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By John Tomlinson, Oak Ridge National Laboratories Why do we need new water heater technology?id="size4"> Water heating accounts for 17% of the energy used in a typical household. Conventional electric resistance water heaters have just about reached their efficiency limit, at 95% efficiency. New technologies, not just improvements to existing ones, are needed. ORNL’s new “drop-inâ€

Hi, Yes, when these came out about 10 years ago it was a retrofit kit for saws. Jeez, I didn't realize that I'd been so out of touch with my woodworking that I didn't know they'd developed their own brand of saw. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi All, I'm posting this link here in miscellaneous topics as a favor to other U.S. Army vets like myself. It is not meant to be a political statement, so, please, don't anyone take it as one and use it as a reason to get on a soapbox about our policies at home or abroad. It's just my way of sharing something with other Army vets that maybe only they will feel and understand. I'm a pretty hardened son-of-a-bitch, but this one ambushed me and struck a pretty deep emotional chord. Hope my fellow ground pounders enjoy it as much as I did. Just . ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Jim has been lusting after one of these lenses for so long we should take up a collection and go snatch one up on ebay for him. So he'll start thinking about his wife and family again [] OT - OF!!! M.

This piece from WBAL-TV11 in Baltimore, Maryland explores the lack of screening of those in the home inspection profession in the State of Maryland. The investigative reporter, Jayne Miller, looks at the case of a charter member of the Chesapeake chapter of one of the national home inspector associations. It seems this "inspector" had recently done an inspection where he demonstrated his competence level by not entering an accessible attic space and thus not finding a jackleg repair that later caused a ceiling to fall on a women asleep in her bed. The reporter explains that she had investigated the guy 17 years before, when as a contractor he'd left a long list of customers holding the bag after taking their money for work that wasn't completed. Convicted in 1990 for operating without a license and passing bad checks, he apparently wasn't satisfied with giving all of Maryland's contractors a bad name, now he's trying - and apparently with good success - to do the same thing for the home inspection profession in that state. This individual is a stellar example of why our profession needs more stringent entry requirements. Want to read more about a true horse's ass with teeth? If so, click here.

TIJ wants to give a big shout out and kudos to Buyer's Advantage Group Realty, a Raleigh, North Carolina real estate buyers advocacy group, for a 10 minute video that they've posted on the net that clearly explains to consumers the ins and outs of a home inspection. To see the video, click here.

Hi, I'm not sure I understand why they'd want to replace the cover. Those shingles likely pose less of a threat to them, or anyone else, than the millions of tons of asbestos dust spread out along the sides of every single roadway, sidewalk and alley in this country, or the miles and miles of asbestos containing tape that's lining the interior connections of duct-to-boot connections behind registers in older forced air systems and which an awful lot of folks have been exposed to for years. What would be the advantage of tearing that cover off now if it is still serviceable? I've never had the opportunity to look at an asbestos roof, but I hear that they are extremely durable and usually last a very long time. If that roof is in relatively good shape, seems like replacing the cover now, just because it has asbestos fibers encapsulated with silica sand and concrete, is over reacting. Besides, if folks need something containing asbestos fiber to be nervous about they should really look to all of those hair dryers that they aim at their face and hair that contain heating element insulator boards containing mica and asbestos fiber. Those put asbestos fiber into the air of homes every time they're used. Don't want to freak anyone out, but unless I've been napping and missed it, asbestos is still being mined and used in an awful lot of products in this country. The ban lasted, I believe, from about 1978 to around 1984 and then some folks went back to doing business as usual. I bet that, unless one actually works or had worked or lived in a place that was rife with asbestos fiber, that the odds of actually coming down with asbestosis or mesothelioma is somewhere up there with the odds of winning the lottery. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

http://www.tedtruitt.com/

Hi, No, it's just that articles at Inman News have a limited free shelf life. I think they're free for the first day and after that they go behind the firewall. In a few days or weeks, one of Stone's other columns in another publication will post it and it will be accessible without cost. If I see it then, I'll provide a new link to it. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I actually spent about an hour earlier today composing a response to the above. Then I just kind of sat back and said to myself, "What's the point? He's not interested in listening, anyway?" and I reset the form. Good suggestion Randy. They meet the 3rd Friday of the month at the Shoreline Conference Center. Meetings begin at 9:00 am. Contact Sandy Hartmann and let her know if you'd like to stop in and address the group. She'll put it on the agenda. OT - OF!!! M.

Sounds reasonable. The current crop of AFCI's has had a plethora of problems. Go over to mikeholt.com and you can read all about it. OT - OF!!! M.

It depends on what type of a device you're using. I use a Protimeter SurveyMaster of 1999 vintage. If I'm testing drywall at the base of the wall on a main floor in this climate, and it's dry, I usually get a reading of about 8-9%. In a daylight basement, I'll typically get a reading of about 10 - 11% and in a full basement about 12 to 14%. I don't get wound up about it, though, until my meter hits 19 - 20% or higher. If I saw it pegging at 100%, I'd expect there to be an issue there that warrants some type of invasive inspection. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

In this Inman News piece, Barry Stone explains why the purchaser of a home with an FHA mortgage has had to pay thousands to miss items missed by an alleged FHA "Inspector." To read more, click here.

When it went to sunrise review last year, they couldn't find any "stakeholders" willing to take the thing and run with it. As I recall, WHILAG got word from the senator's office that she wasn't going to try and revive it. That's when the group re-focused with a long-term goal of having something in draft form by end of 2007 to be able to send out to all of the various groups for comment. It wasn't until the KIRO7 piece came out and suddenly there was Kohl-Welles announcing to the world that something needed to be done, that they realized they'd been snookered. With respect, you don't know what the hell you're talking about. There was a lot of blood shed in that room, month after month, and what came out of it was the best that the group could agree on. When you say a "lot of inspectors" who were they? Only about a half a dozen ever responded to what I posted twice on TIJ and as I recall Jerry D. says he never received a single e-mail from anyone in your own organization. Do you think that positions that people suggested weren't looked at at all. If you do, you're delusional, because everyone in that group had at some time or another during the process advocated every suggestion that the group ever saw. It's a coalition. That means that folks don't always get their own way. You should be glad for that. If I'd had my way, what the group came up with would have been a whole different ball game. Many suggestions that I made were voted on and rejected - sometimes by folks who favored my ideas the previous month and had voted for them. In other meetings, those who'd I'd voted against previously on some issue, I voted with. It was a process where we took a bunch of people with opposing views and competing professional associations, stuck them in a room and agreed to try and work together. For the most part, we were able to do that. Something you need to realize. You could have 5,000 comments from others and it won't do a damned bit of good if the majority of a group your sending them to doesn't agree with what's being suggested. That's funny. Folks keep saying that the group met in secrecy, but they met the same place every month on the same day of the month and every once in a while someone would stop in unannounced to observe the process. They weren't thrown out, so I guess it wasn't very "secret." Hell, one time we had a guy on leave from the Marines sit through a whole meeting! Could they take part? Sure, but they weren't allowed to vote. Last month, Tom Knapp from AHIA stopped in to give his point of view as an officer of that franchise association. Folks listened to what he had to say. No, what you had was a group made up of people who'd spent a year trying very hard to put together something that everyone in the group might not think was ideal, but everyone in the group could live with from a professional standpoint. Nobody thought that what they had was ideal, but it was something formed by consensus. The senator didn't seem to get it. She thought WHIG had only one point of view and the significance of what the group had accomplished, since they are such a diverse group, totally escaped her. WHIG put their cards on the table and showed their hand every single time. Not the senator - she was talking to someone behind the scenes and saying things like, "We've had complaints about the quality of inspectors' work," but she never once provided any proof of any of that and wouldn't tell anyone where she was coming up with some of her direction. She'd come up with one wacko version, the group would respond to it and try to suggest some changes that they thought might work, and then she'd come up with another version that was totally out in left field - changed from the other and ignoring the group's suggestions - so they'd have to go back and try and figure out how to suggest changes to THAT which they could live with. Then you have to realize that WHIG isn't any sort of official body. They have no power over anyone. They are not the only voice in the state talking to these pols. They might be the only group that's taken the time and effort to actually sit down and talk things through, instead of attacking everyone else on every message board on the planet,\. WHILAG certainly weren't the only group talking to folks in Olympia. You had the others from out-of-state, such as the little jag clerk, Jim Pussfart. Then you had Nick, who was supporting 5788 the way the senator wrote it. These people, who don't work here and haven't a glimmering of an idea of what it's like to work here, constantly badgered those pols and that didn't help matters for anyone's side of the argument here. They've always been open. Here's the way it works. There's a list of folks. Their information is public knowledge. You can find it right here on TIJ. Call, write or email someone on the list with your suggestions. When they meet, they tell the others what suggestions they've received from folks in their respective areas or in their own organizations. The group considers them. If someone in the group thinks an idea has merit, someone makes a motion to do-do-and-so. It's seconded and then the group discusses whatever it is until they've beat it to death. Sometimes a discussion starts and most of the group will be against an idea but after thorough discussion those in favor of whatever it is are able to convince the others to see things their way. Sometimes not. In any event, by and by the thing comes up for a vote. If the nay's out-weight the aye's, it gets tossed. If not, it gets adopted. Does that make the guys/gals who were outvoted happy? No, but that's how it works. Do they get angry, storm out and start their own group, in order to try and get their own way? No. They realize that the cross section of folks in that room is as good a representation of home inspectors from various groups as you'll find anywhere in the country, and they accept it as the will of the group - even if it is a bitter pill to swallow. Believe me, I swallowed some bitter pills in that room. We're in that position now. There are people in that room, including me, that agree with your various points. Unfortunately, not enough agreed on them to sway the group over what the majority wanted.If there is no organization and everyone operates in secret, then we will have the same result next year, one of these days the politicians will get their way.WHILAG continues to be the most diverse group of people in the state who are actually trying to work together and come to some sort of consensus, instead of trying to torpedoe each other. The reason the group was formed was to try and give a voice to all of the various groups, in the hope that people would understand that they were doing the best they could to represent everyone as best that they could, and that people wuld use them as a conduit to put their ideas to the pols. Unfortunately, it didn't work that way. Folks whined to others out of state and got to forming conspiracy theories and spreading all sorts of unfounded and completely untrue rumors about the group - yourself included - and then everyone else began hounding the pols and eroding WHILAG's credibility. Do you think all of the arm waving helped. Hell no! All that yourself, Pussfart, Gromicko and all of the others did was give Spanel what she needed - a reason to point to home inspectors as being a disorganized bunch of slobs who didn't know what they wanted, therefore she needed to show them the way. Mark my words. Spanel has a private agenda which she isn't sharing with WHILAG, and perhaps nobody else, for that matter. She and Kohl-Welles are bound and determined that she's going to be the one to notch her holster with a home inspector bill. Want to know something? I don't thing she gives two fairy farts what any home inspectors want. I think she's got it in for home inspectors over some private thing, and I think she thinks that all of us are crooks and wants to regulate us by the strongest possible means possible and she's bound and determined to get things her way come hell or high water. Guess we'll see. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Boston, MA - April 30 Flir Systems, Inc. and ITC will host the 8th annual InfraMation conference on October 15-19, 2007 at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Expected to break attendance records once again, InfraMation is the world’s largest conference for professional infrared thermographers. This educational event features user-led presentations on infrared applications, practical how-to infrared clinics, panel discussions moderated by infrared experts, networking opportunities with industry leaders, and more. Thermographers from leading companies will discuss their use of infrared technology in fields such as plant predictive maintenance, thermal research and development, on-line process monitoring and control, and non-destructive testing. Topics will include thermographer and product safety, high definition infrared thermography for scientific applications, electronics and microelectronics inspections, building and environmental analysis, process automation, and more. This year’s conference will also feature practical infrared clinics on the latest applications’ techniques and business practices. New infrared clinics include: Indoor Electrical Applications, Level II Condition Assessment of Substations and Transformers, QuickReport and QuickView Software, Business Marketing for the IR Consultant, and Managing IR Programs. In addition, ITC Certified Thermographers can qualify to recertify their ITC Certification by participating in infrared clinics at InfraMation. Infrared experts and industry leaders will also moderate free user group meetings and dedicated panel discussions for registered attendees during the conference. These sessions include the GasFindIR User Group Meeting, the Mechanical Panel Discussion, the Electrical Panel Discussion, and the Building Panel Discussion. A complimentary demonstration on Physics for the Non-Scientist will take place Wednesday evening. This is an exciting event presented by two physics professors from the University of Brandenburg, Germany. They use (mostly) everyday items to demonstrate the laws of physics and have done this in their home country to packed audiences who are amazed and delighted by their show. This is a real opportunity for the InfraMation attendees. To register online click here or call 1-800-254-0632. Participants who register by June 15, 2007 will receive 5 free hotel nights, a free guest/spouse pass, and the choice of a Home Depot® Gift Card or a Kestrel 3000 Wind Meter®. Some restrictions apply for this Early Bird Registration Special. #### About FLIR Systems: FLIR Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets thermal imagers and infrared camera systems worldwide for a variety of applications. FLIR's thermal imagers are used in such diverse applications as public safety, defense, navigation, electronic news gathering and search and rescue, as well as for electrical inspection, commercial and residential building inspection, indoor air quality and home energy monitoring applications, non-destructive testing, medical science, research and development, and manufacturing process control. For more information on all types of thermal imagers, please call +1-800-464-6372 or visit www.goinfrared.com. For our Canadian office, please call +1-800-613-0507 or visit www.flir.ca.

Hi, I'm not Jim, but when I have that kind of a situation I just ask myself what's safer. If it's a new appliance like a range or a dryer with a 4-pronged plug, I think back peddling to a 3-pronged plug is probably not as safe as leaving the 4-pronged plug and recommending that they have that plug, and cable if necessary, updated so it will properly accommodate new appliances. OT - OF!!! M.

No Problem, Just don't go to sleep. Whichever side of this issue you are on, you need to get folks talking and writing and emailing their legislators. If you don't, I'll bet you a case of Sanseo coffee pods that Sen. Spanel and Kohl-Welles will try again to slip something in on short-notice and hope to sneak it through the legislative process as quickly as they did last time. Especially don't get complacent and think that the bill is defeated because it is not. It's just in the penalty box for a time while the refs sort out some technicalities. You never know, it might come back up again and get voted through in the middle of the night - since they seem to play dirty down there. My own feeling is that we're going to have legislation. Sooner or later, she and her crony are going to broker enough deals down in Olympia to weaken legislators opposing her and she's going to push something through. I think she'll try to push through what she wants, and what she wants probably hasn't got a thing to do with what home inspectors want. If it did, she would have listened to WHILAG, instead of patronizing them, allowing them to spend 30 minutes with her, nodded understandingly, thanking them and then going off and doing exactly what she'd intended to do in the first place. I think that either she got a bad inspection or one of her friends got a bad inspection - or thinks that he or she had a bad inspection, because he/she really doesn't have any idea what we do - and that's why she's got a hard-on for the profession. Until there's some kind of home inspection regulation in the state of Washington, I think we can count on her attacking again, and again, and again, until something finally gets passed. She's powerful as hell in Olympia. If home inspectors don't get off their duffs and start needling the hell out of every influential person they know and every legislator they can find an email address for - in their own district or not - they're going to find themselves ambushed again, the same way they were ambushed in 1991 by the pest guys. So, pull your heads out of your backside, Washington inspectors, or one day you might wake up to a whole new unpleasant reality (Depending on your stance on licensing, that is.). ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Scott, It's good to see that the leadership over there is finally taking a pry bar to their backsides to try and extract their heads over old guys versus new guys issues. However, wouldn't it have been just as effective if they had permitted folks to use a set of initials to show their level of membership? Say, something like Johnny B. Good, A.I. or Leroy Brown, C.A.I. ? Your guys' level of membership would have been openly displayed in such a way that clients' confidence in the inspector's expertise wouldn't be harmed by his level of membership. There'd be nothing dishonest or deceptive about it and there'd be less confusion in the ranks about how and when to say, print or wear what. Years ago, I was a member of the Environmental Assessment Association. I had to take some classes and pass a test to join and earned the C.E.I. (Certified Environmental Inspector) designation. I had it on my business card for at least 4 - 5 years. I thought it was sort of rinky-dink, but it was, as far as I could tell, a legitimate designation conferred by a legitimate entity, so why not? Would you believe that in that time, out of more than 1100 inspections, only 4 customers ever asked me what the initials stood for? Maybe nobody cared or maybe we, as a society, are mostly too polite to question someone's credentials. I guess where I'm going here is that, if the long established inspectors at ASHI still can't let go of the "I know we're in the same association, but I'm more experienced than that guy" mentality, and still feel that they need a way to outwardly brand their new guys as being less experienced, why not do it in a way that does the least harm to those new guys and puts them on equal footing with the new guys at NAHI, NACHI and A.I.I., whom they have to compete with. After all, most of your "members" are not really competing, per se, with the novices, are they? Just some random off-the-cuff thoughts in no particular order meant as constructive criticism, so don't take it the wrong way. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Washington, D.C./April 25th - Release #07-167 The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Acer America Corporation, today announced a voluntary program for the replacement of certain notebook computer lithium-ion batteries containing Sony-made cells. Consumers should only use the notebook computer using AC power until a replacement battery pack is received. Name of product: Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries containing Sony-made cells used in Acer notebook computers. Units: About 27,000 Computer Importer and Distributor Acer America Corporation, of San Jose, Calif. Computer Manufacturer: Acer Inc., of Taiwan Battery Cell Manufacturer: Sony Energy Devices Corp., of Japan Hazard: The lithium-ion batteries can overheat, posing a fire hazard to consumers. Incidents/Injuries: As announced previously, there have been 16 reports of notebook batteries overheating. These reports were associated with earlier recalls by other notebook computer manufacturers of batteries containing these Sony cells. These previous reports involved only minor property damage and two minor burns. None of these reports involved batteries in Acer notebook computers. Description: Only lithium-ion batteries with certain part numbers and battery week codes and used in certain Acer notebook models, are included in the recall. See link below. Sold at: Authorized electronics retailers nationwide from May 2004 through November 2006 for between $500 and $1,500. Manufactured in: China and Taiwan Remedy: Consumers should stop using these recalled batteries immediately and contact Acer to receive a free replacement battery. Consumers can continue to use the notebook computers safely by turning the system off, removing the battery, and using the AC adapter and power cord to power the system until the replacement battery is received. Consumer Contact: For assistance in determining if their battery packs are covered by this program and to request a free replacement battery pack, consumers can visit the firm's Web site at www.acerbatteryrecall.com/AcerWeb -- consumers also can contact Acer toll-free at (800) 503-2330 anytime. To see this recall on CPSC's web site, including a table of part numbers, battery week codes and Acer notebook models, as well as pictures of the recalled product, please go to: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07167.html The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $700 billion annually. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or can injure children. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the 30 percent decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

After Jim H. Bushart, Missouri NACHI Chapter President, wrote a series of letters to editors in Missouri opposing a licensing bill there, and in one stated, "House Bill 978 ... needs to be voted down. A home inspector is the only party in a real estate transaction who has no interest or financial gain in a home sale. His report is valued, as unbiased and complete, in that regard", an unhappy homeowner fires back. To read more, click here.

BETHESDA, MD, April 20, 2007 WORLD-WIRE-- With global climate change and increasingly high fuel and electricity prices threatening, many Americans are scrambling to find ways to reduce the pressure on their pocketbook and the planet. As a homeowner or home buyer, your first step should be to get a home energy audit that will provide you with a clear path to improving the energy efficiency of your home. An energy-efficient home is more comfortable and more valuable, and in most cases, the lower utility bills will more than pay for the investment. The new Home Tune-uP® is an energy audit performed by trained Home Inspectors - not by contractors trying to sell you their services. The Home Tune-uP® is less expensive and more available than most other energy audits, even though it provides more details and more energy savings opportunities. When done at the time of a home inspection, the Home Tune-uP® energy audit adds about 25% to the cost of the inspection. What does a homeowner get from a Home Tune-uP®? "A detailed blueprint showing how to upgrade the energy efficiency of the house, including the installed cost and energy savings for each recommendation," according to Doris Iklé, President and Founder of CMC Energy Services. When combined with a new simplified financing instrument, FHA’s Streamlined (k) loan, homeowners will see greater reductions to their monthly energy bill than their loan payments. In addition, many of the upgrades will qualify for substantial federal and local tax credits and rebates. The typical home can reduce energy usage by 25% after a Home Tune-uP®, lowering energy bills by at least $450 per year. In fact, if every home in the country reduced their energy use by 25%, the total U.S. carbon dioxide (CO2) contribution would be reduced by 5%, or 84 million metric tons annually. This would reduce global CO2 emissions by over 1%, according to U.S. Department of Energy data, which is equivalent to removing 18 million cars from the road. The net result to you as a homeowner: a more comfortable home that emits less greenhouse gases and reduced energy bills that more than cover the cost of any associated loans. To find a home inspector or for more information about energy audits, visit www.hometuneup.com. CONTACT: Carl Schlemmer 530 758-8605 cschlemmer@cmcenergy.com

In his House Media column, home inspection pundit Barry Stone holds forth about who he thinks should rightly be present for the inspection and why. To read more, click here

A survey commissioned by NAHB Remodelers has found that most consumers would refuse to pay for tests that identify a safe level of lead dust after remodeling work. To read more, click here.

TORONTO, April 12 Canadian homeowners will be big winners now that the Federal Government has officially launched its ecoENERGY Retrofit initiative, offering financial incentives to Canadians who improve their home's energy efficiency. Natural Resources of Canada's (NRCan) program is a replacement for the extremely popular EnerGuide for Houses program cancelled by the Government last May. NRCan has licensed AmeriSpec Inspection Services, Canada's leading home inspection company, to perform residential energy evaluations that identify how homes use energy and where it is being wasted. AmeriSpec evaluators will show homeowners how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce heating and cooling costs and improve comfort in their homes, while ensuring adequate ventilation for a healthy indoor environment. To take advantage of the program, homeowners first must complete an assessment by a licensed energy evaluator who will determine the home's current energy rating. The service includes: a detailed energy evaluation of the home, a blower door test to find air leaks, a printed report that shows where energy dollars are being spent, recommendations on what homeowners can do to improve their home's energy efficiency and an energy efficiency rating label that shows how efficient their home is compared to other homes in their region. Using the report's recommendations, homeowners have 18 months to complete upgrades. Grants of up to $5,000 are available based on individual retrofit initiatives. The average grant is expected to be close to $1,100. Homeowners can expect to receive their cheque within 90 days of the follow-up evaluation. Many provinces have recently announced that they will cover a portion of the evaluation cost and/or offer additional grant monies. "With this new program, homeowners can determine exactly what grants they may expect when they complete energy upgrades to their homes," said Colin Smyth, Business Leader, AmeriSpec of Canada. According to NRCan, once homeowners complete their required energy evaluation and make some or all of the recommended improvements; they can expect federal grants such as: Furnace upgrades - up to $600 Install a heat recovery ventilator - up to $300 Upgrade your central air conditioner to an Energy Star® unit- $200 Retrofit doors and/or windows to Energy Star® $30 for each unit 17 percent of all energy used in Canada goes towards running our homes. As many as 140,000 homeowners are expected to benefit from this national and provincial initiative. "By completing all of the retrofits recommended by an AmeriSpec evaluator, homeowners should be in a position to decrease their average annual greenhouse gas emissions by about 4.6 tonnes per year, per house and they should also be able to reduce their energy bills by 38 percent - a huge win for everyone!", Mr. Smyth added. To book an appointment, or for additional information on the ecoENERGY program, call 1-(866) 284-6010, or visit www.amerispec.ca/ecoenergy. #### ABOUT AMERISPEC: AmeriSpec of Canada - celebrating its 20th anniversary this year - is Canada's Leading Home Inspection Service. As the recognized industry leader, AmeriSpec - owned by ServiceMaster - has performed over 250,000 building and home inspections nationwide and is Canada's single largest provider of energy retrofit evaluations. AmeriSpec of Canada is now working under license with Natural Resources Canada, with over 70 franchise locations from coast to coast. For further information: media may contact: Vivian Konney, Media Relations, AmeriSpec of Canada, (905) 670-0000 x 433, vkonney@smclean.com

(Part One: Before the Inspection) By Alan Carson Good home inspectors don’t get complaints. We thought we might catch your attention with that opening sentence! Actually, we believe that all home inspectors get complaints eventually. Why? There are several reasons but part of the answer may lie in our definition of a home inspection: “A home inspection is a high-liability, in-depth, multi-disciplined technical analysis of the home conducted under adverse circumstances in front of a demanding audience, requiring the generation of an incredibly detailed written report prepared in an unrealistically short time frame for an inconceivably low fee.â€