The Lone Star State is one of the thirty-four states where home inspection gets regulated. The Licensing Division of the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) is the agency responsible for the profession’s registration and licensure.

Steps to become a certified home inspector in Texas:

  • Familiarize Yourself With The State’s Essential Needs
  • Do The Home Inspection Course
  • Do Your Exams
  • Get The Experience You Need
  • Make Your Application
step by step guide on becoming a certified home inspector in texas

The agency issues licenses in three levels:

  • Apprentice Inspector

    Whoever gets this entry-level license gets supervised by a Professional Real Estate Inspector.

  • Real Estate Inspector

    To get this intermediate-level license, the commission requires you first to be an Apprentice Inspector.

  • Professional Real Estate Inspector

    This is the highest level of the home inspection profession in the state. The minimum requirement is to be a Real Estate Inspector first.

This article will focus on how you can be a Professional Real Estate Inspector, the Texan reference for a certified home inspector.

Step 01

  • Basic educational requirements

    You should take up at least 130 classroom hours, broken down as follows:

  • Foundations

    10 hours

  • Framing

    8 hours

  • Building enclosure

    8 hours

  • Roof systems

    10 hours

  • Plumbing systems

    8 hours

  • Electrical systems

    10 hours

  • HVAC systems

    10 hours

  • Appliances

    8 hours

  • Texas Standards of Practice

    10 hours

  • Texas Report Writing/Report Form

    12 hours

  • Standards of Practice Review

    4 hours

  • Inspector Legal & Ethics

    4 hours

After primary education, TREC requires that you evaluate your experience of the course.

  • Post-basic educational requirements

    Once you finish the 130-hour classroom course, you should take either of the following three options:

  • First Option

    This option has two parts. If you choose to go with one, take it and fulfill all the requirements captured under it.

First Part:

  1. You should have at least a year’s experience as a real estate inspector (intermediate-level license). The experience time should be within 24 months before making the Professional Real Estate Inspector license application.
  2. Under indirect supervision, you should have performed at least 175 home inspections.

Second Part:

You should have five years’ experience in a field related to home inspection. To prove this, produce two affidavits from the people who know about your experience.

  • Second Option

    This option has only one part, and here are its two mutually-dependent requirements:

  • You should have three years’ experience as an active practicing licensed/registered

    A. Architect,
    B. Professional engineer or
    C. An engineer-in-training.

Fulfilling this requirement (1) means obtaining the license history from the agency that issued the license for practicing either a, b, or c above.

  • You should complete an extra sixteen (16) classroom hours of inspection courses spelled out as follows:
  • You should have three years’ experience as an active practicing licensed/registered

    A. Texas Standard Report Writing/Report Form – 8 hours,
    B. Texas Standards of Practice Review – 4 hours
    C. Inspector Legal & Ethics – 4 hours
  • Third Option

    This option has only one part, and here are its two mutually-dependent requirements:

You should complete an extra two hundred (200) classroom hours of inspection education spelled out as follows:

  • Foundations

    30 hours

  • Framing

    30 hours

  • Building enclosure

    24 hours

  • Roof systems

    24 hours

  • Plumbing systems

    16 hours

  • Electrical systems

    24 hours

  • HVAC systems

    24 hours

  • Appliances

    6 hours

  • Texas Standards of Practice Review

    4 hours

  • Texas Report Writing/Report Form

    8 hours

  • Inspector Legal & Ethics

    4 hours

  • Any qualifying inspection subject

    6 hours

Step 02

At the time of this writing, Texas approves of the classroom (live) lessons of any of the following schools:

Whatever the educational path you take, you should use any of the schools mentioned above.

Step 03

After the course, you should set yourself ready to do the National Home Inspection Examination, which takes around 240 minutes and costs $225.

On top of the exam, request PearsonVUE that you do your license exam. TREC will review your request. If they approve it, they will notify you of the exam scheduling instructions and provide you with a candidate’s exam handbook. Three fails of the license exams mean that you will go for extra education before being eligible for a retake.

You need to make your application first before you do the license exams. TREC will review your application and give you green lights to talk to PearsonVUE.
Step 04

If you went for either the first or the second option, take your time and get experienced as required.

Step 05

Your application will require the following:

  • An application fee of $120. Once you do the license exam, you will pay an additional $10 – the recovery fund fee. The monies are payable to TREC via a money order or a personal/cashier check.
  • A complete background check.
  • Captured fingerprints.
  • Liability insurance worth at least $100,000.

Well, that’s more like it. When TREC issues you with the license, the license’s validity lapses after two years.

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