Springboard - Regulatory & Legislative Information from FSPA

By Kari Hebrank, FSPA Lobbyist

HB 713 by Rep. Workman (SB 1330 by Sen. Fasano) amends several provisions to the regulation of home inspectors in response to workshops that were conducted by the Department of Business & Professional Regulation (DBPR) last fall.

The bill defines "home inspection" to mean "a limited visual examination of the following readily accessible installed systems and components of a home: the structure, electrical system, HVAC system, roof covering, plumbing system, interior components, exterior components, and site conditions that affect the structure, for the purposes of providing an opinion of the condition of the home." HB 713 eliminates the certificate of authorization for companies and grants authority for applicants to take the licensure examination without having to obtain department approval. HB 713 also requires a criminal history check for applicants seeking home inspector licensure and grants authority for disciplinary action for failure to meet standards of practice adopted by the DBPR.

The bill precludes home inspectors, or home inspector businesses, from performing, or offering to perform, repairs to a home on which the home inspector or business prepared a home inspection report. However, HB 713 exempts construction contractors who are certified as a general contractor, building contractor, or residential contractor from this prohibition against performing repairs to a home on which the home inspector prepared a report. The bill precludes home inspectors from inspecting any property in which the home inspector, or the home inspector's company, has a financial interest.

HB 713 outlines new grandfathering requirements. Qualifications include certification by a state or national association that requires successful completion of a proctored examination for certification and completion of at least 14 hours of verifiable education on home inspection, or three years' minimum experience as a home inspector, comprised of 120 home inspection reports at the time of application along with verifiable proof of completing 14 hours of education on home inspection.

Additionally, the bill specifies that in order to be grandfathered, applicants must not have had a home inspector license or a license in a related field revoked at any time, suspended within the past 5 years, or a fine assessed in excess of $500 within the past 5 years.

The bill authorizes the DBPR to investigate validity of reports and take disciplinary action for filing of false reports. Grandfather applicants must comply with the fingerprinting and criminal background, good moral character, and insurance requirements. Grandfathering applications must be postmarked no later than March 1, 2011.

The bill prohibits enforcement of unlicensed activity by home inspectors until July 1, 2011, and grants broad rule making authority of the DBPR to adopt rules to administer the program.

HB 713 makes similar changes to the mold-related services licensure program, eliminating the certificate of authorization for companies, authorizing applicants to take the licensure examination without having to obtain department approval, clarifying that the two-year degree requirement must be an associate of arts degree or equivalent with 30 semester hours in specified courses, delaying the effective date for enforcement provisions to July 1, 2011, and changing the grandfather provision.

Other relevant provisions of HB 713 include:

Authorizes the department to call a licensee's last telephone number of record and publish in a newspaper if service via mail is unsuccessful;
Authorizes an interagency agreement with the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles for access to photographic records for inclusion on department licenses;
Creates a temporary professional license for spouses of active duty members of the Armed Forces of the United States who have been assigned to a duty station in Florida;
Requires that if the department determines that a license was erroneously issued, or a license is revoked, the licensee must surrender his or her license to the department; and,
Prohibits an examinee whose examination materials were confiscated based upon suspicion of theft or unlawful reproduction of exam materials from taking another exam until conclusion of the criminal investigation.