Dennis Philps

As a Realtor interested in protecting the interests of my clients, I strongly recommend that every buyer have a home inspection conducted by a professional home inspector.  In one of the largest financial investments they will ever make, I want them to be certain that a qualified ‘third party’ will identify all the major issues they might face if they purchase the property.  Peace of mind one way or the other (My clients have walked away from a potential home purchase based on an unsatisfactory report!) should be an end result.

I have tried to steer my clients to inspectors from franchised companies who can demonstrate training and knowledge in home inspections together with ‘Errors and Omissions’ Insurance to cover my client in the event that the inspector misses something in his written report.  I am aware that one of these well-known company stepped in and paid a homeowner over $5000 when it was discovered that the acreage sewage system that they had paid to have inspected and was designated as ‘satisfactory’ was proven, upon possession, to be completely unsatisfactory!

Most of the inspectors I have worked with over the 17 years I have been in real estate have been qualified and helpful.  However, I can vividly remember two inspectors hired by my client with whom I was not acquainted (Believe it or not, there are at least 225 Home Inspection companies in the province).  One I had been warned about–he had a reputation of giving a failing grade to almost every home he inspected; true to form, he scared my clients my grossly over-inflating the cost of re-doing some minor depressions in the front landscaping to the point where they walked away from an otherwise reasonable house.

On another occasion, I met a home inspector who arrived at the house with a short-stepladder that prevented him from inspecting the roof (‘I’ll do a visual inspection,‘ he declared.  But with the flat roof, he had to go two houses away on the sidewalk to complete this unsatisfactory step).  This same inspector then told us, ‘This home does not meet current building codes.’    I then reminded him that the house was 30 years old and met the code at the time!

In order to protect the consumer, the Alberta Government has just announced that beginning on September 1, 2011, all home inspectors must be licensed by the provincial government.  Accordingly, all inspectors must have a degree, diploma or certificate in home inspection from an approved educational institution and must successfully complete a test inspection.  Conditional licenses valid until March 31, 2013 will be issued to those who are in the process of acquiring the necessary qualifications.  Qualified inspectors will be able to make recommendations on deficiencies they discover in a particular home such as recommending the potential buyer obtains expert opinion; they will not be permitted to estimate the cost of any repairs or improvements.

In a further step to protect home-buyers, home inspection companies must:

• Carry ‘Errors and Omissions’ Insurance
• Post a security deposit to cover consumers if the regulations are not followed
• Establish the specific parts of the home and property that are covered in the inspection
• Not include contract clauses to limit the liability of the home inspector