Undermining the Licensure Law in Washington - Before it even takes effect!
As a member of the Washington State Home Inspector Licensing Board, I find this post by Paul interesting and very current. In the circle of home inspectors in Washington, this blog is on target. Most home inspectors who are aware of this "possible" change in the law, are following this one closely. Inspectors are not eager to be made mold inspectors. There is quite a bit of discussion going on about this: what the motivation is, who supports it, will it pass, what hurdles does it face, etc.
I recieved the following email from the ASHI of Western Washington-Well, it didn't take long! We have just received word that the first attempt to change the new Home Inspector Law has been brought forth in the Legislature. It is Senate Bill 5644, which you can review at: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2009-10/Pdf/Bills/Senate%20Bills/5644.pdf Basically, the bill attempts to allow on-line learning and inserts the word MOLD into the requirements for a Home Inspection. We would expect the DOL to fight the on line learning change, as all Real Estate classes are currently required to be instructor lead courses. Both the Real Estate Licensees and Home Inspectors are under the Real Estate Division of the DOL. Of course, inserting the word MOLD into the Home Inspection requirements is contrary to industry standards and raises serious questions about insurability.The following is the letter that I sent to my local representative:Honorable Senator Schoesler, The above referenced bill has been placed on the agenda of the legislature for consideration by Senators Parlette and Kohl-Welles. A substantial change is the requirement to perform a home inspection with the express purpose of identifying mold. This is outside the Standards of Practice of all the major certifying bodies and I am not aware of any state in the nation that makes this requirement. There is no nationally recognized standard for sample collection, sampling methodolgy, chain of custody and reporting for mold. It would, however,. lead to tremendous litigation and would be detrimental to my profession and the consumer that the current licensing law seeks to protect. Further, it seeks to substantially undermine and weaken the protection of a well trained inspector workforce by watering down the education requirements. I urge you to reject the changes proposed in SENATE BILL 5644. Thank you, Paul DuffauI know that MOLD is GOLD for some inspectors but I think that it is often a way to increase revenues rather than provide quality service. The testing that a home inspector does is radically different than that of a licensed and certified testing laboratory - and I used to work in one in the field of materials testing. If they really wanted to make a change that benefits the consumer, requiring E&O of all inspectors would be a more effective protection.
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