InspectDayLicense
Ohio home inspector license
The Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing issues Ohio's home inspector license, and an applicant for an initial license needs 80 hours of education, the national exam, field experience and liability insurance.
Ohio's license law, checked on
- Who licenses
- The Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing, Department of Commerce, with the Ohio Home Inspector Board.
- Who can apply
- Applicants must be 18 or older, have graduated from twelfth grade, earned a GED or completed an equivalent program, and submit fingerprints for a state and FBI criminal records check.
- Education
- At least 80 hours of qualifying education.
- National exam
- The national home inspector examination, passed within two years before you apply. Ohio-certified architects and Ohio-registered professional engineers still take it, but do not have to show education or field experience.
- Field experience
- A curriculum of experience the board approves, or ten parallel inspections or equivalent experience. If you take the curriculum, one peer review session counts for 10 of the 80 education hours.
- Insurance
- Comprehensive or commercial general liability insurance of at least $100,000 per occurrence and $300,000 aggregate. If your employer is not a licensed home inspector and carries a policy that covers you, you need not carry your own.
- Renewal
- A license expires three years after it is issued or renewed. Renew within the 90 days before it expires. In the three months after it expires, renew with a late fee.
- Continuing education
- At least 14 hours of continuing education each year of your three-year license, in courses directly applicable to the standards of practice and requirements the board adopts.
- Out-of-state applicants
- Four options qualify an out-of-state applicant. They are a license from a state the board has approved; a substantially similar license from any state, or a government certification; a private certification, if your state does not license home inspectors; or work experience. If none applies, you use the initial license application.
Sources
- Ohio Department of Commerce, “Home Inspectors”
- Ohio Laws, “Rule 1301:17-1-07 - Ohio Administrative Code”
- Ohio Laws, “Section 4764.07 - Ohio Revised Code”
- Ohio Laws, “Section 4764.03 - Ohio Revised Code”
- Ohio Laws, “Section 4764.11 - Ohio Revised Code”
- Ohio Laws, “Section 4764.09 - Ohio Revised Code”
- Ohio Laws, “Section 4764.08 - Ohio Revised Code”
- Ohio Department of Commerce, “Out of State License Applicant”
- Ohio Laws, “Section 4796.03 - Ohio Revised Code”