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ISSUE #2 | October - December 2014
Practice and Industry
Updates
LETTER FROM THE MANAGER
It’s been a busy summer. There have been some policies developed and put through Council that
affect many areas in ASTTBC, including Property Inspection. There have been questions raised
about certifications and right to practice, and about our particular favorite, the special levy. We
have been dealing with new requirements set out by Consumer Protection BC (CPBC), and
perhaps of more serious consequence, the changes that will be put in place as a result of Minister
Coleman’s review of Home Inspection Licensing. Finally, we have the first draft of a new CSA
Home Inspection Standard out for review and comments.
Questions and Answers
The question of certification vs scope of practice was raised – in other words, can a member
practice in an area where they are qualified to do so even if they don’t have a specific certification?
Interesting question. For example, could someone with an AScT in a building related discipline,
and many years of experience in large scale building design, construction, evaluation, etc. perform
inspections on commercial property without the CPI designation? From ASTTBC’s website, under
Practice …”ASTTBC members should only undertake that work for which they have
competency and that is permitted in law.” Unlike house inspection, commercial inspection has
no licensing requirement. The statement also refers to taking on work for which members have
competency rather than certification. In summary, commercial inspections may done by people
working within their scope of practice for which they are competent. Only those that have been
certified by the ASTTBC PI Certification Board and are members in good standing have the right to
advertise and use the designation CPI.
On the topic of the special levy, projects underway this year include the upgrade to the website
(ongoing), a trial of radio ads in the Interior (Lower Mainland exposure has proven too expensive to
consider), and we are investigating a new video (perhaps commercial inspection this time) and
how to approach mortgage and insurance providers. We are also looking at a consumer focussed
marketing handout. If you have other ideas, please send them in.
Council News
Several policy items have made their way through Council this fall and will be available on the
ASTTBC web site in due course. Briefly:
 A new Practice Assessment Review (PAR) policy has been adopted for use by the Practice
Review Board
ISSUE #2 | October - December 2014
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 A new English language proficiency policy has been adopted for applicants to ASTTBC and
will also apply to applicants to ASTTBC PI
 A minor change to the Standards of Inspection (SOI) was made to correct the problem where
inspectors were not required to report on visible evidence of moisture problems under
structure but were required to do so elsewhere.
 The requirement for a CTech or AScT designation was reintroduced as a prerequisite for the
CPI designation (it was inadvertently removed by a previous ASTTBC policy update in the
spring).
CSA Standard A770
A draft of this standard has been released for comment at this site:
http://publicreview.csa.ca/Home/Details/1368
We do not have any information about how, or even if, this standard will impact BC.
Home Inspection Licensing Review
There have been two meetings with government officials so far this fall related to the review of
home inspection licensing. The first was in September with Minister Coleman. That meeting was
quite brief, and basically the Minister informed the associations that as a result of his review, a
major rewrite of the home inspection regulations was going to take place. The target completion
date for this rewrite is March 2015. Ministry staff will do the work in consultation with a working
committee which will include representatives of the associations but will also have other
participants – consumer, real estate, education and training, etc. First meeting of this group will be
sometime in November.
The second meeting was with the ministry staff that will be doing the writing. At that meeting it was
reiterated that the changes will be major and some of the basic ground rules were laid out.
However; the date of the first meeting of the advisory committee, has not been set.
Barry
Barry W Brooks, MSc, AScT, CHI, RRFA(L), PEng
Manager, Property / House Inspection Registration
Applied Science Technologists & Technicians of BC
Tel: (604) 585-2788 EXT 252
Email: [email protected]
ISSUE #2 | October - December 2014
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