Home Inspection Regulations in Ontario
In the fall of 2012 the Ministry of Consumer Services committed to meeting with Home Inspector Associations, consumers and representatives from the Real Estate sector to strive to establish minimum qualifications for the Home Inspection Industry. The stated goals of the Ministry of Consumer Services was to create more transparency in the Home Inspection profession, Ensure a minimum standard of training for home inspectors, make home inspections more consistent and improve consumer protection.
The Ontario Ministry of Consumer Services is taking this position as Alberta and British Columbia already have set minimum qualifications for Home Inspectors and 32 States in the U.S. have regulations in place. The stated goal of the Ontario government is to Protect Consumers, Raise the Professionalism of the Home Inspection Industry and Raise consumer awareness about home inspections.
In consultation with some of the larger Home Inspection Companies (Including the famous Mike Homes Inspections) the Ministry of Consumer Services has come up with four areas where they will develop ideas on the key components:
Technical – This area will define what a Home Inspection is, what the scope of the inspection will entail and set Standards of Practice for specific areas of the Home Inspection.
Professional – Home Inspectors will have to obtain a recognized level or education and/or level or experience to do business as a home inspector in Ontario. There will be designations, specializations and labour mobility controls set up for the profession of home inspector.
Consumer Protection – The Ministry of Consumer services is proposing to raise Consumer Awareness about Home Inspections while ensuring that there is transparency and consistency of both standards and qualifications. Set a level of ethical standards to which every home inspector will be held accountable and set in place financial protection in the form of insurance or warranties.
Canada Mortgage and Housing completed a study on the feasibility of Mandatory Home Inspections on re-sale homes in Ontario. One of the problems was that if put into effect there would not be enough trained home inspectors to perform the required inspections. Most everyone contacted as part of this study thought the sooner the inspection was carried out on the property the better. One of the major issues was that the home inspection could be used to re-negotiate the selling price. Standardized training, testing and qualifications for all home inspectors would have to be legislated. Industry self-regulation would produce better qualified and certified home inspectors, although there would still be those offering services with minimal qualifications.
With the upcoming implications to the Home Inspection Profession there could also be some repercussions to the Real Estate industry. Real Estate agents would have to ensure property is inspected by a Home Inspection Professional who is licensed and would be more responsible in ensuring their clients understood the results of their home inspection. The Ontario courts have already heal a Realtor accountable in part for a property transaction where the client did not fully understand the implications of deficiencies found during the home inspection.
The clear cut winner however this eventually plays out will be the consumer. Home buyers will be assured that when hiring a Professional Home Inspector that they will be hiring someone who has a minimum level or experience and education plus will be following a standardized set of rules and standards of practice. Not all Home Inspectors will be happy as this is a political process and most of the invited stakeholders will be trying to steer the Ministry in a direction that favors their own particular business model. Every new business model has its hiccups at the beginning, but trial and error (the governments way of doing business), will eventually make it a level playing field for everyone.