Report Out from the April 20-21, 2012, Board of Directors Meeting

ASHI’s Board meeting was held April 20-21, 2012, in Rosemont, IL. This is a report to the ASHI membership of the actions taken during the meeting. It is not the official minutes, as discussion items and withdrawn or failed motions are not included. The official minutes will be presented for Board approval at its next meeting, July 28, in Rosemont, Ill. With the death of ASHI Director Don Nelson, the alternate, Blaine Illingsworth, took a seat on the Board.

Members are encouraged to review the report in order to be fully informed of actions taken on their behalf. They also are encouraged to contact ASHI officers and directors with their questions.

See Page 4 of the ASHI Reporter or the online member directory for contact information.

Orientation

ASHI Vice President Bill Loden facilitated a new Board member orientation on the afternoon of Friday, April 20th.

ASHI Board Meeting

The ASHI Board meeting was called to order at 4 p.m. ASHI staff reported on activities at headquarters. Marvin Goldstein, ASHI president, provided an update on his recent activities and called for a recess at 5:20 CDST.

After reconvening at 8 a.m. Saturday, April 21st, the Board heard the presentations and passed the motions listed below.

• The ASHI Policy and Procedures Manual, Section 18.1.B6a (website operation), was amended as follows: All subject matter is restricted to real estate inspections and related issues or of relevance to ASHI members.

Tim Buell, chair of the ASHI Due To/From Task Force, presented its report.

• All AEI & TAS Due To/From and tracking items, as defined by the AEI & ASHI Boards and their CPA, Desmond & Ahern, are to be calculated and reported on a minimum quarterly basis to both Boards in a single document.

• The AEI Board will report back to the ASHI Board in July whether AEI/TAS has made significant progress in improving profitability, with recommendations for the ASHI Board’s consideration.

Stan Garnet, ASHI public relations committee chair, gave a PowerPoint presentation on social media.

• The ASHI Policy and Procedures Manual, Section 3.10A, 4.d, now reads: “A certified or associate member of ASHI may promote him or herself or his inspection service in the “social media” by identifying himself or herself as a certified member or associate member of ASHI. The same requirements in 4c apply. For example, a communication saying: “Ask an ASHI Inspector” should instead read “Ask John Doe, an ASHI Certified Inspector or an ASHI Associate, as appropriate.” In addition, there must be a disclaimer that reads: “John Doe is an ASHI Certified Inspector or an ASHI Associate, as appropriate, and all opinions expressed or implied are those of this inspector and not those of the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI).”

• The following was added to The ASHI Policy and Procedures Manual, Section 3.10A, 4c: “Any use of the ASHI logo or name (by a certified or an associate member) must not create the impression that the inspection service is being provided by the American Society of Home Inspectors, Inc. Similarly, any use of the ASHI Logo or name (by a certified or an associate member) must not create the impression that the origin or source of any communication is coming from or sponsored by The American Society of Home Inspectors, Inc. (This includes “social media.” Member ownership of an electronic site cannot suggest or imply ownership of such site by ASHI.) The ASHI logo or name shall not be displayed in a manner that would be misleading to the public as to the user’s relationship to The American Society of Home Inspectors, Inc.”

• The following was added to The ASHI Policy and Procedures Manual, Section 3.10A, as 4.e: “ACIs may have a link from their own websites to their profile page on ASHI.org.”

Roxanne Pipitone & Nicole Hunter from Gibbs & Soell, ASHI’s public relations firm, gave a presentation.

• ASHI Policy and Procedures Manual, Section 11.3B, was added to as follows: 6.a: “The Ethics Committee shall maintain a current, ongoing cross-reference of the archived RFIs (as previously published in the August 2010 ASHI Reporter).”

• ASHI Policy and Procedures Manual, Section 18.7.C, was changed as follows:

When the “Find an Inspector” search results are returned, the results will be listed in the following order: ASHI Certified Inspectors and Associates with Logo use listed closest to selection criteria. Associates will be listed below the list of Members, and Associates with Logo Use listed closest to selection criteria.

• ASHI authorized the Canadian Association of Home & Property Inspectors Association to use ASHI’s Standards of Practice as a derivative of their own Standards of Practice, subject to legal counsel’s negotiation of the terms and conditions, final approval of ASHI’s officers and Executive Director. CAHPI must publicly acknowledge ASHI’s contribution on each of their Standards of Practice.

• Section 01-1.3A 1 of the Policy and Procedure Manual was amended as follows:

1. ASHI shall reimburse reasonable and necessary transportation, lodging and meals and all other reasonable and necessary expenses for:

a. Officers while on Society business.

b. Directors and Council Speaker or Alternate while attending Board meetings.

c. Committee Members attending their authorized committee meetings.

Exception: Transportation to and from meetings held at the Annual Conference will not be paid for committee members.

d. In addition, phone and postage expenses only will be reimbursed for all of the above when incurred while conducting official ASHI business.

e. Meals will be reimbursed for the actual cost of the meal. Receipts must accompany the request for reimbursement or the expense will not be reimbursed. However, the actual cost for the meal should consider $20 for breakfast, $25 for lunch and $40 for dinner. Actual reimbursement costs may be considered by executive decision by the Executive Director with assistance of his/her assistant, the President or Treasurer.

Reimbursement is only allowed for meals not provided by ASHI.

• After hearing presentations for three possible sites for InspectionWorld, the staff was authorized to negotiate with the Renaissance Hotel and Convention Center in Nashville for IW 2014 and with the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown Hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for IW 2015.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:05 pm.