Dedicated to the Cause 

For years, a group of very dedicated ASHI home inspectors has been toiling over an update to ASHI’s Standard of Practice. After much hard work, hundreds of comments, and a lot of back and forth, the new ASHI SOP was voted and approved by membership in January 2026. 

The SOP committee spent “almost five years of their lives rewriting the Standard of Practice. What a great endeavor that was,” said Scott Johnson, ASHI 2025 President. “They had multiple town hall meetings and public discussions. Each time the committee jumped on working on revisions and requests, looking at what was possible to meet member expectations and what wasn’t. They hopped right in and did the work. It was well worth it.” 

Earlier this year, the SOP committee was uniquely recognized with ASHI’s Ironman award, an honor that usually goes to one individual. Established in 1998, the Ironman Award recognizes an ASHI Member who has given his or her time, energy, talent, and determination to ASHI over a long period of time and with little recognition. This annual award is presented by the outgoing ASHI President. This year’s Ironman Award went to the ASHI SOP Committee, recognizing their longstanding commitments and hard work for the cause. “These are volunteers who put great effort into growing our society and our industry,” Johnson said. 

This year’s Ironman Award winners are: 

Tom Lauhon

Sean Troxell

Fred Buck

Joey Caballero

Mark Goodman

Lisa Alajajian-Giroux

Duane Morrison

Charles Gifford

Kelly Reeve

Johnson said the committee chairman, David Goldstein, did a tremendous job assembling a strong, diverse team for the cause, representing different perspectives from different regions of the profession. (More on Goldstein and the President’s award in a future issue of the Reporter). 

Johnson became better acquainted with the work of the SOP committee when Mark Goodman brought him into the fold before Johnson stepped into the ASHI presidency. “In doing that I was absolutely mowed over by the willingness of the committee to accept the praise, the passion, the disagreements, and all aspects of all the comments coming in. In one comment period they had well over 100 comments. They considered each one,” he said. “They would take that incredibly seriously every time to make sure this was an SOP of the society.”

It was a labor of love, he says, and a big responsibility to put on volunteers. The result was a far more in-depth, descriptive SOP, Johnson said, adding that these efforts built on a legacy of already strong work. “It’s a natural progression of our guidance.” 

Johnson said the final result speaks volumes to the committee’s attention to detail and commitment to ASHI. “I’m so grateful to the volunteers for their dedication to our society and what they have accomplished.” He expects they’ll review the SOP periodically as necessary.