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Michael Leavitt & Co Inspections, Inc.

MONDAY MORNING MESSENGER

Message prepared especially for Members of the American Institute of Inspectors® as well as Home Inspectors abroad

December 17, 2001

GOOOOOD MORNING, A.I.I.™....

It's a great day here in Orem, Utah! Oh what a week it has been. I was razzed by an inspector friend in Colorado last week that he thought I had successfully set my fees so high in an effort to get myself out of the piece of junk home inspection market. Well so did I, yet I am finding that there are a lot of piece of junk home's selling right now. Maybe it is the low interest rates. Maybe it is the huge amount of foreclosures on the market right now. Regardless, there are lots of lower dollar amount homes being sold in our marketplace.

Lower dollar homes typically carry with them a tougher inspection process for us inspectors. What is your preference for a days work, two 50 year old run down foreclosures or two 1996 well kept domiciles? I think that I know the answer to that question, yet if I were to ask you your fee differences based on the same square footages would the fees be different enough to reflect the difference in time and effort? I think that most inspectors have similar fees for both the old run down homes and the newer pristine homes, yet this is neither fair or equitable for the amount of time and headache that the piece of junk places before you.

Have any of you instituted the preferred and non-preferred inspection fee schedules yet? This would be a normal fee for the preferred home and a much higher fee for the run down fixer upper. It is a good idea and I would love to hear your thoughts and feedback on the subject.

MERRY CHRISTMAS GREETINGS

Michael, Shelly, Jessica, Adam, Haily & Aaron

AII™ CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS 2001-02

Season's Greeting,

How can we talk of 2001 without mention of the events of September 11th? What a tragedy in our time: the loss of lives, freedoms we have lost forever and the hardships: emotional, physical and economical, that so few have caused so many. May the Spirit of Christmas help us to heal and to give us strength as we move forward and into the New Year.

2001 has been a great year of growth and success for the American Institute of Inspectors. We have grown from approximately 74 members last year to about 114 this year. We might be a small organization, but we are the greatest inspection organization in the world; we're a family!

2001 has also been a good year for increasing our membership through our training classes. Also, we now have three additional A.I.I. Certified Educators; John Rebenstorff, Jim Lucas, who recently returned to A.I.I. and Bill Schwahn. With increased training classes comes new members and we continue to grow.

I would personally like to thank the leadership and members for their efforts and support of A.I.I. this past year. It's a wonderful thing when the members step forward to offer their services, support and time, all of which help us prosper and grow. Without you A.I.I. would not be possible. Again, thanks to all who have helped this past year!

For those of you who haven't had the opportunity to participate yet, I encourage you to present your ideas to your board members, to volunteer to be part of a committee, to run for an office or offer to teach a class at one of our two educational seminars held in April and November of each year. When A.I.I. grows we all benefit. A.I.I., with increased revenues, can present even bigger and better educational seminars and offer more to our members in the way of services and opportunities. Encourage other non-member inspectors to join our Association by explaining the benefits of our organization: the Hotline the MMM and the educational seminars are but a few of the benefits we enjoy with our membership.

Lastly, I would like to thank you for allowing me to serve as Chairman of A.I.I. this past year and in the coming years. It has been a great pleasure serving our family of friends and professionals and I look forward to seeing and meeting all of you at the Mid Year Conference and Annual Meeting this next year and in the coming years.

May your Christmas and the New Year be filled with Joy and Blessing.

Very Sincerely,
Ron Cloyd Chairman of the Board

MUNICIPAL INSPECTORS PENALIZED cont.

I discovered an unsafe gas furnace in a four year old home last year. It was installed in a garage attic. There was inadequate clearance above the furnace for the exhaust vent and the HVAC tech (not known to be one of our better technicians) had fabricated a piece of metal to attach the exhaust flue and allow the unit to fit under the roof sheathing. This created an exhaust vent that restricted the air flow, carbon monoxide was building up in the crimped area instead of burning off, the heat at the closest register was excessive and the roof sheathing was scorched. The seller who was the original owner was upset with me since the County Building Inspector had passed it when the house was built. He got the 'Code' inspector to agree to come back out, (normally against their policy). The 'Code' inspector stood on the garage floor, looking up at the furnace and stated to the seller and Realtor, "air in - air out, it's fine". I stuck to my findings that referred it to the evaluation of a Licensed HVAC. Two opinions were sought. Both commended and stood behind the ME!!! When the County officials were contacted by the seller and Realtor they were told the county has no liability for their inspections. So, in answer to your questions, Yes they deserve to be reprimanded, but no they don't seem to get reprimanded in our area, but hey, it's only public safety you're talking about. Betty Buckley - Klamath Falls, OR

BIDET FEEDBACK

What is your experience with bidets? Have you encountered them on inspections?

I experience that I gathered from my time in Europe was that the bidet was invented by Napoleon to be used by his calvery. If you have ever been on a long pack trip where you can't take care of your bodily cleanliness as you should, and you are in the saddle every day; no further explaination is necessary. Ted Harris - Cove, OR

I've encountered bidets on only a few inspections, all on high end homes. I saw my first one in a hotel in Europe about 30 years ago. Only a few of the more expensive hotels had them. I'm surprised that the manufacturers haven't marketed them more heavily in the U.S. Gary Holzbauer - Junction City, OR

I have seen them and was instructed by my inspector mentor that they were mainly for women's hygiene. I do not think that the current mehod of cleaning ourselves is as barbaric and incomplete as you make it out to sound, since most of us "eliminate only once a day and shower once or twice as I often do. Shower after elimination add powder and there you go. This is only a mans point of view though. I do like the history of it and if one was in every home in America, It would be fine with me. Chris Burkhart - Sandy, UT

Michael, I laughed and enjoyed your article on bidets. Very true, it is not always a comfortable topic. I was part of a team of Energy Auditors and Energy Inspectors sponsoring an open house on a 'Smart House' about ten years ago. It had all the bells and whistles of an automated house, including a self flushing toilet and self flushing bidet. My station in the open house was to demonstrate the use of these appliances. We used a dark tinted plastic shield to cover the seat, activating the body cleanser. This allowed people to 'imagine' the actual use. It was truly a memorable weekend. The comments were priceless, especially from the children. Betty Buckley - Klamath Falls, OR

PHOTO CHALLENGE #84 FEEDBACK

Is there a law that says you shouldn't dig a hole in the crawlspace floor and
drop a gas-fired water heater in it? Shouldn't there be? Bob Peek - Virginia

Seems as if a frugile attempt to save space to me. Certainly cannot breathe right for the natural gas combustion and how would the pilot light stay lit with all that mud and water around it? No laws in this sate. Nelson Wahlstrom - Littleton, CO

Any metal to soil contact will invite rust and in humid Virginia you are asking for twice the potential moisture. I see no vapor barrier which is required in Virginia. It looks like rusting is developing on the right side of the unit. Where is the exhaust vent venting to? They should probably consider a catch pan and a small pump for any discharge or leaks so that the unit won't be standing in water in the event of a tank rupture or leak. In Virginia crawl spaces are to have vents. Make a note that at least one vent near the unit shuld be left open annually for combustion air. I have seen them in crawl spaces in Virginia before (electric ones) and they ALWAYS rust out prematurely. Chris Burkhart - Previously a Virginia Inspector

"This type of installation will cause premature rusting of the water heater. Recommend relocating to the interior of the home or garage." Where is the exhaust vent run to? Nathan Buckley - Snowy Klamath Falls, OR

3D UPGRADE ALMOST READY

It is time again to consider taking advantage of the 3D Inspection System subscription plan. I know that many of you have already taken advantage of the $99 per year subscription plan. Subscribing entitles you to automatic upgrades as they become available. This includes the minor upgrades as well as the major upgrades.

So why am I bringing this up, you ask? Well don't tell anybody but I just received the latest beta 4.0 version of the 3D software. This means that if you subscribe before the 4.0 is released, then you get the 4.0 upgrade automatically. If you wait until after it is released, then it will be $149.00 to upgrade and then another $99 if you want to then take advantage of the subscription plan. Common sense would tell you to just take advantage of the subscription plan for $99 and save yourself the extra $149.

The beta version of 4.0 is quite impressive. Current 3D users use the feature that allows you to import 1 graphic per menu line. Well they increased the ability to now insert up to 4 photos or graphics per line. This is great news for those of us who take advantage of digital photography. Next week I'll include the full "What's New in 4.0" file.

Also as a special for MMM readers you can get the set of 3D Flag-It! 2000 graphics for free with your full software purchase, upgrade, or subscription purchase. To get the Flag-It! 2000 graphics you must mention Tracking Number 063001 and get Flag-It! 2000 (a $49 value) FREE!

To purchase the software, upgrades, or the subscription plan please contact me at 801-225-8020 or you can call 3D directly at 1-800-745-6126 and tell them that I referred you.

SUBSCRIPTION PLAN NOTE: You must have version 3.5 to purchase the subscription plan. If you are running an older version, then you must upgrade to 3.5 before you can purchase the subscription plan.

AII™ PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS

It has been a very busy and educational year, and I owe THANK YOU’S to a lot of people to helping out this organization and me throughout the year. Following are our current standing committees, the people on the committees and some of the projects that they are working on.

Ethics and Professional Practice

Chairman: Greg Justice Members: Peter Barton, Todd Churchill

Activity: Developed Standards and Guidelines for review of complaints against the membership. Set guidelines for disciplinary actions, for violations of The Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics. This committee reviews all complains filed against members of our organization.

Education Committee

Chairman: Scott Merritt, Members: Brent Foster John Rehbenstorff, Jon Gundnason

Activity: Review of all education classes and seminars for approval at the Annual and Spring Conferences. Review of all education for CEU Credits. Review of CEU credits by member, for compliance. Review of the Certification Training Classes to insure that all classes meet the Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics. Develop a protocol and set a standard for Home Inspectors coming into our organization (# of inspections required, testing process etc)

Standards of Practice:

Chairman: Jim Corbin, Michael Leavitt

Review of the Standards of Practice.

It is important to note that good things take time, and that these people have offered to serve on these committees for the better of the organization. These people are also are not PAID for the work that they do like many inspection organizations. We are all independent business people who have businesses to run and Family always comes first.

So my sincere THANK YOU goes out to all of them, because of their dedication our membership continues to increase, and A.I.I. continues to be a better organization.

I would also like to recognize Betty Buckley. Betty has done a wonderful job of setting up the conferences, keeping us organized, preparing financial statements, and in general running this organization more effectively than it has ever been run. My sincere thank you to Betty for going above and beyond the call of duty.

With all that has been accomplished there is much left to do !! I encourage you to contact the above committee chairmen and offer to help.

I will be contacting some of you to ask for assistance on the Membership Committee, this committee will work on gaining new members and will work with the Education Committee in setting the standards for Home Inspectors coming into our organization.

In closing I thank you for electing me to be your President for 2001, it has been an honor to work with the dedicated professionals of this organization, and look forward to continuing to serve you as one of the Board of Directors. May God Bless you and your family, may you have a prosperous new year.

Good Inspecting!! Bill Schwahn

CPSC SPA HEATER RECALL

NEWS from CPSC U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: TruHeat Response Hotline: (800) 858-2122 December 14, 2001 Release # 02-068

CPSC and TruHeat Corp. Announce Recall of Spa Heaters

WASHINGTON, D.C. - In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), TruHeat Corp., of Allegan, Mich., is voluntarily recalling about 142,000 spa heaters sold with Hot Spring® and Tiger River® spas. The spa heaters have an internal electrical connection that can overheat and ignite the heater and spa, posing a fire hazard.

CPSC and TruHeat have received 192 reports of the heaters on these spas failing, and 22 reports of these incidents resulting in fire damage outside the heater or spa. No injuries have been reported.

These are No-Fault® 6000 model spa heaters sold with Hot Spring® and Tiger River® spas. The spa brand name is written on the control panel. The spa heater brand name and model number are on a label on the side of the heater. The spa heater is located behind a removable panel on the front of the spa. Read the owner's manual for instructions on turning off power to the spa before accessing the spa heater. This recall only includes spas installed in 220-volt applications.

Independent spa dealers nationwide sold spas with these heaters from January 1997 through January 2001. The price for these spas is between $4,000 and $9,000.

TruHeat is contacting its customers about this recall and providing them with a free insulation kit. Consumers who have not been contacted should immediately call the TruHeat Response Hotline at (800) 858-2122 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET, any day of the week, to determine if their spa heater is part of this recall. To avoid all risk of an incident pending receipt of an insulation kit, consumers are advised to shut off their heaters until a kit is installed. If the spa is in a location where it is exposed to freezing temperatures and the heater is shut off (pending receipt of a kit), the spa should be drained according to the owner's manual to prevent damage to the spa by freezing water.

PHOTO CHALLENGE #85

QUOTABLE QUOTE: "Yes they deserve to be reprimanded, but no they don't seem to get reprimanded in our area, but hey, it's only public safety you're talking about." Betty Buckley - Klamath Falls, OR

HAVE A GREAT WEEK! Michael Leavitt & Co Inspections, Inc.

The Most Qualified Inspector in Northern Utah!

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AII™ Web Site: www.INSPECTION.org

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Copyright; 2001 * Michael Leavitt & Co * 1145 N. Main St. * Orem, UT 84057 * 801-225-8020

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