A home inspector is an official who evaluates the condition of residential buildings, such as single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums and apartment complexes. Their inspections generally focus on level of all-around liveability and homeowner safety. As a home inspector, you'd photograph issues found on both interior and exterior of the home, while determining whether a building is in compliance with building codes.
Step 1: Prepare During High School
High schools offer numerous opportunities to acquire knowledge and skills you can apply to home inspection. Shop and Coop courses can provide some familiarity with construction practices. Courses in algebra, geometry, physics and English are helpful for the portion of an inspector's job that involves mathematical calculation and written communication.
Step 2: Earn a Certificate
Programs teach you to evaluate a building's systems – electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling – interior and exterior elements, roof, foundation and structural integrity. You also learn to use an assortment of measuring devices and to write inspection reports. Certifications can be acquired many different ways; from colleges to private schools to online platforms! The Urban Studies platform is the quickest and most practical way of earning a recognized certification with InterNACHI, the largest home inspector association with the world.
Step 3: Obtain a License
Some areas have no licensing provisions, while others have extensive requirements that include classroom training, completion of inspections under a mentor's supervision, liability insurance and passage of a licensing exam. You might have to participate in as little as 40 or as many as 120 hours of classroom training and complete 25-100 supervised inspections before earning your certification.
Upon graduating from our program, students must simply pass the InterNACHI licencing exam and preform 4 mock inspections. Easy enough, considering the potential future our graduates have.
Step 4: Find Employment
A majority of your employment opportunities will be with local governments, real estate firms and home inspection brokers. What sounds intimidating at first, finding work, quickly becomes a motivational factor. You are as powerful as your networking abilities. Finding work is as easy as going out and meeting the right people, which is easily done for anyone who truly wants it.
Step 5: Obtain Extra Certification
Continuous education is a crucial factor for any successful home inspector. It allows the inspector to not only gain more knowledge on the residences he/she is inspecting, but also bring more value to his/her hourly rate. Yes that’s right, the more knowledge one has, the more he/she can charge for inspections. InterNACHI has some of the best continuous education on the market and is free of charge for all members!
So the moral of the story is; doesn’t matter how old you are, or what background you come from. The home inspection profession can be taught to anyone and can be quite lucrative when done properly. If this blog has peaked your interest and you would like to know more about this wonderful profession, contact one of our enrolment advisors at 613-697-7956