NYSAHI director Keith Oberg and I had an opportunity to do a little networking recently by attending the meeting of the National Coalition of Home Inspector Associations (NCHIA) that was held in conjunction with the ASHI conference in Anaheim.

NCHIA is a coalition of state and national home inspector organizations whose goal is to establish a working relationship between members to elevate the professionalism of home inspectors. The members meet and communicate by email to share information on legislation in their area. Some of this year's attendees included representatives from California, Indiana, Texas, New Jersey, NAHI and ASHI.

The attendees were interested to hear how our state fared during our first full year of licensing. During my report I fielded several questions from states with minimal regulations, such as California, and also from states that have been fully licensed longer than we have.

We also received a Capital Hill update from Randal Pence, ASHI's national lobbyist. Mr. Pence reported that when the government is split evenly between Republicans and Democrats, such as now, seemingly impossible-to-pass bills have a chance. The dynamic at play here is that in this environment hard bills can go through because both parties get to share the credit, and the blame. As an example of the type of legislation that would have a chance during this session, Mr. Pence told of a bill designed to facilitate the collection of income tax from small businesses by requiring home owners to withhold tax from their payment to small businesses and then provide the equivalent of a 1099. A bill like this would certainly be unpopular with small business, but is attractive to some on Capital Hill as a way to increase revenues without increasing taxes. Apparently, this bill has been circulating for years without ever being killed.

Keep your ear to the ground and as always please drop me a line if you hear of anything new that affects our profession.

Gregg Harwood, NYSAHI President 2006-07

Networking

The next Home Inspector Advisory Council meeting at the Department of State is scheduled for Wednesday, February 7, 2007. The location is the Alfred E. Smith State Office Building, 80 South Swan Street, 10th Floor Exam/Conference Room, Albany.

The Advisory Council is currently working on the Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics.

These are open meetings, with a public comment period when inspectors can address the Council and DOS. All inspectors are encouraged to attend if you want to provide input, or if you just want to observe the process.

The meeting is scheduled to start at 10:30 and will probably end around noon. Check the DOS calendar to confirm this information prior to making the trip. A link to the calendar can be found by clicking the Department of State button on NYSAHI.com.

The Home Inspector License Law has been referenced in a recent court decision.

In a December 2006 decision, Nassau County Supreme Court Judge J. O'Connell cited our license law in upholding the concept that a home inspector may contractually limit his/her liability to the cost of the inspection as follows: "There is no public policy prohibiting the limitation of liability as evidenced by the fact that neither Article 12-B of the Real Property Law enacted in 2004 to regulate professional home inspectors nor the regulations adopted pursuant to it prohibit contractual limitations on liability."

Judge O"Connell goes on to explain that: "A professional home inspector may nevertheless be held liable for gross negligence...Used in such a context, "gross negligence" means; "conduct which smacks' of intentional wrongdoing or evinces a reckless indifference to the rights of others". "

The entire decision is well worth reading. In addition to reinforcing the inspector's ability to contractually limit liability, the decision discusses other clauses in the inspector's contract such as the fact that the inspection is visual in nature and that other, more technically exhaustive, inspections are available at an increased cost.

Thanks to Greg Haley of Greg Haley Home Inspection, LLC. for bringing this court decision to our attention.

Stan Liebert, President Air Quality and Environmental Services, LLC, has sent us this information that may be of interest to inspectors who test for radon.

It is my pleasure to announce the establishment of a NY Chapter of AARST (American Association of Radon Scientists and Technicians). The initial meeting will be held at the Best Western Albany Airport Inn, 200 Wolf Road, in Albany, NY 518-458-1000 or bwasidos@nycap.rr.com, Thursday January 25, 2007 at 5:30.

Should you have any questions you may call me at AQES 800-541-4109. The annual dues for the chapter is $25.00 I expect we will conduct three to four meetings per year to move across upstate NY.

Here is the deal: If you believe that NYSAHI has provided you and your business with at least $75 worth of information and representation in Albany recently, we ask you to send in a membership.

It is imperative for our profession to have a voice in Albany. Three quarters of our annual budget of $16,000.00 goes directly to pay your lobbyist. Yearly membership in NYSAHI is only $75.

Your membership will make a difference.