
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 13, 1993                   TAG: 9305130177
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LEIGH ALLEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

INSPECTOR LICENSING URGED

Roanoke home builders, inspectors and real estate agents Wednesday called for state licensing and regulation of home inspectors.

When shopping for a house, buyers often hire independent inspectors to check for structural or mechanical flaws, especially when they're looking at an old home.

But Lewis Jamison, a Roanoke builder and president of the Home Builders Association of Virginia, said unqualified inspectors give exaggerated or inaccurate reports that can scare buyers away.

Jamison testified at a Virginia Department of Commerce hearing at Holiday Inn-Tanglewood. The General Assembly asked the Commerce Department to hold four hearings in Virginia to get public input on whether home inspectors should be licensed and regulated.

Testifying in favor of licensing, Jamison said home inspectors often make mistakes when they try to interpret local building codes. He said inspectors are not qualified to do that unless they have been trained by state building code officials. Licensing should require such training, he said.

Roanoke County real estate developer Len Boone said potential home buyers often have second thoughts after they have signed a contract to buy a house. They then hire a home inspector to find some flaw and use that as an excuse to back out of the deal, he said.

Ray Pangle of Waynesboro said he has been in the construction business for more than 30 years. He has been calling himself a home inspector for four years and said he thinks the state should regulate the service because it is attracting too many unqualified people.

"A man who has been building fences in my area for five years came out the other day and said he was going into the home inspection business," Pangle said. "What does he know about inspecting homes?"

Pangle said newcomers to the business often charge much less for their inspections because they have little or no experience.

The Commerce Department will continue taking public comments on the issue until June 11 and will present its report to the General Assembly at the end of the summer.

by CNB