to be.

Down from that, we have the licensed home inspectors, who are not licensed structural pest inspectors. This is the same group, same qualifications as the group immediately above, but these inspectors choose to have no insurance coverage. They are buck naked but operating legally.

At the bottom rung, or maybe feet flat on the ground, we have those inspectors who are footloose and fancy free -- illegal. They have no license of any sort but they are taking jobs. They have the potential to get in trouble if they are caught, but you can be sure that there will be some of these opportunists out there, maybe even parties crossing state lines to dart into Washington for inspections. Eastern Washington inspectors, Spokane area, assure me that that is a common practice now and they do not know that new laws will change that.

This is all just my speculation, and I am guessing here. Where inspectors will actually fall will be seen when the law takes effect. But, with the new law, I do not think there are many more options. It seems to me that all inspectors will fall into one of these four categories.

From a value standpoint, as a guideline for consumers, it would seem that top fees would be paid to those highest on the rungs of the ladder and prices would go down incrementally as you drop down the ladder. However, the marketplace will make that determination in the long run. We will hope that those opportunists at the bottom will just fade away.

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspections

Posted by Steven L. Smith, Bellingham, Wa. Home Inspector on 02/07/2009 08:38 PM

Comments (18)

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18 Comments on Washington State's Caste System For Home Inspectors

FEB

Steven, I think that I would want to be fully licensed and insured - even if Ididn't do pest inspections.

Steve, another good addtion to the dialogue----it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Pat,

Believe me, some inspectors want to be licensed but not have an insurance premium. As they say "we want to run naked".....that is a quote.

Charlie,

So do you see a fifth or sixth category. Seems to me we are all in there. You could revert back to having only a pest inspector, but such a person would not be a home inspector and that was the topic of my post.

I think the whole thing will need a cast until it gets better:) (actually the number of categories you have noted is plenty)

Nutsy here. I think the boss left out the best category -- certifried home inspector assistants. By the way, you have heard of Certain Teed roofing. There is a new home inspector assistant designation, similar to that, which I am diligently working on. Certain To Be Fried Home Inspector Assistant. I do not get all the big words -- over my head -- but I sure like the sound of it.

Raven DeCroe

FEB

Steve,

The caste system you have outlined would be closely similar to CT. Home inspectors in CT are...home inspectors. WDO inspections can be done by licensed exterminators or a home inspector who has the WDO ( We call it WDI) "S" license. There are some loop holes to this, but I will not expound now.

I do not, nor do I ever intend to have an "S" license. My pest inspections are done by licensed exterminators whom I trust and have been using for years. This method is employed on my estimation by about half the inspectors here.

CT also does not require E & O insurance. It is surprising to me how many potential customers never ask if I carry insurance (I do!). There was some talk on the licensing board not long ago about making E & O a requirement. It fizzled and died.

You in WA are going through a big change and it will be challenging. I believe some of the problems you have spoke of will occur and others you have not forseen. There will always be those that fly under the radar or are not fully commited to the profession. Legislation can not remove them, but I believe lessen the amount operating.

Your job on the board will be to adjust to the problems that crop up and make the regs as inclusive as possible. You will have a lot of work ahead of you my friend. I do not envy your position.

James,

I think that here, those of use who were licensed structural pest inspectors will keep the license. The exception might be those who want to eliminate the bond or insurance fees that go with that. This state has, for such a long time now, had the SPT tied to home inspection that I think it will stay that way. I suspect that, at BTC, we will continue to teach the WDO class so students may be prepared to test for that designation.

This state first went to the inspectors doing the WDO inspection as a result of problems with conflicts of interest on the part of the exterminators. Some of them were calling out problems, that did not exist, so they could apply chemicals at a hefty fee. In fact, Charlie had that happen the other day. An exterminator found anobiid beetles where Charlie found none. If Charlie found none, then believe me, there are none. Another SPI went in and Charlie was right. WSDA told me that some exterminators, in the past, would carry carpenter ants that were found in the crawl space. Obviously, there are honest exterminators but that is where the WDO law in this state evolved from.

Steven, Dishonest operators are the impetus for many laws and regulations. Most businesses are, I believe, honest.

FEB

Steve,

I don't see any additional catagories. My problem is the cross border variety backed by agents who don't care about licensing.

To quote an agent from Friday, "Why should I care what happens in your profession?"

I've got quite a job of education ahead of me.

Paul,

It is sad when those in related professions take so little pride in their contacts and work that they do not care if they give a trusted client a bum-steer. I am happy to say that most realtors I work with over here do care about their clients. If this agent you mentions ends up getting sued, he might have a change of heart. If an unlicensed inspector makes a big mistake, and has no assets, a lawyer may go after the money -- the agent or even his firm.

That is a great analysis Steve. I am one of the SPI's that plan on keeping the license after HI licensing goes into effect.

The challenge to educate buyers and realtors on the differences between inspectors may be somewhat daunting. Many clients' first question is, "How much does the inspection cost"? But picking the cheapest inspector can often lead to getting the individual at the bottom of the inspection caste system, and a substandard home inspection.

Home buyers are best served by an inspector who has the SPI (Structural Pest Inspector) license. I have inspected many homes, and found wood destroying organism damage, not found in the inspection when the seller had purchased originally. They will ask, "Why didn't my inspector find this?". Often I do not know the answer to their specific situation, but can surmise that their inspector was not an SPI, and because they had no training in identification of WDO's they don't even know where to look, so they could refer to a pest control operator.

Wood boring beetles seem to be one of the more challenging in our area, maybe because the damage can be subtle on the outside of the wood, until you probe it. To me the emergence holes are obvious, but that is because of my training. To the non SPI home inspector, this damage could easily be missed.

Harold, good comments.

One of the problems that we have out here, in addition to the proximity of out of state inspectors, is a greatly reduced incidence of beeltes termites and the like.

I had a realtor flat tell me that Pullman doesn't have termites - after I called it. He apologized later.

But you're right, it is a matter of education.

FEB

Paul,

Around here the theory of those who do not know much is that we have no termites. I hear realtors and even inspectors say that. I have often found dampwood termites -- quite common. My friend Dan Suomi assures me that we also have subs in this area. I have seen them in eastern WA, Pasco but not here yet.

I have seen Subterranean Termites once. It was about five years ago in West Seattle. Old home, with support posts directly in contact with the ground, and the mud tubes. The evidence was extremely subtle, but I was able to actually probe and find some live ones in one of the posts to confirm what I was seeing was actually termites. I know the buyers weren't terribly excited, but my inner child was saying this is cool! Just was neat to actually see something that is a rare occurence.

What surprised me is how small they are compared to the Dampwood Species. Not exactly what I expected.

Harold,

Yes, the subs are tiny compared to the big dampwoods.

You want subs we got all you want here in CT. They are our most common problem.

FEB

I've never found subs (well once I did find something that may have been subs; the evidence was ambiguous) but often have found dampwoods, usually in footing forms left in place. The first time I found these the client (who had actually taken the BTC HI course) was with me in the crawl space and was stunned that I actually had found live termites. As Harold said, my inner child also thought it was pretty cool!

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