CARL PUCCI
Education needed

Homebuyers who have hired an inspector in Massachusetts and in other states in recent years were likely to encounter a middle-aged white man.

That’s because the overwhelming majority of inspectors are white males, and most of them are between the ages of 42 and 65, according to the recently released results of a nationwide survey by the American Society of Home Inspectors.

A distinct profile of today’s home inspector emerged from the survey: 98 percent of home inspectors who responded to the survey were men and 93 percent described themselves as white or Caucasian. The average age of inspectors is 49 years old.

Some leaders in the industry are trying to change that image to better reflect the clients they serve. Braintree-based Tiger Home Inspection, an independently owned home inspection company that operates in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, has been trying to attract a more diverse pool of inspectors for several years.

Four years ago, the company established a 12-week training program that introduces students to the home inspection business. The company runs the program at Bunker Hill Community College and Wentworth Institute of Technology and plans to expand to two other Greater Boston-area colleges this winter, according to company President Carl Pucci.

“We saw a need for education, to do training and get people interested in the home inspection industry,” he said. “We are trying to attract a person who wants to make this a career, as opposed to something to retire into.”

Of Tiger’s 50 inspectors, one is a woman, two are Hispanic and at least four speak Spanish.

The key to attracting men and women of different ages and backgrounds into the home inspection field, is making the public aware that home inspection can be a full-time profession, said Pucci.

“It started out as a small cottage industry 30 years ago, and it’s grown into a business,” Pucci said.

‘Better Cross-Section’
The ASHI survey, conducted online in July and August of this year, gathered general demographics and measured home inspectors’ business activities during 2004.

Some 2,483 home inspectors participated in the 2005 study, a larger response rate than in the previous two ASHI surveys, according to ASHI President Don Norman.

The survey drew responses from both ASHI members and nonmembers.

“It was a much better cross-section of inspectors in the profession,” said Norman, an inspector in St. Louis, Mo.

Eight out of 10 home inspectors reported that they considered home inspection their full-time profession, having an average of eight years of experience. Nearly 69 percent of inspectors said they had only one inspector working from their location, up from 64 percent in 2002. Norman attributes that increase to the fact that more people are getting into the business.

“As new inspectors, they are likely to be a one- or two-person operation,” said Norman, who noted that people are attracted to the business because they see it “as a way to make money fast.”

“And I think it’s a relatively easy business to get into,” he said. “It’s not cost-intensive to get started.”

More than half of the respondents said they were regulated or licensed by a state agency to practice home inspection. In the last few years, there has been a push across the country to license inspectors. More than 31 states have some form of regulation, said Norman.

A home inspector licensing law was passed in Massachusetts four years ago. Under the law, inspectors must attend approved training courses and pass a licensing test. Inspectors also are required to carry at least $250,000 in errors-and-omissions, or professional liability, insurance.

Nearly a third of inspectors who responded to the ASHI survey said they don’t carry errors-and-omissions insurance, an increase from the 2002 survey when 27 percent of respondents said they didn’t carry such insurance.

Norman said it’s not a surprise that so many inspectors don’t carry errors-and-omissions insurance because it can be quite expensive, particularly for inspectors just starting out in the business.

According to Norman, most states do not require inspectors to purchase such insurance.

“It’s fairly rare that states require it,” he said. “Almost all require general liability insurance, but not necessarily errors-and-omissions insurance.”

Norman said ASHI suggests that its members buy errors-and-omissions insurance because it makes “good business sense.”

Pucci, of Tiger Home Inspection, said rising insurance rates have been a big concern in Massachusetts and Connecticut, where inspectors are required to carry errors-and-omissions insurance. Premiums for such insurance can run anywhere from $4,000 up to $8,000 a year, said Pucci, and inspectors who’ve had two or three claims are likely to have trouble retaining insurance coverage.

To curb rising insurance rates, industry leaders in the state have pushed lawmakers to shorten the statute of limitations for filing claims against inspectors after a report is issued from three years to one year.

According to the survey, today’s home inspectors are earning more money. The survey found that inspectors’ average annual gross income has grown 7 percent to almost $76,000 from $71,000 in 2002.

The ASHI survey also showed that the average fee for a complete residential inspection is $318, up 10 percent from 2002.

Most inspectors do not provide tests for termites or other wood-destroying pests, mold, lead pain, carbon monoxide or water quality as part of their inspections.

But most inspectors in the eastern part of the country – including Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire and New York – inspect for termites, radon, and water quality for an additional fee.

In fact, more than half of inspectors in the East said they perform inspections for termites or other wood-destroying organisms for an additional fee, compared to just 33 percent in the North Central part of the country, 26 percent in the South Central region, 20 percent in Southern states on the East Coast and 9 percent in the West.

Norman said inspectors in areas like the West and Southwest where slab construction is common may be reluctant to perform termite inspections because it’s more difficult to inspect homes with slab construction for wood-destroying pests. Also, in some states termite inspectors are required to be licensed, according to Norman, so home inspectors may not be able to conduct tests for termites.

Inspectors at Tiger Home Inspection look for termites and other wood-boring insects as part of a typical inspection, which costs $315 for an eight-room home. “We believe it is part of our structural home inspection, so we do not charge extra for it,” Pucci said.

Pucci theorized that one reason more inspectors in the East do termite inspections is because the home inspection business is older in New England, and inspectors in the region have always checked for the presence of termites during inspections.

Tiger Home Inspection charges an additional fee for radon and water quality tests, which are sent to labs to be reviewed.