Deciding to open a home inspection business is not as easy as opening an office, hanging a sign, and advertising. You need quite the education and experience for this line of work. You also need certifications at the very least, and some states require a license to be a home inspector. So, what exactly do you need to do this job and open shop? Start with the following.
Take Several Continuing Education Courses in Home Systems
To do home inspection right, you have to recognize problems with plumbing, HVAC, electricity, roofing, and foundations. These five major areas of any home have to be in tip-top shape for any human being to reside there. You cannot take just the basic DIY courses either; you will need to take up to and including an intermediate level course in every one of these five subjects. It typically amounts to about 10 to 20 courses before you can really recognize problems and be able to tell a prospective home buyer or homeowner what is wrong with his/her house.
Take the Certification Course for Home Inspectors
This course tests your knowledge on all subjects related to home inspection, and includes a lot of math as it relates to water flow, air and water pressure, electrical current, volts, and watts. The course itself is not a short, one-day sort of thing, so be prepared to set aside some time. Once the course is complete, you have to take an exam to make sure you know exactly what you are doing. In some states, you not only take a written exam, but also a skills exam where you walk onto a full-scale model of a house and point out everything that is wrong to your instructor.
Licensing
In states where a license is required to become a home inspector, you will need to submit all of the requisite paperwork to the state board. It takes a few weeks to process the paperwork, and you cannot do any home inspections without it. You can spend this time setting up your office and advertising to get a client base started for when you have been granted your license. You may be required to show some work experience with various home systems, which means you may have to spend time working under a contractor fixing things until you have enough hours to count toward your license. If you already have construction or contractor experience, you can submit that with your licensing paperwork.
