The IAFST views the troika of consolidation, mis-classification and worker-safety neglect as an existential threat to the profession. This is not simply about wage rates or vendor lists—it is about whether field service technicians and inspectors will have a place at all, or whether they will be squeezed out entirely by ever-bigger firms whose profits depend on low-cost labor and vendor subcontracting. The association’s advocacy approach reflects this reality: it is about structural reform not incremental tweaks.
First, the IAFST calls for federal and state regulators to conduct a comprehensive market‐concentration study within the field services sector—mapping ownership chains, vendor alignment practices, subcontractor rates, software ownership and work-order flow. Without data, enforcement of competition law is impossible; without enforcement, labor remains powerless.
Second, the IAFST demands transparent labor reporting from contractors and vendors that receive federally insured or GSE-backed work. Contractor pay rates, payment timelines, subcontractor chains, labor classifications (employee vs independent contractor) and safety incident records must be disclosed—not as marketing fodder but as enforceable data. The mis-classification of the industry under generic NAICS codes must end. This also includes an Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights.
Third, any firm receiving federal or GSE-sponsored contracts should be required to maintain a vendor advisory board that includes field service technician representation. This ensures that those who perform the work have a voice in the policies, rate setting and vendor structure that affect them every day. And it signals a break from the current top-down model of decisions made in corporate headquarters and NAMFS pushed onto vendors and labor.
Fourth, the IAFST advocates for robust worker-safety protocols, including mandatory incident-reporting, standardized insurance coverage, emergency check-in systems for field technicians, and third-party auditing of vendor safety practices. The murder of Michael Dodge II must not become just a statistic buried in a footnote—it must drive concrete reform throughout the industry.
At its core, this struggle is about respect. Field Service Technicians and Inspectors are the unseen custodians of America’s housing stability. Their hands clean the debris, secure the doors, photograph the proof that keeps the financial system’s collateral intact. Yet they have become the last to be paid and the first to be blamed. As the industry celebrates another multimillion-dollar merger, the people who make that wealth possible face bankruptcy, burnout and erasure. The IAFST stands up for their dignity—not because it is easy, but because silence in the face of consolidation is complicity.