Home Inspector License Requirements by State
Performs visual evaluations of residential property condition for buyers and sellers. This page compares home inspector contractors licensing requirements across all 50 US states and the District of Columbia. Every row links to the verified state page with statute citations, fees, exam scope, insurance, and renewal rules.
- Published guides
- 51
- Require trade exam
- 3
- Require surety bond
- 3
- Local / municipal
- 9
- Avg published experience
- 1.0 yr
Comparison table — all 51 jurisdictions
Scroll horizontally on smaller screens. Use the sort control to compare low-fee states, high-bond states, or the jurisdictions with the heaviest published experience requirements. Click any state to open the verified license page.
9 of these published jurisdictions rely on local or municipal licensing instead of a single statewide credential.
| State | License | Exam | Experience | Bond | Initial fee | Renewal | NASCLA | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Home Inspector License | No | — | — | $0 | 1 yr | — | Typically several months to about a year |
| Alaska | Registered Home Inspector (certificate of registration; Registered Associate Home Inspector available) | No | — | $10,000 | $250 | 2 yr | — | Varies |
| Arizona | Arizona Certified Home Inspector | No | — | $25,000 | $100 | 1 yr | — | Timing depends primarily on completing education and 30 parallel inspections |
| Arkansas | Registered Home Inspector | No | — | — | $250 | 1 yr | — | Typically a few months |
| California | No statewide home inspector license or registration | No | — | — | $0 | — | — | Not applicable — no state credential exists |
| Colorado Local / municipal | No statewide home inspector license or registration | No | — | — | $0 | — | — | Not applicable - no state license is issued |
| Connecticut | Home Inspector License (two-tier credential: Home Inspector Intern Permit, then Home Inspector License) | No | — | — | $200 | 2 yr | — | Typically several months to over a year |
| Delaware | Home Inspector (with Home Inspector Trainee registration as a prerequisite path) | No | — | — | $0 | 2 yr | — | — |
| District of Columbia Local / municipal | No District of Columbia home inspector license (home inspectors are not licensed or registered at the DC level) | No | — | — | $0 | — | — | Not applicable to a home inspector license |
| Florida | Home Inspector License | No | — | — | $100 | 2 yr | — | Applicant timing depends on completing the course |
| Georgia Local / municipal | No statewide Georgia home inspector license | No | — | — | $0 | — | — | No state inspector-license processing applies. |
| Hawaii | No statewide home inspector license | No | — | — | $0 | — | — | Not applicable — there is no state home-inspector license to obtain |
| Idaho | No statewide home inspector license | No | — | — | $0 | — | — | Not applicable — no state license is issued |
| Illinois | Home Inspector License | No | — | — | $0 | 2 yr | — | Timing depends on completing the 60-hour pre-license education and field course |
| Indiana | Home Inspector License | No | — | — | $0 | 2 yr | — | — |
| Iowa | No statewide home inspector license or registration. Eligibility to issue an "independent home inspection report" is defined by Iowa Code § 558A.4A. | No | — | — | $0 | — | — | There is no state license to obtain |
| Kansas | No statewide home inspector license or registration (the former Kansas home inspector registration expired July 1, 2013) | No | — | — | $0 | — | — | Not applicable |
| Kentucky | Kentucky Home Inspector License | No | — | — | $0 | 1 yr | — | Typically a few months |
| Louisiana | Home Inspector License (Louisiana licensed home inspector) | No | — | — | $0 | 1 yr | — | Typically several months |
| Maine | No statewide home inspector license | No | — | — | $0 | — | — | Not applicable — there is no state license to obtain |
| Maryland | Maryland Home Inspector License | No | — | — | $325 | 2 yr | — | Time depends on completing the 72-hour course |
| Massachusetts Local / municipal | Home Inspector License (with an entry-level Associate Home Inspector License) | Yes | — | — | $0 | 2 yr | — | Reaching Associate status depends on completing 75 hours of in-person education |
| Michigan | No statewide home inspector license or registration | No | — | — | $0 | — | — | Not applicable |
| Minnesota Local / municipal | No statewide home inspector license | No | — | — | $0 | — | — | Not applicable — no state license to obtain |
| Mississippi | Home Inspector License | No | — | — | $325 | 2 yr | — | Typically a few months |
| Missouri | No statewide home inspector license or registration | No | — | — | $0 | — | — | Not applicable — there is no state license to obtain |
| Montana | Home Inspector License | No | — | — | $0 | 1 yr | — | — |
| Nebraska | Home Inspector Registration (Nebraska Secretary of State) | No | — | — | $300 | 2 yr | — | Registration can typically be completed as soon as the application |
| Nevada | Inspector of Structures (IOS) Certificate — Certified Residential Inspector, Certified General Inspector, or Certified Master Inspector | No | — | — | $250 | 2 yr | — | Typically several months |
| New Hampshire Local / municipal | Home Inspector License | No | — | — | $0 | 2 yr | — | Driven mostly by completing the 80-hour education and scheduling the NHIE |
| New Jersey | Licensed Home Inspector | No | — | — | $500 | 2 yr | — | Typically several months |
| New Mexico | Home Inspector License | No | — | — | $1,000 | 3 yr | — | — |
| New York | Home Inspector License | No | — | — | $0 | 2 yr | — | Typically about three to six months |
| North Carolina | Licensed Home Inspector | Yes | — | — | $160 | 1 yr | — | Typically several months |
| North Dakota | Home Inspector Registration | No | — | — | $0 | 1 yr | — | Once an applicant has passed an approved examination and obtained E&O insurance |
| Ohio | Ohio Home Inspector License (Licensed Home Inspector) | No | — | — | $0 | 3 yr | — | Varies by how quickly the applicant completes the 80 hours of education |
| Oklahoma | Home Inspector License | No | — | — | $250 | 1 yr | — | Variable |
| Oregon | Oregon Certified Home Inspector (OCHI) | Yes | — | $15,000 | $150 | 2 yr | — | Typically several months |
| Pennsylvania Local / municipal | No Pennsylvania State Home Inspector License — Home Inspection Law Requirements | No | — | — | $0 | — | — | No statewide licensing timeline applies |
| Rhode Island | Home Inspector License (and entry-level Associate Home Inspector License) | No | — | — | $200 | 2 yr | — | — |
| South Carolina | Home Inspector License (South Carolina Residential Builders Commission) | No | 1 yr | — | $0 | 1 yr | — | At least one year |
| South Dakota | Home Inspector — two-tier: Registered Home Inspector and Licensed Home Inspector | No | — | — | $0 | 2 yr | — | — |
| Tennessee | Home Inspector License | No | — | — | $300 | 2 yr | — | Typically a few months |
| Texas | Professional Real Estate Inspector (Texas also issues two lower tiers: Real Estate Inspector and Apprentice Inspector) | No | — | — | $0 | 2 yr | — | Driven by the 194 qualifying education hours |
| Utah Local / municipal | Private Home Inspector license | No | — | — | $0 | 2 yr | — | — |
| Vermont | Property Inspector license | No | — | — | $0 | 2 yr | — | — |
| Virginia | Home Inspector License (with optional New Residential Structure (NRS) specialty designation) | No | — | — | $0 | 2 yr | — | Variable |
| Washington Local / municipal | Home Inspector License | No | — | — | $720 | 2 yr | — | Typically 3 to 6 months |
| West Virginia | West Virginia Home Inspector Certification | No | — | — | $0 | 1 yr | — | Approximately 2 to 4 months |
| Wisconsin | Home Inspector Registration (registered home inspector) | No | — | — | $0 | 2 yr | — | Typically several weeks to a few months |
| Wyoming | No statewide home inspector license | No | — | — | $0 | — | — | Not applicable |
National picture for home inspector contractors
Of the 51 jurisdictions currently published in this dataset, 3 require a trade examination administered by PSI, Prometric, NASCLA, Pearson VUE, ICC, or the state board directly. 3 require an explicit surety bond filed with the regulator before the license issues, and 0 accept the NASCLA Accredited Examination as a path toward reciprocal licensure for this line of work. Where the regulator publishes a numeric threshold, the average documented experience requirement is 1 years.
The comparison above is generated at build time directly from the state license entries on this site. Every value is traceable to the regulator's published rule. If you spot a discrepancy, the state page is the source of truth and will be re-verified against the official source set.
Choosing where to license first
- Lowest barrier to entry: sort by initial fee and look closely at rows where Exam = No or the state is marked Local / municipal.
- Strongest reciprocity downstream: states marked NASCLA Accepted, because the same exam can unlock multiple jurisdictions later.
- Lowest upfront cost: focus on combinations with the smallest initial fee and no bond requirement.
- Fastest path to wallet card: compare the Time column, but remember that municipal programs can still involve multiple city registrations.
Related trades
Scope of work overlaps at the edges of every classification. Contractors researching home inspector contractors licensing often also need the comparison hub for these adjacent trades:
Related reading
Original cross-state analyses from our dataset that add context to the home inspector contractors table above — who runs the exams, where the burden is heaviest, and what a criminal record means for eligibility.
The Contractor Licensing Atlas
What mapping 867 licenses revealed about exam providers, bonds, and where a trade needs no state license at all.
Contractor license difficulty index
Where each state ranks on exam, experience, and bond burden — hardest to easiest.
License costs ranked by state
Cheapest to most expensive states once fees, bond, and first-year insurance are counted.
Licensing with a criminal record
A 50-state look at background checks and which convictions actually block a license.
Data is sourced from the issuing boards' published rules. Latest completed source-check date represented in the dataset: 2026-09-21.