Lots of people ask me, “How does Carson Dunlop use Horizon?” The answer is long because we use it many ways, and because we built it to meet our needs. We improve it regularly based on input from our customers, including our people who use Horizon every day.

In the office

Let me start with some of the ways we use Horizon in the office. We use 3 separate Horizon companies to manage our two home inspection businesses and our energy auditing business. Our people who book our appointments have 3 Horizon companies open on their computer all the time.

That may of interest to some, but most of you probably have only one company to worry about. Let’s look at things that way.

Our default screen is the Today view of the scheduler. That’s where see at a glance what openings we have. If we are fully booked today and tomorrow, the default is the day after tomorrow. Some wonder why we don’t use the Week view as the default screen. The reason is simple - we want to book inspections as soon as we can. An opening left unfilled at the end of today can never be recovered.  It is lost forever. An opening for the day after tomorrow may be filled tomorrow.

Besides, clients and agents want quick response, and we work hard to fill our schedule to give great customer service. We also use the Daily Map with the Scheduler to see where people are geographically. We like to minimize travel time and with several inspectors in the field, we try to make their lives efficient while taking good care of customers.

Next time we’ll look at booking an inspection.

Canada’s first licensing requirement for home inspectors has recently emerged in British Columbia. More than half of the states in the USA have some form of licensing for home inspectors. Is this licensing of home inspectors a good thing? In my opinion, Yes and No, but mostly No .

Let’s look at what we’re trying to accomplish with licensing. At the highest level, the argument for licensing is consumer protection. At a less noble level, some would say that licensing is a revenue source for government, a competitive edge for some practitioners or a political tool for empire builders.

Let’s stay at the high level. Consumers deserve protection from illegal and unfair business practices. That includes protection from paying for services delivered by unqualified practitioners. Three questions come to mind -

1. Are consumers being adequately protected now?

2. If not, who should provide the protection?

3. Does government licensing work?

1. Are consumers being adequately protected now?

There is no doubt that there are some consumers who are unhappy with their home inspection results. On the other hand, there is no doubt that there are some consumers are unhappy with virtually every product and service available. Are the numbers large enough to warrant licensing or some other type of regulation? We have not seen evidence of that in our market. In our discussion with provincial regulators, they have not indicated a level of consumer concern that would warrant licensing.

When it comes to unhappy clients, home inspection is particularly troublesome, because in our experience over 30 years, many dissatisfied customers had unrealistic expectations of their home inspector. One might argue that this is a communication failing on the part of the inspector - it is up to the inspector to define his or her scope of work. However, this is probably not a performance failing that suggests the need for regulation.

Who should provide the protection?

On the second question about who should provide the protection, there is a strong argument to say that if the profession can regulate itself, that frees the government from the burden of immersing itself an arena in which it has no expertise. Self-regulation has been a good solution in many professions. Does it fall to the home inspection profession to keep its house in order? That makes a lot of sense to me.

Coming back to consumer protection, if home inspectors are adequately insured for their errors and omissions, perhaps that is all that is required.

In Canada, a strong national certification program has been established, with a credible National Occupational Standards document created through a defendable, collaborative process.

3. Does government licensing work?

In some cases licensing probably works just fine. In other cases, we have seen licensing be little more than a fee that generates revenue for government. We have seen weak licensing that floods the market with unqualified practitioners. We have seen overly restrictive licensing that reduces the supply of home inspectors available for consumers. We have seen significant and sometimes dishonest posturing by groups with different interests as licensing is considered. We have seen the clumsy introduction of licensing, and many governments struggle with the issue of grandfathering. We have seen licensing that provides entitlement and opportunity for various market segments with respect to education and training, insurance and so on. In short, it is difficult to get licensing right.

With the possible exception of Texas, we have never seen licensing that provides what we consider a key element in education and certification. That is the concept of internship or apprenticeship. In our opinion, education delivered by classroom or distance education, including online, is essential and can be very good. However, there is no substitute for experience and practice. Every other profession - doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, accountants etc. have some form of internship. Building trades have apprenticeships. Why would home inspection not have something similar?

Summary

Looking at this, my impression is that there is not a strong immediate need for additional consumer protection in the professional home inspection world, and the argument for licensing is not compelling. Secondly, there are tools and a good foundation in place for meaningful self-regulation. Responsible work within the profession could provide reliable consumer protection at no cost to government or taxpayers. Improvements could be made, and if a strong self-regulatory model were in place, that would reduce the risk for the profession, consumers and government of costly and potentially ineffective licensing.

This is a call to the profession to build such a model. In Canada, the National Certification Authority is a great building block, but there is more work needed. When it comes to licensing, as my colleagues in British Columbia have told me throughout the process, “Be careful what you wish for.”

This is an interesting approach! Would you be able to recognize this in the field?

http://www.schneider-electric.ca/www/en/products/stab-lok/html/inserts.htm

At Carson Dunlop we are lucky to have a great technical team that keeps us up to date. That allows us to keep our education programs and our reporting systems (Horizon and the Home Reference Book) current for you.

Home inspectors are generally proud of their equipment.  They are often even more proud of their ability to use it effectively.  It not only hurts our self-image, but can destroy our credibility with clients and agents when things go wrong. Many of us have suffered while struggling to re-secure a balky furnace cover or electrical panel. But one of the greatest indignities of all is having your ladder fall down when you are up on the roof.  Yes, it has happened to me.  It was a windy day, and I was alone at the house.  I was using a medium-sized extension ladder, and failed to tie it off to the gutter.

The crash of the falling ladder was the first indication of a problem. There I was, stuck on the roof with no one at home and no client or agent to lend a hand.  I waited for about 15 minutes until I was able to catch the attention of a passerby on the street. They were kind enough to help, and polite enough not to laugh.

What did I learn? Tie off your ladder, especially on a windy day.

Here is a good website on ladder safety. http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/construction/falls/4ladders.html

Everyone likes to feel they are strong. Sometimes it gets us into trouble. Standing on the rear deck about 5 feet above grade, a new inspector and I were explaining to the client the importance of guardrails around a high deck like this. We spoke about how people often lean against railings and there can be a lot of force on them, especially during a party with lots of people and a little alcohol.

My associate grabbed the railing and applied some force – more than the railing could withstand, as a matter of fact. The railing gave way and he would have fallen after it, had the client and I not grabbed him. The point was made, but the damage was done. We were all a little shaken up.

It was very difficult to make the seller understand that the railing was unsafe and not our responsibility to replace. We ended up splitting the cost of replacement.

What was the weak link? In this case there were several, but the most significant was where the railing was (barely) secured to the house wall. We often can’t tell by looking where the problem may be.

What did we learn? Test progressively and carefully. Don’t put yourself in danger. Have you ever done anything like this at an inspection? Let me know.

Footnote: From an insurance standpoint, this is where Commercial General Liability insurance is useful. If you damage something at an inspection, you can be insured.

Here is an article from Newsweek that may be of interest to Canadians in these  uncertain times. Many professional home inspectors in Canada and the United States are struggling, and we look forward to a significant recovery where everyone can focus on, and be compensated appropriately for, providing incredible value to home buyers and homeowners throughout North America.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/183670

Good home inspectors train themselves not to make assumptions.  This applies not only to technical information, but to general business interactions as well.  I have learned through painful experience to take the time to know who I’m talking to at the beginning of an inspection.

On one inspection in the early days, I started enthusiastically and encouraged the person to accompany me as I went around the outside of the home. After about 10 minutes, the person realized I thought they were my client, and re-introduced himself as the seller! There isn’t much you can say at that point that looks professional or in control.

We now encourage our people to stop a few blocks away from the home, and read the work order carefully to make sure we know the client’s name and real estate agent’s name.  The listing agent’s name is typically on the sign on the front lawn. We often will not know the seller’s name, but if you know the other players, life becomes much easier. If in doubt, it’s much better to ask.

A good work order and scheduling system make keeping track of the players a little easier.

On a related note, it’s really great to be able to recognize who is calling in. We built this into our work order system in Horizon. Our agent database is tracked automatically in Horizon. When an agent calls, we select their name from our list, and are immediately told how many times that agent has worked with us, and the last time they worked with us, along with the address and client’s name. It makes it very easy for us to say, “By the way Joan, how did everything worked out on Maple Street work last month for the Armstrongs?” It’s part of great customer service and building relationships.

The newest version of the Ontario Electrical Safety Code will come into effect on May 1, 2009.

If you haven’t seen them already, you will soon start to see tamper-resistant electrical receptacles. These are a requirement of the new electrical code (residential appplications).

Tamper-proof receptacles can be identified by “TR” on the faceplate of the outlet.

Here is link to a site that shows how they work:

http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpSctDspRte.jsp?section=23899&minisite=10021

Here is how to identify them: Look  for TR between the hot and neutral holes of these outlets:

Let’s assume you have decided not to park in the driveway of the home you are inspecting – a good decision in our opinion. Here’s a terrific way to make this situation go wrong fast. Knock on the front door 5 to 10 minutes late (Home inspectors should never be late!!) and say, “I’m so sorry – I am never late for an inspection, but there is absolutely no place to park around here!” As the client digests this important new information, it’s probably safe to say the agent and seller will not be offering you water or coffee as do your inspection.

By the way, if I’m going to be late for an inspection or any appointment, I make sure to call and at least leave a message apologizing and advising when I will arrive. What do you do?

Parking your inspection vehicle should be a simple thing. But we have gotten into trouble with this a few times. When you arrive at a home there is often parking available in the driveway, and sometimes not a convenient spot on the street.

We suggest you not park in the driveway. Why? The client and real estate agent may be annoyed that they are not able to park there, or may park behind you, making a graceful exit at the end of the inspection difficult. Agents don’t like being interrupted to move their car when they are focused on getting the client to waive the home inspection clause in the offer, or getting ready to re-negotiate the sale based on your findings.

The seller may come home and not be able to get into their garage because you are in their way – not a great way to make a first impression, especially with someone who is a prospective client – sellers are often buying a home! It’s equally awkward if the seller is home and needs to get out of the garage while you are parked there.