To improve the home inspection industry in Oregon the Construction Contractor's board (CCB) has defined a set of standards for home inspections.  This standard encompasses not only what a home inspector is to view but also certification process insurance and bonding and also our standards of behavior.

The "standards of behavior" gets interesting because it states, "No Oregon certified home inspector shall give any gift, rebate, kickback, or anything of value, including but not limited to any payment of money, to any person for the purposes of obtaining an engagement, referral or preference selection to perform a home inspection. However,...this rule shall not apply to items of nominal value given as part of an advertising promotion of general distribution."

That previous statement leaves a lot of questions unanswered so in December of 2008 the CCB further defined what the previous statement meant with a question and answer format.  For you agents in Oregon please read it here:  Home Inspectors frequently asked Questions

What got me thinking is a comment on one of my posts that referred to getting paid at closing.  The comment stated that in Kentucky home inspectors are prohibited from being paid at closing to ensure that the home inspector's pay check does not rely on the deals consummation.

I am going to write the CCB licensing program manager today and get her thoughts on this issue.  I like Kentucky's restriction and think Oregon should have a similar statute.  Stay tuned, I will let you all know how it turns out.