Home inspectors seek regulation for profession

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Oct 1, 1999 by Janie Hainey The Journal Record

Home inspectors are again coming to the Legislature in an effort to have their profession regulated.

This time, they want to have home inspectors licensed and have the licensing agency a part of the Department of Health.

Frank Pierce, a professional engineer and past president of the Oklahoma Residential and Commercial Inspection Association, told a Senate committee Thursday that many reputable home inspectors are members of that group, which requires that members abide by a code of ethics and standards for the practice of their trade.

Among the ethical standards established by the association, he said, is a prohibition against making repairs on any deficiency the inspector has found during an inspection.

"We're there to warn a buyer of a problem," Pierce said. "We're not there to make repairs. In fact, we prohibit it."

He said the association's principal concern regarding the issue of licensing is that the agency charged with oversight of the program should not have a conflict of interest. For that reason, he said the program should be placed with the health department, rather than the Real Estate Commission.

"Do not have the chicken guarding the hen house," Pierce said, adding that the health department already is the licensing agency for many building trades, such as plumbing and heating and air.

He made other recommendations for legislation addressing the issue, including continuing education requirements for home inspectors and the prohibition against making an inspection, then making repairs on the same structure.

Sen. Robert Milacek, R-Waukomis, who chairs the Special Senate Interim Committee on Licensing of Home Inspectors, which is studying the issue, said that, under current law, a person can become a home inspector simply by holding oneself out to be an inspector.

Pierce said that, although most home inspectors are trustworthy, current law allows for abuse. If someone performing an inspection has expertise in a certain building trade, he said, some hazards might be ignored in favor of pointing out deficiencies the inspector can repair. There also could be instances in which bogus faults were found just to get a repair job, he said.

Richard Boyd, with the Association of Heating and Cooling Inspectors, said any legislation should provide an exemption, however, for an inspector repairing a fault if the inspector is licensed in that area.

Lisa Yates, with the Oklahoma Association of Realtors, said that group supports enactment of licensing and continuing education requirements. And the association does not care what agency has administrative responsibility, she added, but would like the advisory panel to include representation for Realtors.

Pierce said his association is proposing that the membership include a Realtor but that the group wants to ensure that, in any legislation addressing the issue, it is specified that a real estate contract does not control inspections.

Normally, he said, an inspector sees neither the contract nor the disclosure statement.

"How can we know what the limitations on the inspection are?" Pierce asked.

But Yates said too broad an inspection could reveal problems that are not addressed by the contract. In some cases, she said, a contract will place a limit on the amount the seller will spend on repairs but an overzealous inspector could find an excessive number of "cosmetic" repairs that need to be made. In that case, she said, the volume of repairs listed might scare the buyer away, even if the cost of the repairs was relatively minor.

Sen. Dick Wilkerson, D-Atwood, said he does not understand how an inspector could be considered overzealous.

"At least the buyer is making an informed decision," he said.

Wilkerson also said that, instead of licensing, lawmakers might look at certification of inspectors. That, he said, would still imply reliability for buyers and sellers without creating an unintended burden.

"I'm not sure licensing is superior to some sort of professional standard," the lawmaker said.

Lawmakers tried to deal with the issue during the final days of this year's legislative session, in a bill designed to address problems associated with rebuilding after the May 3 tornado.

Senate Bill 188, by Sen. Lewis Long Jr., D-Glenpool, and Rep. Lloyd L. Fields, D-McAlester, would have required the commissioner of health, within a year of an emergency declaration in response to a disaster involving the destruction of dwelling units, to issue one- year, nonrenewable temporary journeyman plumber and electrician and mechanical journeyman licenses in certain instances. That language was included in several other bills and was finally enacted in SB 379, by Sen. Jim Maddox, D-Lawton, and Rep. Ron Kirby, D-Lawton.

Other provisions in SB 188, however, would have provided for a home inspectors licensing act and created a five-member Committee of Home Inspectors, appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate. The act would be administered by the health department.

That was not the beginning of the movement, however. There have been two previous efforts, in 1995 and 1996.