As the program coordinator of the home inspection training program at Bellingham Technical College, I get a call a week from an employment counselor or a rehabilitation worker, wanting to know if their client can handle the rigors of the job. I have also had people call up and say that they were injured in some other field, like fitting shoes, and they need to get into inspection to ease the physical burden. That one does not make too much sense to me. But, since I have to answer the question a lot, I thought I would post what I see as the physical requirements. Based on my experiences operating King of the House, as far as weight and lifting, probably the heaviest thing an inspector carries would be the ladder. These come in different weights, but if the ladder is going up to a high roof, there can be some strain on the muscles used to get it up there and back down again. Speaking of roofs, an inspector should be able to safely traverse a roof with a slope of approximately 6/12. If a roof gets much steeper than that, or if it is wood, metal or slick, then it is likely that it will be viewed from the eaves. If the roof is really high, like on a multi-level condo, then it might be viewed from the ground with binoculars. The ladder also gets the inspector into an attic, which can be strenuous, and stressful, depending on how much poking around the inspector needs to do. Next, the inspector must be able to crawl. Crawl spaces can be tight and hot. So that part of the job leaves out people who are too big to get under there, afraid of what they might find, or are claustrophobic. The crawl space, due to it sometimes being a challenging and rigorous adventure, and the roof, because of the risks involved in getting up there, weed out some inspectors early in the program. The rest of the job, mainly, entails walking, getting a closer look at things in whatever position that takes, including laying down, kneeling, squatting. There are risks associated with the job, mainly those involving heights and ladders, although there are also tripping hazards, falling through deck type hazards, electrical risks. As far as ladders, I thought you might enjoy the photo below. I do not know the original source of it but it seems to now be pretty much internet fodder as a glaring example of poor safety standards. It has been posted many times over at the National Association of Home Inspectors site by other bloggers. It is one hairy way to work, let me say that on the record. Bellingham WA home inspections Thanks for stopping by, Steven L. Smith
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Oh my goodness .. that photo with the ladder on the ladder... that is scary!
Chuck,
They were lumped in the part where I said: "afraid of what they might find.". I was thinking more about exertion than fears.