Home Inspector Certifications

(Inspecting your Inspector)

As I’ve stated elsewhere, home inspectors in Florida are completely unregulated.  Many claim to be licensed, but this is just misleading and unethical.  Those that claim to be licensed are referring to their occupational license tax, which is not a license, it is a tax all businesses pay (including me), and it is NOT a true license.  Any Florida home inspector that claims to be licensed deserves to have his credibility questioned.

Diploma Mill Certifications.  So how does an unqualified home inspector appear qualified?  Easy – there are NUMEROUS diploma mill certifications available.  For a few $$$$ they give you a nice official looking seal and logo to place on your stationary and web site.  They are totally worthless, but they look good to the unsuspecting public and it makes the inspector appear both official and credible.

Meaningful Certifications.  What makes a meaningful home inspector certification?  Basically 4 things.

1. An entrance examination that is both meaningful and proctored.
2. Experience requirements
3. Continuing education requirements that are actively enforced.
4. Have the quality of your work verified by association members.

Here in Florida, that basically weeds the field of meaningful certifications down to 3.

1. ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors)
2. FABI (Florida Association of Building Inspectors)
3. NAHI (National Association of Home Inspectors)

Of those 3 ASHI and FABI have the most stringent membership requirements, which is why I am a certified member of both.

On a side note, this of course does not consider quality state associations outside of Florida for obvious reasons.

Why not NACHI?  NACHI is a very common “certification” that does not make the list for several reasons.  It is a common diploma mill certification with a strong profit motive and is backed by very good marketing.

1. The entrance exam is very easy, very short and is not proctored.  The exam is taken totally unsupervised at home, as many times as you like until you pass.
2. There are no experience requirements.  NACHI will designate a “certified home inspector” even if he has never completed a single home inspection or educational course.
3. No quality of work verification.
4. Continuing education requirements are not enforced.

The bottom line is you deserve the best.  Make sure the home inspector you hire has several years of experience and is ASHI and/or FABI Certified. 

For more on ASHI, FABI and NAHI, please visit their web sites at ashi.org, fabi.org and nahi.org.