Real Estate Corner
Welcome to the Real Estate Corner! This page is intended to provide timely updates for Real Estate Professionals and a forum for discussion about Real Estate related questions involving the Pest Control Industry. Here you will find information and quotes from articles in trade publications and other sources that we feel would be of interest to the real estate professional.
We want this page to remain fresh. So if you have a question or comment that you feel is of general interest, please e-mail us. We'll promptly respond to your e-mail and, if the question or comment is of enough general interest, we'll post your e-mail and our response on this page.
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TOPICS OF DISCUSSION
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December 8, 2003
Changes in Drywood Termite Control
At Morse Termite and Pest Control we strive to provide the latest and best control procedures available. That is why we choose to use products such as Termidor, and why we do our subterranean termite treatments as thoroughly as we do. We are proud of the quality of the work we do.
We also are constantly watching the industry for improved treatment or inspection techniques and products. Last winter Termidor was approved for drywood termite localized treatment. A few weeks ago we invested in an Acoustic Emission Detector. These excellent tools combined in the hands of a skilled technician can locate and eliminate drywood termite colonies.
When we find drywood termites in the future we may recommend and offer localized treatment as our primary recommendation in many cases. Where we can do this it will save your seller a substantial amount of money and make scheduling the work much easier for all concerned. When we recommend localized treatment as our primary recommendation we will provide a one year guarantee with our treatment. In most cases that guarantee will cover the entire structure.
For more information on localized treatments please click the link below or call our office at the phone number shown above.
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New Inspection Report Forms
Effective Jan. 1, 2003 the California Structural Pest Control Board changed the form and format of Structural Pest Control Inspection Reports in the state of California. All registered companies must change over to this new format by June 30, 2003. Our reports now reflect those changes.
Basically the changes are as follows:
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Letter sized forms. Previously inspection reports were on legal size (8 ˝ x 14) paper.
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Simplified front page. The number of check-boxes was drastically reduced and the checklist sections (#1 - Substructure, #2 - Stall Showers, etc.) was eliminated.
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The body of our reports will be broken into 4 subsections. Those subsections will be as follows:
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Section I Conditions
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Section II Conditions
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Unknown/Further Inspection Items
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General Notes
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We strongly support these changes to the inspection report form. We believe that these changes will eliminate confusion and make the inspection report much more readable. We hope that you are as pleased with these changes as we are. As always, if we can provide further assistance or if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to call us.
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Section I or Section II?
In talking with real estate professionals lately I've been surprised to find a degree of confusion regarding which recommendations are Section I and which are Section II. Then, after looking over a couple of reports issued by some other companies I began to understand why the realtors were confused. I discussed this matter with Dennis Patzer at the Structural Pest Control Board about two years ago and his opinion supported the view I use when writing my reports.I'd like to address that issue here.
Simply stated, a Section I condition is a condition where there is evidence of an active infestation or infection of a wood destroying organism. The Board defines the types of infestations or infections we are to report. Infestations include any of the three types of termites (subterranean, drywood or dampwood), wood destroying beetles, carpenter ants or carpenter bees. Infections include the presence of wood destroying fungi such has white rot or brown rot (dry rot).
A standard certification states that the property is "... free of evidence of active infestation or infection..." Obviously we cannot issue a certification if there is evidence of active infestations or infections. That is why all Section I conditions must be corrected before we can issue a certification.
A Section II condition is a condition that can lead to an infestation but so far there's no evidence that it has lead to one. An example might be a plumbing leak where there is no evidence of an infestation or infection associated with it. Even if the surrounding woodwork is wet, the leak is not a Section I condition unless a wood destroying organism is found and reported.
That same plumbing leak is a Section I condition if it is causing adjacent woodwork to become wet and there is evidence of fungus infection in that woodwork. The presence of the fungus acts as a "trigger" to cause the plumbing leak to now be considered a Section I condition. To resolve the problem we must eliminate the fungus and correct the leak that lead to it.
The Board's Rules and Regulations* require certain verbiage on all reports. This verbiage must appear on all inspection reports and cannot be changed or modified by the registered company. It reads as follows:
"This is a separated report which is defined as Section I and Section II conditions evident on the date of this inspection. Section I contains items where there is evidence of active infestation, infection or conditions that have resulted in or from infestations or infection. Section II items are conditions deemed likely to lead to infestation or infection but where no visible evidence of such was found. Further inspection items are defined as recommendations to inspect areas which during the original inspection did not allow the inspector access to complete his inspection and cannot be defined as Section I or Section II."
*Source: Title 16, Article 5, Sec. 1990 (f)
This verbiage seems pretty clear. I hope this information has been helpful to you.
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New Inspection and Completion Forms
You will notice that a new Inspection Report and Completion form will start showing up during the spring and early summer of 2003. The new form will be on letter size paper instead of the legal size that has been in use for decades.
The California Structural Pest Control Board approved a new form for the Wood Destroying Pests and Organisms Inspection Reports (termite reports) and the Standard Notice of Work Completed and Not Completed (completion notices). The new forms may be used effective Jan. 16, 2003. All registered companies must be using the new forms by July 1, 2003.
The biggest change in the forms is the reduction to letter size (8 1/2" x 11") from legal size (8 1/2" x 14") paper. We plan to implement the new forms within the next few months. At this time we are waiting for the producers of our report writing software to release the revised program. Once this software is available we won't waste much time changing over.
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New Uses for a Great Product
The California Department of Pesticide Regulation has approved some new uses for Termidor®. Since it's introduction into the U.S. market about two years ago, this excellent product has become increasingly popular for subterranean termite control. Now it can be used for localized treatments to control drywood termites.
Because of Termidor's® unique mode of action (transfer effect) we will be much more inclined to do localized treatments for drywood termites with this material. What that means for the homeowner is that there will be more situations where we may be able to control drywood termites without fumigation.
Parties in interest to the property must keep in mind that localized treatments will only be effective in the area(s) where the material was applied and will have no effect on other colonies, if present elsewhere in the structure. But in those situations where we are confident we can "get to the infestation" adequately to treat, we will be much more willing to recommend local treatment in lieu of structural fumigation.
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Inaccessible Areas
While doing an inspection recently we encountered portions of a subarea that were not accessible for inspection. There were a number of cross-foundations under this building. The holes through these foundations were too small for most inspectors to crawl through. The realtor involved suggested that another company might simply send out a smaller man to crawl into these areas. She was correct in her observation. But, as I explained to her at the time, there are some problems with doing that.
The Structural Pest Control Board would like to have all reports on a property be pretty much the same in their findings. (Although recommendations can vary.) They have given us reasonably clear rules for most cases. The issue of substructure area accessibility does have some "gray areas" but most of the guidelines given in the regulations are pretty clear.
FINDINGS - Section 1990 of the Structural Pest Control Rules and Regulations requires us to report "Inaccessible subareas or portions thereof and areas where there is less than 12 inches clear space between the bottom of the floor joists and the unimproved ground area." (Emphasis added is mine.)
RECOMMENDATIONS - Section 1991 requires us to make our recommendations so the structure complies with the various sections of the Uniform Building Code. The Building Code tells us that there must be an access opening 18 inches X 24 inches "unobstructed by pipes, ducts and similar construction". The Code also requires that if 12" clearance beneath the floor joists is not present, then we must recommend that the area be excavated to at least 18 inches.
It is this company's opinion that to call a subarea "Accessible" when it does not meet the above guidelines would be in violation of the intent and the written Rules and Regulations of the Board. These are the very kinds of situations that can lead to after-sale litigation. (We've seen it happen to others.) We all want to avoid such litigation.
The only reason we see that justifies sending another (smaller) inspector to check a subarea is if the first inspector was unusually large. Otherwise, to send another inspector from within the same firm admits a conflict about the accessibility issue.
Morse Termite and Pest Control's stated policy on this matter is as follows:
"We believe it is the intent of the Structural Pest Control Board's Rules and Regulations that for a subarea to be 'accessible for inspection' it must have at least 12" clearance between the floor joists and the unimproved subarea soil. Proper and adequate access openings must be present that comply with applicable regulations. And all areas of the subarea should be reasonably accessible for inspection by any inspector who's physical size is within the range of 'normal' without risking damage to the structure, pipes or ductwork, or risking personal injury to the inspector."
It is our intent by this policy that our inspections and reports meet the stated and intended purposes of the Structural Pest Control Board. We want to do this while providing a degree of reasonableness that gives the inspector in the field enough latitude to make individual judgments where appropriate.
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Mold - Mildew Issues
Mold and mildew have become increasing visible issues in recent years. These fungi are reputed to be the cause of several respiratory and other health issues. Not long ago a termite control operator in Texas was involved in a very costly litigation concerning mold/mildew in a structure his firm inspected.
The Real Estate and Pest Control Industries are concerned about this issue and guidelines for dealing with it are being developed. The Pest Control Operators of California (PCOC) referred to this in the November issue their trade publication News Briefs.
"PCOC has been recommending for some time that members refer consumers to Industrial Hygienists, if they desire to hire a professional to assist them with health related mold issues. Since tracking down an Industrial Hygienist is not always the easiest task, we suggest that you refer consumers to the Board of Industrial Hygiene. the Board of Industrial Hygiene certifies Industrial Hygienists much the same manner as other medical related fields are certified and licensed by their industry boards."
We did a web search and found the following information:
American Board of Industrial Hygiene
web site: www.abih.org
Phone: (517) 321-2638
At Morse Termite and Pest Control we have addressed this issue with "boilerplate" language. This language appears on the second page of our reports and informs the reader that we are experts in the field of wood destroying organisms only. We've had no training about non-wood destroying fungi, our licenses do not apply to non-wood destroying fungi, and we don't know how to detect it or control it. If parties in interest want information on the presence or absence of mold or mildew their inquiries should be directed to others who are experts in this area.
From this point we will remain aware that the issue is out there. If we encounter anything in our work that we feel would be of interest we'll certainly try to let you know.