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A home inspector inspects a crawlspace of a house with a digital inspection camera or snake camera.
Question: Have there been any recent changes to the status of home inspectors in Manitoba? Is licensing of home inspectors on the near horizon for our province?
Answer: Over the years, I have periodically updated readers on the ongoing saga of the self-regulated industry of private home inspectors in much of Canada, but little has changed for a couple of years. Recent changes in other provinces have prompted me to pose this question once again and keep readers apprised of what is going on across the country and at home.
As far as Manitoba is concerned, the situation relating to government regulation or licensing of private home inspectors is status quo. A couple of years ago, the former NDP government was taking a serious look at beginning the licensing process, following similar actions in B.C. and Alberta. The government went as far as doing preliminary research through the Manitoba Securities Commission to start the process. Suggestions were made that were likely to lead to a committee of stakeholders being formed to look at possible licensing. Unfortunately, various bills were held up in the legislature and the priorities shifted away from our industry. Since an election was looming, no further advancements were seen.
A couple of recent developments in other provinces have brought the subject of licensing back into the news. The Ontario government recently announced that it was going to be licensing home inspectors in the near future. While there is longstanding legislation in that province regarding home inspectors, it is minimal in scope. The current situation allows the CAHPI chapter, Ontario Association of Home Inspectors (OAHI or CAHPI-ON) to use the official designation of RHI (Registered Home Inspector) for members that have met certain criteria. The RHI designation is also used by other CAHPI provincial associations for the highest level of membership qualification, but there is no similar legislation elsewhere. While RHI is the benchmark consumers should look for when hiring a home inspector, it is only legally recognized in our neighbour to the east.
The announcement made by the Ontario Minister of Government and Consumer Services last month follows the lead of similar initiatives in B.C. and Alberta. Those two provinces are currently the only ones where consumers can look for private home inspectors who are licensed. While little has changed from the initial licensing requirements in both areas, some amendments were introduced in British Columbia at the beginning of September. While most of these will have little effect on consumers, one major initiative may have consequences for the inspectors, as well as the sustainability of the various inspector associations themselves.
After reading the B.C. Government news release and documents outlining the changes, I was initially surprised at one major change. Home inspectors in B.C. no longer have to belong to an association of home inspectors. Previously, there were several groups or associations that were given status for licensing. The province allowed these bodies to establish their own criteria for evaluation of their members. While there were some mandatory components set out by the government to be included in each program, other methods of testing, exams, and ongoing education were left up to the individual groups. While the highest standards were typically held by two of these organizations, CAHPI-BC and ASTTBC, other fringe organizations were also allowed to test inspectors’ competency and approve them for licenses.
The inherent problem with the initial model in B.C. was that despite elimination of totally independent inspectors that had no means of proving their knowledge or competency for doing their job, there were no consistent standards for evaluation of these criteria amongst the difference groups charged with this task. Now, the powers that be may have taken the path of least resistance and eliminated the need for these inspector associations altogether. Rather than choose one association to become the testing and licensing body, they have decided to removal all of them from the equation.
All inspectors that have met the initial criteria previous to Sept. 1 will be grandfathered with their licences. Newer inspectors that wish to practice in B.C. will have to go through a newly prescribed mentoring process with highly experienced, licensed inspectors. While this process appears to have been left somewhat to the discretion of the established inspectors, there are some mandatory elements. I personally find these changes surprising, and think they may be a slap in the face to all of the inspector associations in B.C. because they could not get along well enough to lobby for a single regulatory body. This may only be my own observation, but the recent voluntary withdrawal from CAHPI of the former CAHPI-BC may be a case in point.
As for Ontario’s upcoming legislative changes, little is currently known about the format they will adopt. But Alberta’s licensing requirements were similar to B.C.’s, with several strong distinctions. Both included a requirement for inspectors to have a minimum amount of professional liability insurance and, now, B.C. inspectors are forbidden from including a limitation of liability clause or time limits for claims against inspectors in their contract for services. I think this mirrors what was originally set out in the Alberta licensing requirements, but it has been a while since I reviewed those documents. This may be the most important point for consumers, as most standard contracts in the rest of the country include these limitations.
Changes to recent home inspector licensing requirements in British Columbia, and announcements for pending legislation in Ontario show that we may soon be mostly surrounded by neighbouring Provinces with licensed inspectors. Time will tell whether our newly elected PC government makes this a priority in Manitoba, as well.
Ari Marantz is the owner of Trained Eye Home Inspection Ltd. and the past president of the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors — Manitoba (cahpi.mb.ca). Questions can be emailed to the address below. Ari can be reached at 204-291-5358 or you can check out his website at trainedeye.ca.
trainedeye@iname.com
