Advance Contractor And Inspector Training Center

Thanks to the staff @ Advanced Training I passed the very first time! I work 50 plus hours a week and didn’t think I would have the time to pass my certifications with my busy schedule. Thankfully they have full and part time classes available 6 days a week. They recommend 40 hours of in school training. I did mine in 30. Great test material and the plans were dead on! I can’t say enough good things about the instructors and these guys actually hold the certifications and work in the field as inspectors. There on the job experience was key to getting me to the next level. So thanks again guys :) I be back for more!

I came to the training center upon referral of an inspector who knew the owner personally.
The good: When you enroll there is a gentleman who who is sociable and is willing to make accommodations if you can’t pay for the course in full. You’ll need to hurry before you hit the halfway point of your studies which is reasonable. You are told in person and in writing that you are «guaranteed to pass your exams» if you follow through the course and study on your own or the school will let you back in for another term to ensure you pass.
You will be referred to the ICC if you want to become an inspector so you can enroll in a membership and get your first codebook for 50 bucks IBC at least.
Real world inspectors are hired as tutors/​advisers which is great! The were very friendly and knowledgeable.
The course that you enroll for varies in length and textbook requirements and since it is at your own pace you can enroll anytime. The training mostly consists of 8 different booklets which «exam questions» followed by the correct answer so you’ll be going through your codebook doing alot of highlighting.
If I remember right there are a total of over 800 exam prep questions to study and you are expected to take a self administered exam and correct your own answers to be considered «guaranteed to pass» your exam
The bad: Not much in all honesty but I think the deficiencies are very serious. The training center is never open until the closing hour that is advertised on their handouts and storefront. That’s during the week and on saturday. Second the owner of the training center is rude. He kept track of me toward the end of my course and kept asking me when I was finishing so I could get out of there. Clearly he didn’t want me back if I failed my exam.
My take on it is if you’re going to have a problem with people going to your school don’t make a false advertisement. Clearly business is very good for this guy. Bummer I was planning on coming back to the training center to ENROLL FOR MORE COURSES.
Also more importantly if you enroll in the IBC course you’ll have over 800 questions to study for at the training center. BUT BE WARNED THERE ARE ONLY 80 QUESTIONS ON THE IBC EXAM. And it gets even better! Of the 80 questions on the IBC exam you’ll see less than half of those questions you studied so hard for.
Basically I advise you buy the study companions for and ICC courses you’ll want to study for and avoid this place. I would have recommemded it if the owner there had a different business approach. I believe you’re better prepared with the study guide but if you want tutors to help you in clarifying codes and help you navigate charts on the codebook then do it! But I’d go elsewhere. The courses run a bit expensive to a guarantee to pass especially when the owner is trying to shoo you away from there. Hope this helps!

This people are ridiculous, we paid for training and the guy was really nice at first. said we could come back anytime because we live far in the Bay area. we tried to go back, since the first time we were there only 1 week. and they were rude and tried to get us to pay again.
they have good info on the codes, but plans forget about it. horrible copies of plans and when you ask a question to the instructor to explain something, he does it so quick, the doesn’t care if you understand it or not. they just want people’s Money. They claim that they have a 95% passing rating, that is so false. Please don’t waste your time and Money. Very unprofessional. Not worth it.

The staff at Advance are exceptional. I came in with no code book or plans reading knowledge and successfully passed ICC Steel/​Bolting in 1 week. Next was ICC Welding and then ICC reinforced concrete. 3 weeks, 3 Certs I could not have done it without Advance! They have an exceptional teaching criteria! I could not have done it without the help of the staff and their extensive code knowledge and experience. They made me fill very comfortable when I approached the instructors with questions. They never made me feel that the questions were dumb. I’m really looking foreword to getting more ICC certifications with their help. I would recommend Advanced to anyone Who is trying to become a certified ICC special inspector. If you are willing to work hard then advanced is the place for you! Special thanks to the staff, you are all great!!!