! ! !See Author's Notes at Bottom of the Column ! ! !

The growth of the home inspection industry has been unbelievable over the past 10 years. I routinely see advertisements in my trade publications about Earn Extra Income - Be a Home Inspector!. These ads make it seem like you read a 25 page booklet or some other information and you are ready to go. If you have one of these people inspect your home, you may be in for a few surprises.

Learning how to perform a home inspection can't be done in a day, a week, or even several months. It requires large sums of book knowledge coupled with field experience taught by a seasoned inspector. It isn't much different than many other professions. There is no substitute for experience when the largest investment of your life is one the line!

I was able to identify three home inspection certification programs / associations. There may be more out there to be sure. The three that I found had very different requirements for membership. I have listed them below with an explanation of what is required to become certified. I urge you to call each organization yourself if you want to find out more.

Home Inspection Certification Associations

• American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI)
  932 Lee Street
  Suite 101
  Des Plaines, Illinois 60016
  800-743-2744
  

ASHI is by far the toughest group to join and maintain membership. They require that the person have completed no less than 250 paid professional home inspections and the completion of two written examinations. Once a person becomes a member, he/she must take 40 hours of continuing education every 2 years. No other association certification program I could find even came close to these requirements.

To become certified by HIF, all you need to do is fill out a simple application form and send in $165. Well, actually, I am wrong about one thing, the application form doesn't have to be completely filled out. Once HIF gets your money, you are certified. Need I say more?

(September 2007) An Internet search for updated information on the Housing Inspection Federation has not returned any positive results. A website listing returned a page not found. The Environmental Assessment Association is now located at that address. Their web is under construction.

• National Association of Certified Home Inspectors
  1750 30th Street
  Boulder, CO 80301
  303-502-6214
  

According to NACHI’s web, “Unlike other home inspection associations, NACHI front-ends many of its membership requirements. In other words, all of our members must fulfill membership requirements before they can apply for membership. Other associations have little or no entrance requirements and encourage their members and associates to go out and perform hundreds of unqualified inspections for poor, unsuspecting consumers.” They require the passage of several online examinations before acceptance. Additional steps are required before becoming a full member.

• National Association of Home Inspectors (NAHI)
  4248 Park Glen Road
  Minneapolis, MN 55416
  800-448-3942

NAHI allows you to become a member if you send in a copy of an inspection you do for a friend or family member, a copy of a pre-inspection agreement (they send you a sample if you don't have one), copies of any other related certificates, licenses, etc. If you score enough points and send in your dues / fees, you get certified. Examination and continuing education are optional.

Author's Notes:

I received the following email January 25,2006:

Thank you for the article informing the public on home inspection. We would like to clarify a few points you've made:

NAHI does not "automatically certify" new members. To be granted membership, we are unique from many inspector organizations in that we require a copy of an inspection report the inspector has actually completed.

This report is reviewed by experts to determine whether the individual has an acceptable level of competency and to insure the report complies with the NAHI Standards of Practice. If the individual meets this criteria, as well as attending a NAHI accredited school, we grant them an Associate membership. This is only the first level of membership. The second level of membership, Regular, is for those who have completed at least 100 full fee paid home inspections and have passed either the NAHI CRI, NHIE, or CREIA examinations.

If the member wants to become a NAHI Certified Real Estate Inspector (CRI) they need to complete 250 inspections and pass the NAHI CRI proctored exam. Typically for most new members it will take several years to complete 250 inspections. NAHI members also have continuing education requirements to maintain their membership. NAHI hosts a multitude of national and regional conferences to assist members in maintaining their requirements. Many members exceed these requirements each year. As you can see, this coincides with NAHI's mission of helping the professional home inspector grow both personally and professionally, which ultimately helps consumers by working with a true professional.

Unfortunately, it appears that in the home inspection industry the term certified has been misused. The many organizations or schools in the industry uses it to describe someone who has taken a test or complete a course. There is no government standard, which defines the level of competency, experience or rigor necessary to pass a course or test. So in essence the term "certification" is like ChapStick or Kleenex, a generic term which is the crux of the problem we are facing. With the shear number schools and internet based organizations giving certifications and huge variation in qualifications, consumers are well advised to look beyond anyone who claims to be certified.

Both NAHI and the EBPHI (Examination Board of Professional Home Inspectors) have spent years developing and implementing true certification tests that are legally defensible. In other words, we can show how we created a profile of a competent home inspector and developed a test that could only be passed by this type of an individual. We can also show that we only deliver this test in a supervised environment and individuals do not have any outside assistance during the exam. This sets these two organizations apart from others and consumers can trust that members that have completed advanced training with these organizations.

We appreciate your efforts at educating consumers.

Rick Bunzel, NAHI Public Relations Chairman