Insurance corruption. Why hasn't the government licensed auto insurance appraisers?

Insurance companies are fond of taking kickbacks from there preferred body shops too.

One would have thought, that 'inspectors' would have been required to BE licensed/registered.
Somewhat BEHIND , as usual aren't they?

Ditto. All these years I thought they were licensed and registered by the government.

Yes I did also.

never assume, lots of people working out there in the trades who don't hold a license or hold one type of license and work on everything like hacks.

Agreed 100% Mike. That's one thing the new College of Trades will be trying to regulate.

College of trades is nothing but a money grab. It goes against all common decency of what skilled trades are about! Just like the fantasy that there is a skilled trade shortage.......... thats bullshit just ask anyone in the trades. The only shortage there is is of tradespeople holding two or more tickets that will work for 15 bucks an hour.

Exactly...this will be yet another bureaucracy grabbing more cash from Ontario taxpayers with no guarantees of any improvement of services. Trades can't be taught in a classroom, they're learned by on the job experience mentored by qualified journeymen. If the liability of home inspectors was not limited to the cost of their inspection, but to the actual costs incurred then the cost of insurance would weed out the idiots.

To that vein, how can anyone actually expect a $300 home inspection to actually to really give them an accurate analysis of a house? There are home inspectors that charge $1200 that actually stand behind their reports, but your average homebuyer balks at paying that much.

I imagine it is the same theory that says if you are buying a used car then the money spent on a mechanics inspection would be prudent and it could save your life let alone the money (Sorry forgot this part) but again many do not even want to spend the money for the safety cert and will find a "deal" from the same guy who gets parts rom the midnight auto supply

you are right rob . the college of trades is nothing but a money grab pure and simple.

Actually Rob, I was one of the trades for many, many years up until retirement. At first I was very skeptical about the college until I did some research. I agree 100% with what you say about the skilled trades shortage fantasy. The college of trades is trying to keep the journeyman to apprentice ratio as it is but some contractors and some in government are trying to flood the market with apprentices to drive down the wages of trades. The more people competing for the same job, the lower you can pay. This of course will drive the really good tradesmen out and lower the bar.

Billy
I am a skilled trade ( Millwright) and I really can not get on board with the whole "College of Trades " thing,
I have a bad feelling its going to be a good idea run by a bunch of monkies which in turn will make all skilled trades look bad.

Even with a trade certificate there are plenty of screw ups. Go into a brand new house and see the work done by so called licenced trades.

It's about time but I wonder if this is the start of many Liberal announcements that are supposed to indicate the government is taking action. Is this the way they are going to try to distract us from the financial scandals they are responsible for? Does this mean that holding the government to account for Ornge, ehealth, etc. shouldn't matter anymore?

You know it. Fluff time ahead.

Far too many of these "inspectors" are on the take. It's good to hear they are making a move in the right direction.

or just incompetent, we lost a potential buyer for our home when one these idiots proclaimed "the foundation is leaking" but it wasn't, it was the friggen washing machine, what a tool

ConHockeye, that is terrible, that such a thing has happened to you, and many others. Was there no recourse for you?

eventually these guys will end up with a bad rep amongst the realtors so they can end up digging their own grave, but once a sale is blown what can you do?

What evidence do you have to suggest inspectors are on the take? Far to easy to make unsubstantiated comments.

@ Ray, are you kidding me? Have you ever dealt with one? 4.5 hours work = $400.00, um that was 6 year ago.

I am still waiting for you to provide some tangible evidence.
So now you are saying that a home inspector should not be able to charge a fair amount for a great deal of liability that he/she assumes.

Figure the cost out - its called overhead, vehicle, equipment, report writing time, phone calls, risk... electricians to your thinking shouldn't be charging $75-100 per hour or mechanics at $75-100 per hour.

Or how about women who go to a beauty salon in Toronto and drop $200 for nails, hair, tint, and a blow dry?

Well Ray, I think all of the evidence is in the article and the comments. I don't believe these people are worth $100.00 or so an hour, including those who work in salons. Do you honestly think they'd be making these changes if all were good in this industry?

Firstly they (the government) should not rely on Mike Holmes. This guy holds no credentials. He sub contracts his inspections to the very people he says need to be licenced! A double standard and a conflict in my eye.
Inspectors in real life can't go into a home they don't own nor the purchaser owns and start tearing things apart like Holmes does in his ideal world.

Secondly the associations are fraught with problems because its home inspectors overseeing themselves. That needs to be cleaned up.
Its a free market and you are free not to spend the money for an inspection. But there are many happy purchasers who are happy with their inspections. But like everything in life there are good and bad.

If you have time take a look at the BBB stats on complaints against home inspectors as compared to other professions.

Check out home inspectors at the link belowhttp://www.bbb.org/can...

Even case law indicates lower levels of suits given the volume of homes sold across Canada

Check out home inspectors at the link.

Well Ray, I won't disagree with you on the Mike Holmes issue, nor that the problems need to be cleaned up. It's like a catch 22 to me in that you're damn3d if you do, and could be more damn3d, if you don't get an inspection. I will check out the BBB in regards to inspectors. Remember, they do cover they a$$es, at least our guy did. I know that's part of the program, but they do not inspect your electrical or plumbing. All our guy did was look at the circuit box. I suppose they don't have the licences to do this part of the inspection. I believe it should be part of a home inspection, and I'm sure someone can do this without ripping and tearing anything apart, ie: take an electrical face plate off, and look at the wiring behind it. It's not rocket science to see what type of wiring is there. Anyhow, thanks for the link. Cheers, and have a great day. :)

You've gone off topic...and Holmes was one of those hacks himself before he reinvented himself as Mr. Wonderful. Easy to make a guy look bad when he has a small finite budget and then you show up with a bottomless bucket of reno cash.

Hey Dimitri. Have you ever seen the show the Wizard of Oz? It has more relevance than that dope Holmes.

that is REALITY TV all scripted and planned ahead of time and of coarse is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the ratings err the truth

Finally someone in government listened to Mike Holmes. Even in New Brunswick the building standards are being modernized. All because of people like Mike Holmes. Maybe they should call it the Mike Holmes Law.

This is to ensure that Dalton's green retrofits are given pride of place. Watch, you won't be able to sell your house if you haven't had a retrofit.

7th Brew already eh.

The problem, if real, lies in the fact that, not too long ago, most "home inspectors" lived in hovels or thatched huts of some turd world country. A license or government certificate will not make them any better.

Great, now if they would pass some regulation in all government ministries for those appointed to head certain positions of authority to know what they are doing, maybe we could get out of this mess governments keep getting us deeper into.
It blows me away how these people who get elected feel all they need to do is read a book to qualify them to run an organization and or run our lives.

Endgame69 , ------- Excuse me , they have all kinds of degree's and all are below zero ! What makes you think there is anybody out there more entitled to take you for a ride , sucker ? If you don't believe me , just ask any one of them , they'll tell you !! LOL

This is good but not great. even the best home inspector isn't perfect in all trades. Even the TV star Holmes needs to reffer to experts of a specific trade. After all a home instpector is just going to give you an assesment of what he can see in front of him about your large investment you want to make. Just like asking your mechanic to look (and only look) at a car you want to buy. The difference is your mechanic is specilized in cars and its various systems. even then not all mechanics know every system about a car. The best home instpector is your self. after all its you that makes the finial desicion So you need to do your home work. I have always said the best way to get an inspection done on a home is to actually get an assessment from actual trades. like licenced Plumber, Electricians, Carpenters, Hvac tech, roofers. then take their info and reasearch it on the wonderfull WWW, Books and ask other home owners, such as inquiring from neighbours in regards to them knowing if there were revovations done and if they recall names of companies (from vehicles they might have seen) that might have done work. There are many ways to retrive info for you to make that decision or leverage to get a better deal on that house.
The way I see it if trades who build and work on homes need licensing as do real estate agents and building inspectors then home inspectors need it too. Though like I have pointed out all that still doesn't mean squat cause after all all those mentioned are human and no human is perfect no matter how much education, training and knowledge they have. Its up to you the buyer to use every resource to gain as much info before you make that purchace. that goes from buy a TV to buying a house.

Perhaps a potential home buyer should ask the inspector for proof of qualifications. Also, if it's a business, I'd recommend doing some reasearch, like the BBB. It couldn't hurt to shop around, either, could it?

who is she kidding jackasses in gov

Question is why has it been allowed to inspect homes with out a licence very odd .Also that picture friggin spooky looking hire a new photographer .

Time to raise the qualifications of the Trades People that come from other Provinces, or send them back.

So now you'll need at least a grade 7 education to qualify for this job...

Grade 7 education for a home inspector, get real, many are trade experienced, engineers, architects, or college educated. Get real if you want your posts to be taken with some authority.

'engineers, architects,'...working as home inspectors! Yes, times are tough but not that tough, not for any Canadian educated and degreed engineer or architect worth his salt. Now, that said, pass me the joint. you've had enough!

Really..., what about qualified doctors and engineers, architects who come from another country they cannot gain employment in their field.

This has nothing to do with smoking dope, obviously you don't know much about home inspections. If you want to debate know what you are talking about please.

If you are so concerned about improper inspections take a look at NACHI which issues certification via an online unproctored exam, or how about a CMI (Cert. Master Inspector) certification with no checks or balances just an affidavit and a check with no police background check, contrary to the hype on the CMI board.

NACHI doesn't even have a functioning discipline body, and is a private organization owned by an individual.

Says the guy calling out Mike Holmes....

and then comes the retribution...... where the new home owners sue the inspectors and the ORGANIZATION THAT LICENSES them, for every item they miss....

Yep, only the lawyers are going to end up liking this one..... once again the government opens up a revenue source for their alumni, while pretending to care for the little guy

One episode of Holmes on Homes shows how incompetent these people are today!!

Okay so Mr. Holmes has no trade certificates, doesn't belong to any home inspection associations, is not trained in IR photography, or abestos testing or mould remediation, tears out walls and does things that an actual inspector cannot do because the inspector inspecting on behalf of the buyer doesn't even own the house!

Mr. Holmes even subcontracts his inspectors who split the fee with Holmes and those inspectors don't rip out walls or anything close to what you see on Holmes inspections.

And you know all this how? or are you just making this up as you go along? Mike Holmes has a lot of enemies in the trades, mostly because he demonstrates how much most of them do not know about being a contractor. If you are stating Mr Holmes is somehow unqualified, then I am calling you out as a liar.

Okay call me a liar thats usually done when someone has no facts, so I challenge you to prove otherwise that Holmes has some form of accreditation.

You are also contradicting yourself by suggesting Holmes is qualified even though he has no licence nor belongs to an association, otherwise he would state so.

You call inspectors who are not licenced unqualified. Which is it? Make up your mind.

And by the way if you cared to examine the link to the BBB stats above, you would realize the stats don't back up what you espouse.