Washington State Licensed Home Inspectors #201 and #448.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LICENSING

Does a home inspector have to be licensed?  A simple enough question that surprisingly has no simple answer.  The most accurate answer is very scary and would have to be: no, yes, and soon. 

Home inspectors are totally unregulated.  The street sweeper, door-to-door salesman or car washer of last year may be a home inspector today.  The field is wide open and anybody with a clipboard can be a home inspector.  Although there are very competent and qualified home inspectors, the industry has become a haven for failed builders or other contractors and quick-buck artists assisted by bogus “certifying” organizations.  You can usually – but not always - spot them by their prices.

If an inspector discusses or reports on wood destroying organisms (wdo’s) or the conditions that could attract such critters, some, including the Wa State Department of Agriculture, say that an inspector is required to have a State Pest Inspector (SPI) license – but there are many inspectors who successfully skirt the rule.   

However, Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 6606 passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor in March of 2008 (with an effective date of 06/12/08) http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=6606&year=2007 requires all rookie home inspectors to be licensed by September 1, 2009, with grandfathering provisions for (all but the newest experienced inspectors) eliminating the experience requirement and extending the license date to July 1, 2010.  6606 has many provisions that are now required under state law (RCW) but left many more rules to be created by the director of licensing with guidance from the Washington State Home Inspector Advisory Licensing Board that will come under the umbrella of Washington Administrative Code (WAC).

 On July 15, Governor  Gregoire  appointed the owner of this firm – Bruce (MacK) MacKintosh and six others to the Washington State Home Inspector Advisory Licensing Board.  At the first meeting of the Board on August 7th, MacK was unanimously elected Chair of this body.

Accessing http://www.dol.wa.gov/business/homeinspectors/ will provide information on the activities of the board.