National Recreational Vehicle Inspectors Association?

[PeterH]

Hello everyone,

A few months ago I was looking for an RV inspector in my area but couldn't find one. The closest inspector I found in any general search was in Seattle.

Recently I've been reading about the National Recreational Vehicle Inspectors Association and what it takes to become a certified inspector. I am now looking for fellow RVers who have an opinion or information to share on this idea of becoming an inspector certified by the National Recreational Vehicle Inspectors Association.

My thought is to eventually work during retirement as some sort of RV inspector or perhaps a mobile repair tech (with the proper training of course).

1. Does having a certification from an organization like National Recreational Vehicle Inspectors Association make a difference to you?

2. The training program description mentioned risk management. Anyone understand the risks involved in being an inspector? I don't, but I'd like to before I go any further with this idea.

Thanks,
Pete

 

[grashley]

1. Certification WOULD make me feel better - even if it came from a Cracker Jack box  ;D

2. Risk management is looking at the (fill in the blank) and determining what could possibly go wrong.  Then develop a plan to prevent them from happening or to reduce the damage caused by the item happening.

EX  Connecting a FW to the truck.  RISK Did not latch.    Management:  1.  Procedure to insure latch closed.  2.  Pull truck forward a few inches with landing gear only an inch off the ground, "just in case"  3.  Install Pin Catch Tray to catch FW and avoid bed damage.

For an inspector, I guess the risks would be your physical injury during inspection or injury to your reputation and / or bank account if you missed a major or obvious problem during your inspection.

Hope this helps.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Pretty much what Grashly said.  The Advanced training includes business risk management, which is the process of identifying risks to your business and plans to deal with them.  Assuming you have no employees, the business risk for an inspection business are of three general types:

1. Personal injury which sidelines the inspector and thus eliminates the business income. Note that management of this deals with the impact to the business, not your personal health & well-being.  If you can't work, there is no business!  Management of that risk might include things such as safety training and temporary disability insurance.


2. Errors and omissions in your inspection and the legal liability that stems from them. Management might include defining contract terms that limit the ways you are liable and liability insurance.


3. Failure to comply with the licensing, taxes, and business regulations in the area where you do business. Management would be things like obtaining all necessary licenses and making sure you do not accept jobs outside that area.

 

[SpencerPJ]

All above good advise.

I flipped many houses in my day, to the point I quit hiring inspectors because I felt knowledgeable enough, heck more so than some I hired.  Afterwards, I did local area HandyMan work.  Unless you are making a pretty good effort, the insurance gets pretty pricey.  You have to have your bases covered.  You repair a front light switch, and two weeks later, the rear electrical outlet catches fire, ask the customer, obviously it is something you did.  To be legally covered, it gets pricey.  I started doing it with only local neighbors even, garage door openers etc, but then you always get that one person.  Finally I called it quits, not worth it.  I still have a dozen or so elderly people I help out, but I'm gullible, and just do it usually for free.

 

[BinaryBob]

Pretty much what Grashly said.  The Advanced training includes business risk management, which is the process of identifying risks to your business and plans to deal with them.  Assuming you have no employees, the business risk for an inspection business are of three general types:

1. Personal injury which sidelines the inspector and thus eliminates the business income. Note that management of this deals with the impact to the business, not your personal health & well-being.  If you can't work, there is no business!  Management of that risk might include things such as safety training and temporary disability insurance.


2. Errors and omissions in your inspection and the legal liability that stems from them. Management might include defining contract terms that limit the ways you are liable and liability insurance.


3. Failure to comply with the licensing, taxes, and business regulations in the area where you do business. Management would be things like obtaining all necessary licenses and making sure you do not accept jobs outside that area.

I suspect the majority of risk management in this area is #2.
As part of the training program, I suspect they will spend a good amount of time on checklist techniques, and contractual inspection agreements which generally state they will perform a reasonable and prudent inspection but will not be responsible for anything and everything that is wrong, or could go wrong.

To the OP's first question, YES certification makes a great deal of difference to me. Due to the fact (above) that virtually ALL inspectors will have you sign some form of waiver that they will do their best but cannot be responsible for mistakes or oversights, I want (and did) find someone who has had the proper training and is certified.

 

[Isaac-1]

I did the level 1 NRVIA home study program and certification (which involves training videos, and quizzes, which can be done in about 48 hours, though it is a solid 48 hours, and only then if you know most of the material ahead of time), along with the week long Level 2 training class in Texas last year ( 8-10 hours per day in the classroom plus 3-5 hours per night of homework), though I have not yet followed through starting an active inspection business, partly because I have been busy with other life issues, and partly due to the liability / insurance concerns as my break even point even at $750 per inspection is too high to be worth it given the limited time I currently would have available to do inspections.

As to the training itself on this topic, it is an overview at best, though does take over half a day, it is mainly making the inspector student aware of the issues, with the advice of consulting local lawyers on writing up inspection contracts, maintaining certain standards and record keeping, with some suggestion of going so far as a helmet mounted camera to record the entire inspection. 


Insurance alone to cover general liability is about $500 per year, this just covers things like other people getting  hurt during an inspection (someone trips over your ladder) many RV dealers require proof of general liability insurance in order to inspect an RV on their lot, Errors and Omissions insurance is the expensive one at something over $2,500 per year, this is to cover legal defense  when you inspect a one year old 34 ft 5th wheel and the rear axle falls off going down the road 500 miles later (something like this actually happened), not only does the inspector need good photos to show that there were no obvious visible signs that this was going to happen, he will need a lawyer to defend this fact.  And finally there is the topic of workmans comp insurance to cover injury that might occur to the inspector ( or helper) while performing an inspection (fall through a rotted roof).  On top of insurance cost, there are other ongoing cost, association membership cost at around $300 per year, requirement to do certain levels of continuing education each year, part of which can be covered by attending the annual inspector conference, RV manufacturer  training seminars, trade shows, etc.

 

[SpencerPJ]

Well written Isaac-1  )

The E&O insurance, I would guess those prices vary by region as well.

 

[Isaac-1]

They probably do, one of the problems many inspectors face is needing multi-state / national coverage for all of the above

 

[PeterH]

Well, I certainly appreciate everyone's input on this subject. This idea deserves further consideration but it is always good to have as much information as possible on the subject.
Thanks,
Pete