Tips for Hiring a CASp Inspector
When hiring any type of professional, it is important to do some due diligence and consider many factors before making a decision. Retaining a Certified Access Specialist (CASp) is no different. The California Division of the State Architect is the government entity that rigorously tests and certifies CASp Inspectors as experts in their field. After a CASp becomes certified, they can work with clients to perform inspections and generate CRASCA reports. Unfortunately, the quality of inspection protocols and reporting are not well regulated. This leads some Certified Access Specialists to voluntarily provide high quality reports that clients can easily understand and other CASp inspectors that do the bare minimum to provide a certificate.
If you are considering hiring a CASp inspector, here are some tips to help you narrow your search:
Get multiple estimates. In addition to finding a CASp inspector at a fair price, this process can be revealing about what you can expect after you hire them:
Does their website look professional?
Did they respond to your calls or emails promptly?
Were they helpful and willing to answer questions?
The answers to these questions can give you insight to how they will work with you in the future.
Verify if accessibility consulting is their primary business. Many Certified Access Specialists moonlight or provide accessibility consulting to drive business to their primary contracting business. By researching their website, you may be able to figure out what their primary business is.
Verify their CASp certification number on the DSA website. We recommend working with a CASp that has at last 5 years of accessibility consulting experience.
Ask to see a sample report. The report should be easy to read and understand. It should include: explanations of non-compliance in layman terms, photographs, diagrams, code citations, and recommendations for remediation on every individual findings. If the sample report looks like a spreadsheet, you probably wont find much value in that report.
Verify insurance. Every full time Certified Access Specialist should have general liability insurance as well as professional liability insurance. If they do not have insurance, it likely means that they are moonlighting and don’t have the experience that you should expect.
Contact us for a free consultation with an experienced CASp Inspector.