Nolan Kienitz

I posted the TX TREC draft 7A-0 form as well. NEK

Draft forms are available for download (Word docs) here and here. Due to be presented to the full TREC committee in February. NEK

Likely way too much clothing. [:-angel]

Mike, You're in his neck of the woods ... let him build a new house and we will all recommend you get the inspection call. [] Now that would be quite a gig!! [:-slaphap When I was living in Colorado (Denver) years ago I was working on a project with AT&T Labs and we were having special Colorado stone cut for a very special floor on the executive level of an office building that a (very proud of himself) VP wanted. I went tooth/toe-nail with the architect more times than I can count. I finally won when the jackhammers cut through the post-tension cables in the pre-stressed concrete beams that made up each floor. They were trying to "thin out" the top coating of the beams to allow the "special stone" to be set without changing elevation as you got off the elevators to enter the VP's area. When that 'event' hit ... I called the architect and the VP and told them both to get their "as$'s" up to the quarry and hand-pick the tiles to not exceed "my prescribed" depth to keep the darn beams from crashing in. Anyway .. it was an adventure and that architect and I never again worked with one another ... THANK GOODNESS! All that being said ... the quarry in Colorado we were working with was also working on some special stone for Bill's new house (under construction at the time) and they had shipped several stone pieces for various locations that just didn't work or plans changed and they didn't notify the quarry or ... and on it went. The quarry guy was having a helluva time with the project from his portion ... I could only imagine trying to PM the whole thing. [:-bigeyes

Scott, I did some dancing around the site this morning and it is crisp and clean and the forum is quite nice. A big change from the former.

... and then there are or will be the questions about verifying if the property has "meth" residue or was a "meth factory" in the past. There has been some conversation locally with inspectors at meetings here about that issue as well. After the local EDR presentation some months back we asked the rep about "meth" and (if I recall correctly) that information is not currently available for these reports. I shared a sample report with some clients and was just asking for feedback and they said they did not know what they would do with such a report or even why they would want it ... more importantly my sample survey clients said they would not pay for such additional information.

Aaww ... come on Chad. Just one more time [:-slaphap

All the time. I think the electricians down here (Texas) do all they can to minimize the number of cutouts they have to remove in the panels. []

When I was inspecting in the Houston market I experienced a local community college CE class on electrical. Was taught by TREC licensed HI who also was a licensed electrical person. He made a very strong point to "never" remove the deadfront cover for a HI. Questions flew left/right, but he held his ground, but he never gave a good reason why. He kept saying to refer all electrical to a licensed electrician. We figured he was on that side of the fence more so than an HI and he could make more $$ there. Just additional anecdotal information. []

Depends upon the contract/arrangement. I happen to use Go Daddy for hosting my website (not very expensive) and I built my original website over 5-years ago. I am making changes from time to time. It is not all that difficult. I worked with Michael (DevWave) and had him refresh and update my site this past fall. It has helped quite a lot !! Thanks Michael! I've considered and entertained other companies who have promised all sorts of visibility in the first few listings of page one of all the major SE's. But there is a cost to that as has been noted. If you do the website adjustments yourself, spend the time and effort to get a good handle on SEO ... you can expend a bunch of time. Then, once you get a handle on it Google will change their methodoligy and you will be on Page NN? in a heartbeat. It can be consuming, but interesting, but, but, but ... all sorts of decisions involved with them. As with any advertising budget ... just have to be careful and weigh your options. Some folks do the "pay per click" to get into the "advertiser" slots on the SE's top of the search page or to the right side. Not for anything I seldom (if ever) even look or click on those. I'm more interesting in the organic listings that come up in the searches. And ... it is not just Google ... you have Yahoo, MSN, and Lord knows how many others. Then do you optimize your site for IE or Firefox or Opera or ???? I think I'll close this post for now. ...whew !! You know ... it's New Year's Eve [:-party] Happy New Year everyone !!!

I relocated from the Houston market to the Dallas market about 1-1/2 years ago ... similar situation as Scott P. I've had a website for years and always keep modifying to some degree. Anyway ... about 60% of my business since my move has been via the web along with referral links from the ASHI site. The clients I've received from the web are (most cases) ready to book and get a professional inspection. Very little discussion/negotiation concerning rates. A high percentage of the client calls I get via an RE referral are always "looking for a deal". I've heard so many times can you meet or beat this other inspector's quote or I'm a member of some-such group and my RE agent said you give discounts for them. I've booked 4 inspections this past summer/fall via text messaging. Yes, I did follow up with live voice calls, but the media worked for the client and they were happy with my response and work. It was nice for me as the properties were all over 5000 s.f. and that helps the bottom line. No, I don't use a BBerry ... just the text messaging feature on my Motorola RAZR via at&t. The 'hit rate' from the RE brokerages is (as my Dad said growing up on the farm in Montana) like "pis$ing up a rope". You can spend hours, gas and seldom get a good link for referrals. Former client referrals and my website seems to be my best marketing at the current time.

Jim, Are you sure that you didn't use too many words? [] Short, sweet and to the point ... that is the better way to go.

Kurt, Here 'tis : Image Insert: 35.48 KB

you know the rules of nachi. termination result of not following the rules. claiming you were removed without notice is absurd. Pete - I didn't say there was not a reason (whatever it was). I think that a message from someone at Nachi to me advising of the discrepancy would have been the professional and proper approach. I "was" removed "without" notice. Call it absurd if you like, but those are the facts. Since I sent several messages asking "why" ... I have since been advised the reason and I have no problem with it. It is what it is and that is fine with me.

Close inspector friend of mine in Houston recently inspected this property in East Texas. Inventive way to route A/C ducts [:-bigeyes Download Attachment: EastTexasAC_Ducts.pdf 178.07 KB

... And I'm adding more years. I was removed from member's access at Nachi (... err ... I-Nachi) this past week all without any type of notification, advisement, e-mail, phone-call, carrier pigeon, semaphore flags, etc.. I sent several messages asking what was going on as my "free membership" was valid until February-2008. I got a message from Nick that an "audit" was done of my website. Oh well ... it is what it is and not something to loose sleep over. ... Thanks Les for the comment on my "Cheers" .... I started using that many, many years ago when I was with The Associated Press in NYC and dealing with co-workers and clients in the UK. It has stuck and also helps me address each/every day in a very positive manner.

Mike ... thanks! Got it downloaded ... now to plan for time to print and be ready with the new laser cartridge. [^]

Adding to what we've all experienced ... I received a "shopper call" yesterday wanting a 1K s.f. condo inspected. Gave the quality sales pitch with the hook to book the inspection ... along with the price for all the value ... Ooops ! Caller asked me to meet or beat the other quote he had for $125.00. I went to backup mode to try and convince caller what he was likely getting for that price ... but he would not have any of that. My minimum of $295.00 was way to expensive for "just an inspection". You know ... sometimes you simply can't crack the nut!!

Very common to get calls from the shoppers asking me to "meet or beat" XYZ Inspector's quote. Simple answer is that I don't do price matching and that I can and will provide a professional inspection for my rates. I try to educate the caller about the likely differences in a 'drive by' inspection versus my inspection. Some will take it and lock in the inspection, but so many are simply looking to spend close to nothing as they simply can't quite understand the importance or what it takes for a proper inspection.

Here is the URL to the Texas AG's Opinion regarding the recent vague legislative ruling concerning E&O for HI's in Texas. Reading the opinion has given me a headache and (my view) is loaded with enough double-speak. I've also included a comment I received from TREC Legal this morning (11-27-07). TX AG's Opinion: http://www.oag.state.tx.us/opinions/op5 ... a-0581.htm TREC Legal Comment: Mr. Kienitz: The Attorney General opinion, GA-0581, confirms that insurance policies cannot be obtained to cover intentional acts, such as fraud. It also clarifies that the coverage must be on a per occurrence basis. No legal opinion was expressed as to whether the law requires a "general liability" policy, a "professional liability"/"errors & omissions" policy, or both because the nature of the coverage is a matter of the policy language, rather than what a particular policy is called. Because the statutory requirement is simply that the policy cover the public against violations of Subchapter G (excluding those violations that would be intentional in nature), we believe that the rule that has been proposed and will be up for final adoption comports with this view. That rule says that the requirement is for "professional liability or any other insurance that provides coverage for violations of Subchapter G of Chapter 1102." Essentially, TREC requires proof of insurance that offers coverage for negligence in the performance of your professional duties - the type of coverage that we have come to think of as "professional liability" (or "errors and omissions"), although the policy does not need to bear that label. Devon V. Bijansky Staff Attorney Enforcement Division

Jason, Bathroom exhaust vents go where?

Humm ? Niche market for 'new business' ?? BTW - great thread and a lot of education on this one. Goes without saying not many such roofs in the DFW market.

Kurt and all, Here is a URL for likely more information than you want RE: Bois d'arc tree. Some of Jim's and Chad's comments appear to be the same product. http://www.mitzenmacher.net/blog/?p=589

I do similar as Chad: yyyy/mm/dd-XXXX Year/month/day/running sequence number. Each inspection has it's own folder and they are moved via quarter to a storage box (but accessible). At end of year put into aging storage. Files on PC are done similar with backups to external hard-drive as well as CD / DVDs.

Brian, Makes you a candidate for the Discovery Channel show about 'Dirty Jobs' [:-crazy]