Ala. Admin. Code r. 170-X-25-.04

Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 1, October 31, 2024

Section 170-X-25-.04 - Code Of Ethics For EIFS Inspectors

(1) Quality of Care. EIFS Inspectors shall commit to ongoing professional development and education.

(2) Individual Rights. EIFS Inspectors shall strive to recognize and respect the rights, dignity and individuality of all persons. An EIFS Inspector shall not unlawfully discriminate or knowingly permit unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age or disability.

(3) Representation of Care and Fees.

(a) EIFS Inspectors shall make no representations regarding their services or disqualifications that are false or misleading in any material respect.

(b) EIFS Inspectors shall fully disclose all applicable charges for services, as well as the general scope of the services prior to conducting an inspection or providing other services. EIFS Inspectors shall not inspect for a fee any property in which the EIFS Inspector, or the EIFS Inspector's company, has any financial interest or any interest in the transfer of the property.

(c) EIFS Inspectors shall not offer or deliver any compensation, inducement, or reward to the owner of the inspected property, the broker, agent, or home inspector for the referral of any business to the EIFS Inspector, the EIFS Inspector's company or the EIFS Inspector's remediation contractor.

(4) Conflicts of Interest.

(a) General Conflicts of Interest: EIFS Inspectors shall avoid conflicts of interest with regard to their professional activities, financial considerations or other interests. At such time as an EIFS Inspector becomes reasonably aware that an actual, apparent or potential conflict of interest exists, the EIFS Inspector shall refrain from providing services or opinions until full disclosure has been made, and the conflict waived in writing by the appropriate parties.

(b) Suggested Guidelines for EIFS Inspectors that provide both inspection and stucco remediation contractor services:

1. To avoid conflict of interest complications, an EIFS Inspector can adopt the policy of not repairing projects they inspected for twelve (12) months and having independent third party inspectors inspect the projects that they have remediated.

2. On small projects (generally less than $1,000 of repairs), the EIFS Inspector or their companies shall provide full disclosures of potential conflicts of interest if the owner wants them to perform the repairs; including appropriate disclosure and waiver forms. All repairs should be properly inspected by an independent third party EIFS Inspector or equal.

3. On all other projects where EIFS Inspectors or their companies are performing both inspections and repairs, the EIFS Inspector should establish a procedure to avoid conflict of interest concerns. The procedure may involve the following steps:

(i) Perform the stucco inspection and write the report identifying the problem areas. If qualified to do so, develop the specification for repairs to correct the problem areas identified. Provide this information to the owner so they can solicit bids for the repairs. If the EIFS Inspector or their company is not asked to provide a bid to perform the repairs, then the EIFS Inspector can remain available as a consult and independent third party inspector to monitor the remediation.

(ii) If the owner desires that the EIFS Inspector or their company provide a bid for the repairs, then the EIFS Inspector shall document the change in the relationship with the owner and obtain appropriate waivers to establish consent from the owner prior to bidding the project.

(iii) If the original EIFS Inspector wins the bid, they shall require that the owner hire an independent third party EIFS Inspector or equal to monitor the remediation.

(iv) If the original EIFS Inspector does not win the bid, then they can be retained as the independent third party EIFS Inspector to monitor the remediation by the successful bidder.

(5) EIFS Inspectors.

(a) EIFS Inspectors shall not engage in unethical conduct.

(b) EIFS Inspectors shall not slander, malign or make false statements regarding the EIFS and/or stucco industry including other EIFS Inspectors or other persons involved in manufacture, application or inspection of EIFS or stucco products.

(c) EIFS Inspectors shall pledge themselves to the continued pursuit of increasing their knowledge, education, training and experience so that consumers of stucco inspection and repair services can rely upon the competence of EIFS Inspectors.

(d) EIFS Inspectors shall not engage in any conduct that is detrimental to the reputation or the best interest of the stucco inspection and repair industry.

Author: The Alabama Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics for EIFS Inspectors are adopted from the Exterior Design Institute (EDI) Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics. The Alabama Building Commission gratefully acknowledges EDI's consent.

Ala. Admin. Code r. 170-X-25-.04

New Rule: Filed September 23, 2002; effective October 28, 2002.

Statutory Authority:Code of Ala. 1975, §§ 34-14B-1, et seq., 41-9-140, et seq.