Is Your Home Inspector ASHI Certified?
This is one of the first questions you need to ask when calling home inspectors!
ASHI is very selective in it’s membership and has strict membership requirements and a verification process. Including knowledge, experience, a review of inspection reports and a proctored exam.
What is ASHI?
ASHI is the American Society of Home Inspectors. It was founded in 1976 to help home buyers make decisions on their real estate transactions based on an a thorough, objective evaluation of their property.
Requirements to become an ASHI certified home inspector are very strict. One of the most important is that the inspector has completed a minimum of 250 full inspections in accordance with the ASHI standards of practice. From these reports, ASHI will require the inspector to submit the reports which have been selected for review to ensure that they were performed properly.
There are three levels of membership in ASHI:
- Associate (this is an apprentice level)
- Associate with logo privileges (performed at least 50 but less than 250 inspections)
- Certified Inspector (250+ inspections)
Don’t be fooled by the little tricks that some home inspectors try to pull when asked the question “Are you an ASHI certified home inspector?”
Here are some of the responses you might hear and how to verify if they are truly an ASHI certified home inspector.
Trick #1
They will say that they inspect to or follow the ASHI standards. This is not a straight answer! Are they ASHI certified or not?
Trick #2
Some associates and associates with logo privileges will just give you a simple “YES!” Are they lying to you? They aren’t aren’t being completely honest.
Trick #3
Some multi-inspector companies will also tell you “YES!” when the inspector is still an associate member. Most multi-inspector companies will require that their NEW inspectors join ASHI as an associate until they meet all of ASHI’s requirements.
So how can you make sure that you are getting an ASHI Certified Inspector?
The answer is simple. Ask the name of the inspector and their ASHI number! Then call ASHI and ask them which level of membership the inspector holds. CALL ASHI at 1-800-743-2744.
Being an ASHI Certified Home Inspector is only the first requirement you should look for in your Jacksonville Home Inspector.