How Many Inspectors Does It Take to Inspect a Home?

How Many Inspectors Does It Take to Inspect a Home?

It all depends on what they don't know.

What exactly does that mean you ask? Well if one inspector doesn't know his electrical very well it can take at least two.

I quite recently inspected a home that had been previously inspected about a month before by another, more experienced inspector. When I say experienced I mean the other inspector has been in the inspection business longer than me.

The home was fairly new (2001) and well kept. Both agents made a point of mentioning the previous inspection. As my inspection progressed very few problems were revealed. Most were fairly minor and related to simple routine maintenance.

Finishing up my inspection in the basement with the main electric panel I found a not so minor issue. The panel had been wired incorrectly. I would describe this defect as Home Inspection 101, rudimentary and easily identifiable.

Two things immediately struck me about this issue; 

1. Why didn't the first home inspector notice and report this serious defect and
2. Why didn't the municipal inspector notice this same defect during his inspection years ago.

So here I am inspector number 3? and this electrical issue has finally come to light. I am not trying to blow my own horn, but make a point on the basic knowledge and or thoroughness of some inspectors.

Home inspection is a fairly new industry. It's in a state of constant flux, slowly evolving and progressing. Until licensing took effect formal training was optional for home inspectors in Connecticut. When the law was instituted older inspectors were allowed to be grandfathered without having to take any formal training or pass an exam. Fortunately with licensing comes required continuing education. Unfortunately the state of Connecticut does not ask for or check these credits before reissuing a license.

I'm assuming the state is operating on the honor system.

So how does a consumer looking to hire a home inspector determine if the inspector is well trained and knowledgeable?

It ain't easy, but asking what training an inspector has attended is a good place to start. I myself am old school, (pun intended) and feel a classroom setting is best most of the time. Now days with the internet home inspector training can be found and taken on line. My one big gripe with online education is it lacks the capability for the student to actively participate in the training and for any type of hands on interaction. More importantly any inspector training, whether online or classroom, needs to be state approved. Since the state of Connecticut does not check continuing education credits I'm quite certain there are many inspectors taking unapproved courses or worse none at all.

Another way for someone to check an inspector's level of education is to ask if they belong to a national home inspector organization such as ASHI or NAHI.  ASHI for example requires 20 hours of continuing education per year for membership renewal. More significantly approximately 40% of ASHI members are audited at random each year for compliance with this educational requirement. 

Ultimately the consumer looking to hire a home inspector should first educate themselves on home inspection. When they begin calling companies they should have a list of questions to ask their prospective inspector. By conducting an interview and through conversation the consumer should get a fair sense of the inspector's knowledge.

Price shoppers will likely hire the guy who flunked Electrical 101.

 

 

James Quarello
2010 SNEC-ASHI President
NRSB #8SS0022
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC

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