If you are going to buy a house...part 1-licenses

As a person working in the environmental side of a Health Depart6ment Lab, I have run into a lot of things that make me want to shout. There is a LOT of confusion out there, some I think is perpetuated by the government, or is assisted by scam artists and people wanting a quick buck. I will say there are people involved who do not have any consequences for handing the misinformation out. I will say that money is a BIG factor and fear is a great method of getting some.
So what am I going to talk about today? Certifications and licenses.
The real Estate business is full of licenses, meaning, they can not do something illegal with out consequences. That is a good thing, but they don't know everything and can not be expected to know everything. This means other people get involved.
So if you follow the link to construction, you find the normal categories and then there is Special trades contractor. This is where many of the people who assist including home inspectors, who are a 'Jack of all trades' type inspector. You will note that there are some really specified inspectors, who would be excellent if a problem was thought to be found by a home inspector. I do not think a home inspector is an end and I really do not believe that have any chance of knowing or seeing everything, but they might find some glaring things. I find that a person with an Environmental Professional license has a bit more experience and knowledge than a simple Home inspector.
For the people who are looking at a home with a well and that well is treated, I really want to point out that there are no licenses required for water treatment systems on private homes water supplies and there are many regulations, laws and plain common sense issues that are ignored in this area. I find this lack reprehensible and dangerous. Many scam artist sneak in and scare people. Please Note that well drillers are are licensed and many of them do provide treatment and so there is recourse. There is a professional society, but I could find no links to describe its purpose other than a group of people who install water treatment devices.
So this will be an issue for another post.