SETTING THE BAR
Changes to home inspection standards to help
Homeowners are expected to benefit if the province goes ahead with changes to home inspections standards. Currently, anyone can say they’re a home inspector — not the best protection for consumers.
Anyone in Ontario can say they are a home inspector.
The province is looking to change that and will consult this fall with consumers, home inspector associations and representatives from the real estate industry on mandatory minimum qualifications for home inspectors.
“You are getting advice around what, for most people, will be the largest single investment and currently there are no set qualifications,” said Ken Whitehurst, executive director of the Consumers Council of Canada.
“Imagine if we did that around RRSPs and said there were no qualifications for evaluating an investment and yet far fewer people have an RRSP as an investment than have a home.”
Whitehurst said minimum qualifications for home inspectors would be a good start to protect consumers.
Consumers don’t know who is qualified, Whitehurst said. If something is missed, it may be years before it is apparent and consumers would have to try to take the home inspector to court.
Having mandatory requirements might help with another issue Whitehurst sees: finding a home inspector through a real estate agent. The agent may represent the seller and you want a home inspector who is going to protect the buyer, even if it means the deal falls through.
Donald Beneteau, a Windsor home inspector who is also vice-president of the Ontario Association of Home Inspectors, said he would welcome regulations or licensing only if it set a high standard. “I’ve heard of horror stories.” Beneteau said people can say they have been in home construction but if they did mostly drywall for 25 years does that qualify them to inspect for electrical, heating or structural issues? He said some people go online to get a home inspection certificate.
The association is self-regulating and has registered home inspectors with standards for training but not all home inspectors belong to the association. Its registered home inspectors have to have completed home inspection courses at recognized colleges, building code and defect recognition training, 200 inspections and they must also annually continue their education.
Consumer Services Minister Margarett Best, along with professional contractor Mike Holmes, announced earlier this week the province is looking at mandatory minimum qualifications for home inspectors to improve consistency, protect consumers and ensure a standard of training.
“This has been a long time coming. B.C. and Alberta are already on it,” said Holmes, who has a television show based on bad home inspections and is calling for Canadians to push for higher standards.
Bryan Leblanc, the minister’s communications director, said the ministry received just three written complaints last year but that doesn’t reflect the problem since complaints are going to other groups.
“The push came from all over the place,” Leblanc said.
The consultations should be done this year but it is too early to know when the ministry could be ready with mandatory requirements, he said.