Home inspectors and professionals with construction backgrounds, including contractors, engineers and architects, have the unique technical experience needed to become a commercial property inspector and earn additional income.

A new 10-hour all-online Inspecting Commercial Properties course from American Home Inspectors Training by OnCourse Learning provides students with all of the essential information and knowledge about standards required to conduct commercial property inspections, which are known as Property Condition Assessments. The training course distinguishes differences between conducting residential and commercial inspections.

Benefits of commercial versus residential work

“Because commercial property inspections bring in four to five times the income of conducting a home inspection, the earning potential associated with doing commercial property inspections is substantial,” said AHIT Senior Technical Training Instructor Steven O’Donnell, who is the instructor of the Inspecting Commercial Properties course.

Other benefits of becoming a commercial properties inspector include the following:

• The absence of regulations or license requirements

• No state or national exam requirements

• Less competition in the commercial property inspection field

• Investors typically purchase more commercial properties

“This video-based training is perfect for home inspectors and other professionals who already know how to inspect a residential building but need to know the specifics to carry out a commercial building inspection,” O’Donnell said. “Our self-paced online course allows working professionals to study when and where they have free time.”

O’Donnell is a licensed property inspector in ArizonaFlorida and Kentucky. He is licensed as a general contractor in Arizona and is a BPI Building Analyst Professional.

Top industry standard training

The AHIT course is the only online commercial inspection training that follows the American Society for Testing and Materials Standard E2018-15 Standard Guide for Property Condition Assessments, according to O’Donnell.

The curriculum covers ASTM Standard E2018-15 requirements, which are different than for home inspections. The ASTM Standard includes the need for compilation of other professional reports (fire safety, mechanical, engineering, elevator, etc.) and inclusion of cost estimates for repair and replacement components within the reporting.

Topics covered in the AHIT Inspecting Commercial Properties training are as follows:

• What is a Property Condition Assessment?

• An introduction to the American Society for Testing and Materials

• Information about the differences between commercial and residential properties and their inspections is provided.

• Property Condition Assessment specifics overview

• Commercial property inspection fees and how they differ from home inspection fees are examined.

• Case studies of PCAs are presented. Learn from real-life examples and see how they shed light on building issues that were not apparent based upon building owner or tenant disclosure.

• Example/sample Property Condition Report is a review of sections of the report typically provided to clients.

• Summary forms is an introduction to several state and federal forms used within the industry.

American Home Inspectors Training paves the way for a career in home inspection, providing the necessary accredited training for licensure, marketing support and professional tools. To learn more, visit AHIT.com, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.