Inspector Profile: George Meegan

George Meegan owned and ran an HVAC company for many years. During his 30-year HVAC career, he accumulated many contacts and a lot of knowledge. Not long after he retired in November 2014, he realized that he just wasn’t enjoying having “a slower pace” as much as he expected he would, so he started thinking about what might make a new, good fit.
George lives near Des Plaines, Illinois, and had driven past the ASHI HQ on Lee Street many times. He had a feeling that home inspection might match up well with his HVAC experience. So, one day early in 2015, he called The ASHI School, signed up for the two-week class and decided that he’d give home inspection a try.
Turns out, that step led George right into a second career, one that he thoroughly enjoys.
George immediately noticed the vast knowledge of the instructors at The ASHI School. With their guidance, and with his experience in HVAC, he said, “Everything else I needed to learn came together fairly easily. The instructors helped build my confidence. After taking the class, I took on two jobs with inspection firms and both positions helped me build my inspection skill set. Now I work on my own and I’m an instructor for The ASHI School, teaching others about HVAC and electrical topics.”
When George joined ASHI, he also joined NICASHI, the Northern Illinois Chapter of ASHI, and his experiences with the chapter further fill out his days in “retirement”—he has served as an educational leader and chapter vice president. In 2016, he was named Associate Member of the Year and in 2017, he received the Iron Man Award. He also represents NICASHI on the ASHI Council of Representatives.
As an active chapter member and leader, George enjoys attending the ASHI Leadership Training Conference, now called the Leadership Development Conference (LDC) each October. He said, “LDC presenters dig into the topics of building chapter relations. There’s a cross-section of members from all over the country, learning strategies for setting chapter goals, implementing changes and ensuring accountability.”
InspectionWorld® (IW) is another event George looks forward to each year. “At IW, I learn perspectives that I don’t typically encounter in my own town or region. The presenters share personal experiences and offer practical tips or different applications. Plus, the networking at IW is phenomenal—just walking down the exhibit hall, I bumped into Alan Carson! Talking with him was an excellent experience.”
George said, “By taking classes and joining a chapter, I found that ASHI members are very willing to share knowledge and they want to see you succeed. There’s no price on that—it is so valuable. And when you attend events like IW and LDC, you see that it’s not just a hallmark of The ASHI School or our local chapter, but it is the ASHI way across the United States and Canada.”
George recognizes that another important way ASHI helps its members is by encouraging seasoned inspectors to be mentors to newer inspectors. He said, “My philosophy on mentoring is this: If I can help someone else get the education they need to be a better inspector, it will also make me a better inspector. My mentors showed me things I didn’t learn in school and they pointed out how I could avoid pitfalls, which was really helpful.”
“ASHI membership has helped me in many ways. I created my business logo for free and I appreciate the online education available. The Reporter is a great resource for me. Reading the articles, I get the sense that I can make it in home inspection. Some of the articles reinforce what I already know and others give me new information or remind me not to shortcut things on the job. I enjoy reading ‘The Word’ articles by Bruce Barker, the technical and marketing articles by Alan Carson, the blogging articles by Reuben Saltzman and the encouraging messages from the ASHI President.”
George said, “I’m happy to be a home inspector. It’s very fulfilling. I enjoy it. Okay, maybe I don’t always enjoy writing up the reports, but looking back, I thought that home inspection might be a part-time business for me and it has become so much more. I like it because things are changing all the time and to keep up myself to speed, I need to keep reading and taking courses. It suits me well, as I’m constantly thirsting for knowledge so I can be on the top of my game. When people perceive home inspectors as being well-informed professionals, it elevates the entire profession.”
You can reach George at 847-732-2503 or georgemeegan@ymail.com.
Each home inspector is unique, but many paths toward a career in home inspection have a common thread or two. In this and upcoming Inspector Profiles, we will bring you stories of ASHI home inspectors across the United States and Canada. We hope you’ll be inspired by the stories, notice the common threads and see how ASHI helps weave them together. If you’d like to share your story with the readers of the ASHI Reporter, please email
stories@ashi.org and we will get in touch with you.
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