Massachusetts’ home inspection licensing law is one of the best in the nation, according to a leading industry group.
In a recent evaluation by the American Society of Home Inspectors, the Bay State ranks fifth out of 32 states that have laws regulating the home inspection industry.
“It ranks really high in several of the criteria that we value the most,” said Bob Kociolek, ASHI’s director of chapter relations and state affairs.
State regulations were evaluated based on 13 criteria, including education, examination, liability, and standards of practice. Massachusetts’ licensing law, which went into effect in 2001, established the Board of Registration of Home Inspectors to issue licenses and formulate industry standards.
The state’s regulations received high marks for its exam, experience requirements, and code of ethics. But the law has some weaknesses, according to ASHI, which gave it a lower rating for it educational requirements.
Kociolek said the state requires inspectors to pass a test that is developed according to psychometric standards, something that ASHI highly recommends. The exam tests inspectors on all an inspector is expected to know, he noted. States like Florida, for example, do not require home inspectors to take and pass an exam.
He added that Massachusetts has a good standard of practices and a code of ethics for inspectors that “guarantee the independence of inspectors.”
Carl Pucci, president of Braintree-based Tiger Home Inspection, said the state has the “most concise law.”
“It really outlines what a home inspector needs to do and by doing that, it really protects the public,” said Pucci.
The law’s only shortcoming is its educational requirements, according to Kociolek.
ASHI recommends a minimum of 80 hours of education for inspectors. The education may include classroom time, distance learning and field training. Under current Massachusetts law, there is no educational requirement for new inspectors, although Pucci said proposed regulatory changes – currently being reviewed by the state’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulations – would require inspectors to take 75 hours of courses.
In addition, although the state currently requires licensed inspectors to take 24 hours of continuing education courses over two years, a proposed regulatory change would reduce that requirement to 12 hours of continuing education over the same period.
“We were surprised at that. We thought they should increase those [continuing education] hours,” noted Pucci, who said his company offers a continuing education series for inspectors.
Massachusetts received a 3 – a poor rating – for its current continuing education requirements. ASHI requires 20 hours of continuing education credits per year for its members and recommends that continuing education be part of any regulation.
Overall, Massachusetts home inspection regulations scored a 104. The highest rankings went to Louisiana, which scored 113, followed by New Jersey with a 110 score, and Arizona with 107. At the bottom of the ASHI evaluation were California, Georgia, and North Dakota.
‘A Conflict of Interest’
Kociolek said one of the unique aspects of the Bay State regulation is that real estate agents cannot refer homebuyers to inspectors. Instead, they must direct them to a state list of licensed inspectors.
“A lot of our members think that’s a good thing because they’ve had experience with real estate professionals who recommend inspectors who won’t delay the sale of a house, or they claim they have in the past before the statute was passed,” he said. “They think that aspect guarantees the independence and integrity of home inspectors.”
Mike Atwell, vice president of the New England chapter of ASHI, said he thinks it is beneficial to prohibit agents from referring inspectors. He said there was a concern that agents representing sellers would direct consumers to inspectors that wouldn’t provide thorough inspections.
“The concern is that there would be a conflict of interest,” said Atwell, an inspector with J. May Home Inspections in Cambridge.
But Skip Kelley, who has been a home inspector in Massachusetts for 22 years, said that provision can hurt some inspectors’ business.
“We’re not being hampered, but there are those [inspectors] that are being hampered for the simple fact that you can’t carry on the relationships with referring parties,” said Kelley, a founder of ASHI’s Northern New England chapter. “It is not only taboo, but against the law to establish a relationship with the largest referring body in our profession.”
Unlike other states’ leaders, lawmakers in Massachusetts approved a statute that enabled regulations to be written by a separate board.
“What some states do is they put a lot of regulatory language in the statute and it becomes stagnant. It makes it difficult to make changes. Our regulations are much more flexible,” said Pucci.
ASHI recommends that states authorize a review by a neutral public agency to determine the need, costs, benefits and alternatives to proposed regulations before they are adopted. The association also recommends that state lawmakers evaluate whether laws as drafted are enforceable.
