Of the thirty-four states where home inspection is regulated, The Big Sky Country is one of them. Anyone intending to practice the profession in Montana is required to register with the Department of Labor and Industry.
Steps to become a certified home inspector in Montana:
- Familiarize Yourself With The State’s Essential Requirements
- Attend A Home Inspection Training
- Do Your Exams
- Complete Your Application
Here’s how became a home inspector.
This article focuses on how you can be a certified home inspector, Montanan style.
Familiarize Yourself with the State’s Essential Requirements
- Comprehensive Education
For a first-time home inspection registration, you need to complete at least 40 hours of a home inspection competency education successfully. During the application, the Department will require you to enclose proof of your passing.
The 40 hours should cover the following areas:
- Roofing
- Electric
- Exterior
- HVAC (heating, cooling and air conditioning)
- Interior
- Insulation
- Structural
- Fireplace and Chimney
- Plumbing
- Ethical Business Practices, Professional Standards, and Reports
- Continuing Education (CE)
You should have completed a CE two years before making the application.
- Examination Requirement
Apart from the 40-hour course, you can present evidence of having passed the National Home Inspection Examination, the NHIE. The NHIE is the only exam that the Montanan Labor Department recognizes.
- Extra-educational Requirement
The state requires you to be a member of an approved national home inspector association. The following is a list of the associations, but it is not limited:
If the association you want does not appear here, contact the Department via email.
Attend a Home Inspection Training
The following list is of schools whose programs are approved by the state:
- American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI)
- International Association of Certified Home Inspectors (InterNACHI)
- North American Association of Home Inspectors (NAAHI)
- A Better School of Building Inspection
- Carson Dunlop
- National Property Inspections
- Pillar to Post Home Inspectors
- Professional Home Inspection Institute
- Inspection Certification Associates
- ATI Home Inspector Training
- American Home Inspectors Training
- World Inspection Network
Do your Exams
After your 40-hour course, schedule, prepare and do the National Home Inspection Examination, which costs $225 and takes around 240 minutes.
Complete your Application
As you complete the fillable PDF form:
- Enclose an $80 money order or a check. The money is payable to the Department. Also, you can make an online payment.
- Enclose evidence of liability (or third-party) insurance and errors and omissions insurance. Both subscriptions should be worth a minimum of $100,000.
- Provide proof of membership to a home inspection association (extra-educational requirement). You will need to enter a membership number and the expiry date of your subscription.
- Ensure that you either have an ICEC (an independent contractor exemption certificate) or are covered under a workers’ compensation policy. If yours is the ICEC, here’s how to go about it – complete a notarized and original waiver and application form, paying a non-refundable $125 fee.
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