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
The agency issues licenses in three levels:
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Apprentice Inspector
Whoever gets this entry-level license gets supervised by a Professional Real Estate Inspector.
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Real Estate Inspector
To get this intermediate-level license, the commission requires you first to be an Apprentice Inspector.
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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.
Familiarize yourself with the state’s essential needs
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Basic educational requirements
You should take up at least 130 classroom hours, broken down as follows:
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Foundations
10 hours
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Framing
8 hours
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Building enclosure
8 hours
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Roof systems
10 hours
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Plumbing systems
8 hours
-
Electrical systems
10 hours
-
HVAC systems
10 hours
-
Appliances
8 hours
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Texas Standards of Practice
10 hours
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Texas Report Writing/Report Form
12 hours
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Standards of Practice Review
4 hours
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Inspector Legal & Ethics
4 hours
After primary education, TREC requires that you evaluate your experience of the course.
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Post-basic educational requirements
Once you finish the 130-hour classroom course, you should take either of the following three options:
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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:
- 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.
- 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.
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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
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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:
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Foundations
30 hours
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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
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Any qualifying inspection subject
6 hours
Do the home inspection course
At the time of this writing, Texas approves of the classroom (live) lessons of any of the following schools:
- All American Training Institute
- American Home Inspectors Training
- Builder’s Academy
- Champions School of Real Estate
- Legends Real Estate School
Whatever the educational path you take, you should use any of the schools mentioned above.
Do your exams
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.
Get the experience you need
If you went for either the first or the second option, take your time and get experienced as required.
Make your application
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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