
DATE: Saturday, March 15, 1997              TAG: 9703130266

SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY      PAGE: 18   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: ABOUT THE OUTER BANKS 

SOURCE: Chris Kidder 

                                            LENGTH:  127 lines

LICENSING RIGORS OF N.C. HOME INSPECTORS

In my last two columns, we've looked at the new licensing requirement for North Carolina home inspectors, the services home inspectors are supposed to provide - and some they aren't - and situations where home inspections can be helpful.

This week, we'll wrap up the series with information about national certification programs and get a few insights into the business from local home inspectors.

Until recently, anyone in North Carolina could be a home inspector. There was no license, no test, no requirement of any kind. On Oct. 1, 1996, the business changed with the establishment of the North Carolina Home Inspector Licensure Board. Now just about any one performing home inspections for compensation must be licensed.

Exceptions to the rule are persons who perform inspections on single components of a house - a HVAC technician, for example, or a chimney sweep - or professional architects and engineers inspecting houses on which they are working. General contractors don't need a home inspection license to inspect houses prior to submitting bids on construction or remodeling and repair work.

All four local home inspectors I spoke with praised the state's licensing program. More than just an excuse to push paper and collect fees, the program does require its licensees to demonstrate professional competence.

Some inspectors qualify for the exam through advanced training and education, some by virtue of experience, some through holding other professional licenses. But no matter how they qualify, all must sit for the four-hour exam - and only 70 percent of those taking the exam so far have passed.

The exam for home inspector was tougher to pass than the contractors' license exam, said Joseph E. Smith of Kitty Hawk, who holds both licenses. ``You have to have a very good, well-rounded knowledge of the mechanics of a home.''

North Carolina's home inspection license standards were based upon guidelines developed by the American Society of Home Inspectors. Prior to state licensing, certification programs run by ASHI (formed in 1976 before any states were licensing home inspectors) and the National Association of Home Inspectors were the only objective means consumers had to judge the qualifications and performance of a home inspector.

ASHI members must be ``candidates'' for at least six months before they are granted full membership. They must pass two written exams and provide proof that they've completed 250 paid inspections that meet or exceed ASHI standards of practice. Although the association is non-profit, ASHI membership is not cheap: new members will spend at least $500 on application and exam fees and annual dues.

In a competitive marketplace, ASHI certification probably helps business. Members get the benefit of continuing education programs and access to industry resources, along with marketing help and the opportunity to buy into a group errors and omissions insurance policy. ASHI members are also required to follow a stricter code of ethics than the code adopted by North Carolina. While the state discourages licensees from wearing more than one hat while performing home inspections, it has no rule prohibiting a home inspector with a real estate or building contractor's license from selling those services along with the inspection.

ASHI, on the other hand, won't grant membership to licensed real estate agents; and they prohibit contractors from bidding on or accepting work resulting from their home inspection report.

But could you find an ASHI home inspector on the Outer Banks? Not now. Outside major urban areas, they're hard to come by. New Bern is the closest North Carolina city with an ASHI member; most are in Raleigh, Winston-Salem or Charlotte.

Grady Lassiter, the dean of Outer Banks home inspectors these days with 10 years of experience in the business, was a candidate for ASHI membership but dropped it when the state adopted ASHI standards and most of its code of ethics for licensing.

NAHI is a smaller group than ASHI with only six members in the 919 telephone area code and none on the Outer Banks. It has less rigorous requirements for membership (no exams) but offers a special certification program for Registered Real Estate Inspector. The RRI designation requires completing 250 inspections, passing an examination and meeting other proficiency criteria.

For now, Outer Banks consumers will have to rely on referrals and gut feeling in choosing a home inspector.

Experience with coastal construction and specialized education in subjects pertinent to real estate inspections are worth considering.

But probably the most important thing for consumers to consider is what they're getting for their home inspection fee, says Randy Foster, of Outer Banks Home Inspection Services, in Kill Devil Hills. Although the state outlines in detail in its standards of practice what a home inspection should and shouldn't cover, the format of the report and its depth of detail is left to the inspector's discretion.

Because most home inspections are done for buyers but come through referrals from real estate agents who are working for the sellers, home inspectors often feel they must walk a fine line to carry out their duty to the client (the buyer) without alienating their source of business.

Most inspectors feel that clients get their money's worth when the report focuses on providing a lot of useful information about the house without nit-picking or pointing out cosmetic details that have nothing to do with a home's habitability.

``If your report conforms to the state's standards of practice, how can the client find fault?'' asks Foster.

``Sometimes buyers think a home inspection does more than it's designed to do, especially when it comes to heating and cooling and other mechanical equipment,'' cautions Matt Lowcher of Coastal Home Inspection in Nags Head.

Lowcher, a certified municipal-building inspector who moonlights as a home inspector, says it's the inspector's job to turn a system on to see if it runs properly but not to dismantle the system. An inspection that finds no problems is ``no guarantee that the equipment will work forever without repairs,'' he says.

And a home inspection is not an appraisal of value, says Smith. Folks expecting an opinion on whether the house is a good buy or a recommendation to buy - or not buy - will be disappointed.

``My clients are paying me to use my experience, qualifications and best judgment, to go in and see what I can find,'' says Foster, then it's up to them to take that information and make a decision. ``The buyer wants to be comfortable buying the house. I help them reach that comfort level.'' MEMO: Send comments and questions to Chris Kidder at P.O. Box 10, Nags

Head, N.C. 27959. Or e-mail her at realkidd(AT)aol.com ILLUSTRATION: REFERENCES

For more information about standards of practice and ethics in

North Carolina home inspections, contact the state's Home Inspection

Licensure Board, P.O. Box 26387, Raleigh, NC 27611, 919-733-3901.

For a good general information, call the American Society of Home

Inspectors (ASHI) automated fax line at 800-743-2744 if you have a

push-button phone and fax machine. Request Document No. 1029, ``The

Home Inspection & You.''

The National Association of Home Inspectors also publishes

information about inspection standards and ethics. Contact them at

800-448-3942.