September 19, 2014 – In British Columbia, the minister responsible for housing, Rich Coleman, announced the province aims to improve home inspector licensing requirements by creating a common professional standard for home inspectors.

The move, says the province, fulfils its commitment to streamline the process for home inspectors, who are currently governed by four different associations—each with its own requirements.

A common professional standard will ensure homebuyers benefit from a more standardized approach to home inspections, continued the province, which will enhance Consumer Protection BC’s role in licensing home inspectors by:

• setting new education and training requirements
• establishing standard testing and evaluation
• implementing provincial inspection standards and a common code of ethics
• taking on an expanded compliance and enforcement role

The province aims to have the new standards in place by the end of 2015.

“We want to ensure homebuyers have every possible confidence that their home inspector is qualified to help them with what is often the largest investment they will make,” said Coleman.

According to the province, Alberta and British Columbia are the only two provinces that regulate home inspectors in Canada, adding that B.C. became the first jurisdiction in Canada to require licensing of home inspectors (2009).