Electrical Equipment: What is it and Who?s Responsible for it? -
A Primer on Electrical Equipment Ownership and Maintenance Responsibilities for
Inspectors
(Available Fall of 2008)
We have been experiencing some tough
times over the past year and a half or so. I am not going to sugar coat
the situation. Still, I remain optimistic. The real estate market
has never in the history of the US or Canada stayed down for long. It
always rebounds. Home inspection is going to have a greater role than ever
in the real estate transaction process. Buyers and lenders alike are going
to be much more cautious for a while to come. It will take some time for
the sting of recent events to go away. Home inspectors bring to the
process a valuable service to help protect the interests of all who are
involved.
For those of you who are thinking about
giving up, I know how you feel. I've been to that point many times.
I started MSI (BestInspectors.Net) in the Summer of 1992. MSI has been at
death's door more than once over the past 16 years.
Each time I come back, I come back
stronger.There are times when I feel that everything I
have ever learned about business or life I've had to learn the hard way.That's OK though.At least I've learned.Some people never learn!
A few years ago a song that came out
that for me had the right message at the right time. Even though it was
not a song that would normally appeal to someone of my generation, it became one
of my favorites because of the message it delivered. I was glad it was
popular among the younger folks because if they heard it from their parents,
they would not have listened.
Hundreds of inspectors have told me in
recent months that they feel beaten up and knocked down. My response is
always the same. There is no shame in being knocked down. There is
only shame in not getting back up!
Lately, as I have been talking to
inspectors I have thought about this song. I found a video with the
lyrics. Take a few minutes and watch the video ...
This Month's Free Online Class:
Inspection Business Opportunities
This month we will look at alternative sources of business and different types
of inspections you can do to stay busy during slow periods. We will also
talk about how to price and conduct different types of inspections. There
is a lot of inspection work out there. You just need to know where to find
it.
By George Wells, BSEE,
MBA, CMI MSI
International, Inc.
When:
Tuesday 06 January 2009, 8:30 pm,
EST (7:30 pm CST, 6:30 pm MST, 5:30 pm PST)
Log in to the Live Chat area by clicking on the
link in the upper right corner
I have had many requests in recent months to explore
alternatives to the CMI Forum. This month we are going to try
Skype. It is free and very easy to
setup and to use.
We will be using Skype's conferencing feature. I
will initiate the conference. In order to participate, you will need to
have Skype installed and will need a free Skype account. Also, you will
need to add me to your contact list. Use
george@msi.ms as my contact e-mail.
This is our first time using Skype so it will be a
learning experience for most of us. Skype conferencing is limited to 25
participants. We usually have around 20 so the limit should not be a
problem. However, unlike the CMI Forum, I don't think you will be able to
join us once the session is in progress. Please be ready to go at 8:30 pm
EST (5:30 pm PST).
The topic is using the Internet to
promote your business.
This will be an informal class so feel free to take the discussion in different
directions (as long as we stay on Internet selling and marketing, it will be
OK).
Continuing Education Credits
The class is approved for TWO continuing
education hours for InterNACHI, CMI, and NAAAI.
General Information
Participation is free and open to
everyone. The class is sponsored by CMI but you do not need to be a CMI to
participate.
The class will be conducted through the
CMI Forum . The class is scheduled to last for 120 minutes but I will try
to stay as long as needed to answer everyone's questions.
If you have not participated in our live
interactive classes, you will need to sign up in advance for access. It
does not cost anything to sign-up and it only takes a couple of minutes.
You should sign-up at least an hour or two before the class because you will
need to reply to a confirmation e-mail to get access to the forum.
You only need to do this once. In future classes, you will only need to
sign in using your username and password.
The class uses sound so you should also
make sure that your sound is working before the class starts. I will log
in early to help anyone who needs help getting their sound working. If you
use a pop-up blocker, you will need to turn of the pop-up blocker during the
class. Pop-up blockers interfere with the sound broadcast.
The way the course works is you type
your questions in the text chat box. I will audibly repeat the question
that I am answering so everyone knows which question we are on. I try to
handle the questions in order but sometimes there are several related questions
that I may answer out of the sequence so that we can complete one topic before
going on to the next topic. I will try to answer all your questions.
I hope to see you in class! George
Wells
Important Information
If you have not pre-registered
for access to the Forum, please register here:
Turn off your pop-up blockers. you will not have sound
if you have pop-up blockers turned on.
Log in using MS Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 2.
Make sure your Java is up to date.
Help Others
It is a big help to me and to everyone when
participants help each other with technical difficulties. I have had
requests for help with turning off MSN and AOL pop-up blockers. I do not
use AOL or MSN so I can't help. If anyone uses either of these systems as
your web browser and can help others, I am sure they will appreciate your help.
This course is
approved for 4 Continuing Education Hours for first time participants who also
read the offline course materials in advance.
The course is
approved for 2 Continuing Education Hours for all participants. Everyone
is encouraged to attend the session if you have attended a previous session of
CMI39420. No two classes are alike. The outline for the course is
the same but each class is different because we have different participants and
different questions each time.
Advance
registration requested
Note to Participants:
You must log-in using your real first and
last name to be able to participate and to earn continuing education credit.
George Wells, author of the books "Conflict and Labor Unions", How to Write a
Better Home Inspection Report", and Pricing Concepts and Strategies - A Guide
for Home Inspectors" has more than 20 years experience as an inspector, business
owner, business consultant and engineering manager. He also worked as an
electrician for nearly 15 years before earning his engineering degree.
FREE ELECTRICAL COURSE
Approved for Four Hours of InterNACHI, CMI, MSI, and CFI continuing education
The course focuses on identifying the common
causes of electrical fires, explosions, or electrocution hazards. You will
learn which parts of an electrical system are most important to inspect and how
to inspect them. Identifying and diagnosing electrical problems is not as
much about what you can see as it is about what you cannot see.
You will learn how to evaluate an electrical
system based what you can see without disassembling anything. You will
also learn why you may sometimes get false readings from electrical testers and
what to do about it. You will learn how to properly perform the tests that
will tell what you need to know about an electrical system.
Job Outlook for
Home Inspectors according to the United Sates Department of
Labor
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Employment change.
Employment of construction and building inspectors is
expected to grow by 18 percent over the 2006-2016 decade,
which is
faster than the average for all occupations. Concern for
public safety and a desire for improvement in the quality of
construction should continue to stimulate demand for
construction and building inspectors in government as well
as in firms specializing in architectural, engineering, and
related services. As the result of new technology such as
building information modeling (BIM), the availability of a
richer set of buildings data in a more timely and
transparent manner will make it easier to conduct plan
reviews. This will lead to more time and resources spent on
inspections. In addition, the growing focus on natural and
manmade disasters is increasing the level of interest in and
need for qualified inspectors. Issues such as green and
sustainable design are new areas of focus that will also
drive the demand for construction and building inspectors.
The routine practice of obtaining home inspections
is a relatively recent development, causing employment of home
inspectors to increase rapidly. Although employment of home
inspectors is expected to continue to increase, the attention given to
this specialty, combined with the desire of some construction workers to
move into less strenuous and potentially higher paying work, may result
in reduced growth of home inspectors in some areas. In addition,
increasing State regulations are starting to limit entry into the
specialty only to those who have a given level of previous experience
and are certified.
Job prospects.
Inspectors are involved in all phases of construction, including
maintenance and repair work, and are therefore less likely to lose their
jobs when new construction slows during recessions. Those who are
self-employed, such as home inspectors, are more likely to be affected
by economic downturns or fluctuations in the real estate market.
However, those with a thorough knowledge of construction practices and
skills in areas such as reading and evaluating blueprints and plans will
be better off. Inspectors with previous related experience in
construction, a postsecondary degree, and engineering or architectural
training will have the best prospects. In addition to openings stemming
from the expected employment growth, some job openings will arise from
the need to replace inspectors who transfer to other occupations or
leave the labor force.
