At first blush, the home inspection profession looks like an easy way to make a living. If you're like most contractors, you've told yourself, while watching a home inspector at work, that you could do an inspection easily enough. After all, carrying a clipboard and a flashlight is much easier than swinging a hammer, and with a background in construction, inspecting homes should be a piece of cake. But, as with most professions, there is more to it than meets the eye. In the 16 years I've been in the inspection business, I've seen many changes and a growing commitment to professionalism. This commitment has established an ever-increasing standard of knowledge, so that inspectors now typically possess a breadth of knowledge matched by few contractors. On the other hand, home inspection does make
