CAHI® - The Canadian Association of Home Inspectors at the National level.

The Canadian Association Of Home Inspectors Alberta is a member of CAHI® National

 Considerable experience, training and expertise is required for proper performance in this profession. No single source of information is sufficient to launch a competent practice in this field.

 BACKGROUND REQUIREMENTS.

 First, there is no other profession or line of work that would fully prepare you to become a home inspector at the present.

Although construction related fields require an understanding of how new homes are built, they rarely deal with the extended use and age related deterioration of components that the home inspector encounters daily.

 You will need extensive detailed knowledge in many areas such as electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling systems, roofing, insulation, foundation, drainage structures and interior components.

 You will also require knowledge of components that are obsolete yet still in service.

 If you have absolutely no background in construction work, you are at grave risk practicing in the Home Inspection Profession.

 The ability to recognize a condition that may be a problem comes in part from experience with "what goes wrong." No single course, nor even a collection of courses can prepare you for all of the significant or even life threatening conditions and defects that could be present in the field.

 An inspector who fails to recognize such defects is guilty of failure to meet the exacting standards of professional services. Worse, an error may result in catastrophic financial loss or even death.

CAHI®, specifies a combination of experience, training, and field work.

 CAHI® Certification requires a number of qualification "points" which are made up of education, experience, and field work, a minimum number of fee-paid inspections and written reports which meet CAHI® Standards of Practice. (subject to audit.)

 In addition, further educational requirements are necessary to qualify for practice under the logo of the Canadian Association of Home Inspectors CAHI®.

 CAHI® founders recognized that a combination of formal training and hands on experience would produce the best field performance for the profession.

 For that reason they did not limit certification to professional engineers, nor licensed heating contractors or house builders. Rather, a combination of these types of backgrounds produces the best informed practitioner. This cross-training among professions, an activity which is continued through CAHI® Conferences and Seminars have been instrumental in producing well qualified professional inspectors. It has also led to CAHI®'s role as the Canadian certifying and training association for the profession, and to recognition of CAHI® in that role by federal and provincial authorities as well as by allied professional associations.

 Inspectors lacking exposure to more disciplined and formal training are at extra risk for having difficulty distinguishing between arm-waving opinion and well researched authoritative sources of information. This is a critical distinction if you are to practice as a qualified professional, rather than simply as a generic business operator.

 The CAHI® in Alberta has recognized that and have in cooperation with SAIT designed specific courses to ensure its members are above the crowd and true professionals.

 COMPLETION OF ALBERTA SAFETY CODE COURSES.

 Part 9 Term 1

 Part 9 Term 2

 COMPLETION OF THE FOLLOWING CAHI® PRESCRIBED COURSES.

 CAHI® - Electrical course.

 CAHI® - Mechanical course.

 CAHI® - Defect Recognition course. Satisfactory completion of the CAHI® certification exams.

 Have met the CAHI® requirements set for experience.

 There are 3 categories for membership:

 Member:

 Certified Members have achieved all required certification including a series of examinations and have meet the experience requirements. They must attend at least 20 hours of educational seminars each year. They must be active in the inspection profession.

 Associate:

 Associates have met all the requirements for Certified Member status except the experience factor but they are working toward that.

 Applicant:

 Applicants have made a substantial investment and commitment to professionalism and are working on their qualifications for Associate status.

College-level formal education, possibly including engineering, architecture, construction management.

 High skill level in clear written and oral communication.

 Hands-on experience in all aspects of residential construction, both new and repair or renovation work.

 Familiarity with building, electrical and plumbing codes.

 Intimate familiarity with good construction practices for every major residential construction topic in depth and in detail.

 Familiarity with computers and word processing.

 Financial strength to support not only living while training, but to self-insure against likely errors and omissions in inspections and reports.

 Familiarity with real estate practices, sales, legal and marketing issues.

 TOUGH WORK.

 While the business looks easy, we can assure you that it is not. You will find it to be extremely demanding both physically and emotionally.

 As for the physical aspects, when you find yourself inspectiong a 125 degrees F. attic while inhaling insulation fibers and pesticides, you will ask yourself "Why did I ever get into this business?"

 As for the emotional aspects you are immersing yourself in a transaction that has extremely important financial and emotional implications for all parties involved.

 You may often be the bearer of bad news.

You may be called a liar and accused of all forms of misdeeds.

 You may also find yourself laying awake nights worrying about being sued.

 Problems both real and imaginary are the nature of this business.

 Your inspection and report may have created these problems.

 If you are trained, experienced, competent and expert, your inspection and report will help avoid some of these problems, but not all of them.

 You may find that your job is not always over once you deliver the report.

 You may receive many additional phone calls regarding your inspection and spend countless hours answering questions and explaining your findings.

 The basics of getting into this profession are getting experience and education and having the financial depth to start a business.

 EDUCATION.

 CAHI® conducts annual and semi-annual professional education conferences, as well as sponsoring seminars held by provincial association in various Provinces.

 They are generally designed to keep the inspector on his toes and provide an opportunity for him to attain the mandatory 20 educational hours required every 12 months.

 In Alberta, some of the technical colleges are now offering the recommended courses and the CAHI® will provide the Defect Recognition course and some of the on-site training via the help of experienced inspectors.

 Beware of some "Inspection Schools" that promise far more than they deliver. Some make false claims such as being endorsed by the National Home Study Council and other organizations and government bodies.

 Some low value courses include much course material taken from other previously prepared courses in architecture, real estate and blueprint reading, which are nice backgrounds but mostly irrelevant.

 Some of these courses have very little content that actually includes the key information that home inspectors need to know.

 CHOOSING EDUCATION COURSES.

 Has the course been qualified for CAHI®'s continuing educational requirements, (membership renewal credits, abbreviated currently as MRC's?)

 What are you getting?

 If the course costs $4000, and includes $1500 worth of computer hardware and software, and has 3/4 of its content borrowed from architecture and blueprint reading and the majority of the training focused on "how to market", how much actual home inspection problem recognition training could possibly have been included?

 If you have the required prerequisites to join the CAHI® as an applicant and the tenacity to complete the required training, you will in time become a professional certified member of CAHI®.

 EXPERIENCE.

 Although some inspection companies in your proposed marketing area might be reluctant to compete with you and share their knowledge, most CAHI® professionals, locally or in other areas may take you along on a few inspections. Some may charge a fee for this assistance.

 FRANCHISE OPERATIONS.

 Several major inspection franchise companies make it easier for a novice to get into business.

 Some offer good training.

 Some are mostly marketing their canned report forms, document, and programs.

Be aware that such companies teach "their way" of inspecting as if they were the "only" way to proceed. It certainly is not the only way to perform inspections and measured by long-term success in avoiding errors and omissions, and disputes, may be a poor performer.

 However, a quality franchise operation often offers the most support in training and marketing and will be of particular use to new entrants who have the least experience in construction and business.

 Soon this will have no relevance in Alberta. All inspectors must meet a pre-set professional standard.

 CREDENTIALS.

 The best credential in the home inspection profession is membership in the Canadian Association of Home Inspectors.

 CAHI® Members are widely recognized as the best. The road to membership involves experience and testing.

 Anyone interested in the business should become a CAHI® Applicants as early as possible.

For information, in Calgary, call (403) 248-6893,

 Outside of Calgary, call 1-800-351-9993.

 This applies for residents of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba only.

Other provinces have similar contact numbers.

 In BC. call 1-800-610-5665,

In Ontario call 1-416-483-3535,

 In Quebec call 514-453-3429,

In the Maritimes call 506-854-4001

 GETTING STARTED.

 Before even attempting to start a business of any kind, you need to have a financial depth to get it off the ground. According to recent surveys, failures of small businesses is 65% in their first year. Most of them were under-capitalized.

 As a minimum, you will need a reliable vehicle, a computer and $25,000 in working capital. This is a conservative figure and could be a lot higher, depending on your market area and your ability to sell your product.

 Do not think for a minute that revenue in a service business is all profit. If you do, you will become a bankruptcy statistic. Overhead costs will run close to 50% or more of cross income, like it or not.

 LIABILITY.

 Home inspection is a very risky business.

 Your Customer's expectations will be very high.

 In order to survive, you will need to be very good and very careful.

 Sharing ideas and experiences with others in the business helps, but you must know what you are doing and consistently do it well.

 You very well may find yourself involved in a lawsuit even though you were not at fault. While you may be able to prove that you are not at fault, legal costs may run into the thousands.

 OBTAINING MORE INFORMATION.

 If you decide to proceed, consider membership in the CAHI®. The local camaraderie and exchange of ideas can be extremely valuable in keeping your business going. Once you are accepted as an applicant you can work your way up to become a certified member and in time a Registered Home Inspector with the designation of RHI.

 Your best source of information about professional status and how to proceed is by taking this giant step and paying the fee to join the Canadian Association of Home Inspectors, CAHI®.

 The road is tough, but it will bring you professional status and recognition in Alberta and all across Canada..

 Part of this document was created by Dan Friedman and Mark Cramer. The original text version can be found at

it would be well worth your while to visit there also particularly if you will be practicing in the US. If you follow that link a world of information related to Home Inspections will open up to you regardles of where you live.