01/27/1994 Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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-?? fee being paid or if an inspector is insured. He agreed that an inspector did not have to be a member of A.S.H.I. to be qua.lified, but for the present A.S.H.I. is the recognized leader in the industry.. He quoted a statement made by A.S.H.I. "Instead of licensing, meaningful consumer protection might be more effectively achieved through the establishment of a trade practice act which incorporates A.S.H.I. Standards of Practice and requires home inspectors to provide clients with a written statement of their professional qualifications and service before being hired to perform home inspections". He explained that this has been established as a basis for qualified home inspectors since 1978. He is personally concerned that licensing might put a drain on the resources of the inspection firms which are qualified, the city, and the clients. He pointed out that any fees, or cost of filling out forms will go back to the client. He clarified that they do not do code inspections, they are responsible only to their client, under this program they will be responsible to the client, the seller, and to the city. He concluded by stating that home inspectors were not the same as a general contractors, plumbers, electricians, and so forth; they are the professionals of the industry, and if they are to be licensed, it should be necessary for appraisers, realtor, architects, etc. to be licensed as well. Mr. P. Rindflesch, owner of Castle Inspections, advised that he is a member of A.S.H.I., a registered environmental property assessor, a former employee of the city of Parma both with the Fire Service Department as an inspector and with the Building Department. He stated that no inspector would want to see anyone's home burn down, but he would like further information on what happened regarding the fires so that he could improve the training of his inspectors. Castle Inspections is the largest inspection firm in the State of Ohio and normally perform three to four thousand single family home inspections a year and do them according to the A.S.H.I standards. He went on to explain that A.S.H.I. required lengthy study, an 8 hour, 500 question, certification test and required adhering to a code of ethics; so there is some pride and responsibility in being a member. He is against additional licensing, but suggested that a statement should be made by the city that all inspections must be done according the the A.S.H.I. Standards of.Practice. He noted that any kind of licensing must pay for itself and he cannot see how the citizens of North Olmsted would benefit. Any fees would ha.ve to be charged back to the customer. He pointed out that the City of Euclid has increased the fees of their point of sale inspections from $60.00 to $195.00. These inspectors are professional consultants, they do no work on the homes. He believed that a safe and sanitary reoccurring city inspection by North Olmsted`s current staff on existing structures would not punish sellers or buyers and would accomplish what the Building Conunissioner is trying to accomplish. He believed that if the current codes could be enforced it would be a greater step toward accomplishing safe, sanitary, and adequate housing. He explained that they do inspect brand new homes, and he has seen stickers recently placed by local code officials on work that was defective or deficient. So rather than focusing on licensing, there are other ways to adequately handle these problems. He would be willing to discuss this issue with the board and would work with them to establish some standards, but he really did not believe that there should be more government licensing or regulations. He believed that he is a professional, not unlike an appraiser, designer, or architect. Mr. Conway asked how his organization followed up on whether or not the inspectors were following the guidelines. Mr. Rindflesch responded that a new individual is required to do 250 fee paid inspections and he must submit so many of these inspections to a review board. He clarified that Mr. Ryglewicz, who is in charge of their training, will comment on thate Mr. Conway stated that even though they do not actually do work in a home, the inspector does advise people of possible safety hazards, so that 2