Virginia Certified Home Inspector Certification Requirements
Legislation Overview
The commonwealth recently joined some twenty-five sister states in enacting legislation affecting home inspections. This new law, effective July 1, 2003, provides for the voluntary state certification of inspectors who perform "certified inspections." The law defines a certified home inspection and establishes minimum eligibility requirements for a certified home inspector.

Minimum standards for a certified home inspection mirror closely the Standard of Practice and Code of Ethics of the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI). They include requirements for:

Conduct - A certified inspector is not to:

• Design or perform repairs or modifications on inspected property as a result of inspection findings within 12 months of the inspection
• Inspect properties on which he has designed or performed repairs or modification within 12 months
• Refer client to another party for repairs or modifications within 12 months
• Represent the financial interests of either party
• Disclose findings w/out consent of client except in the imminent endangerment of life or health
• Accept compensation from more than one interested party w/out the consent of all parties
• Accept nor offer compensation from parties dealing with client
• Enter into financial relationship that may compromise inspector's commitment to the interest of the client
• Use the inspection as a tool to obtain work in another field except for additional diagnostic inspection or testing

A written contract including:

• The inspector's demographic information
• The inspector's certificate number and expiration date
• Client's name
• Property address
• Cost and method of payment
• Listing of areas, systems, and components to be inspected
• Exclusions
• Report delivery date
• Signatures of inspector and client
• Disclosure statement that inspection is based on visual observation of existing conditions and is not to be construed as a guarantee, warranty, or any kind of insurance

A written report including:

• Certificate number and expiration date
• Client demographics
• Property address
• Date, start & finish times, and weather conditions
• Findings

Regulations
Among other requirements, every applicant for an individual home inspector certification shall have the following qualifications:

1. The applicant shall be at least 18 years old.

2. The applicant shall meet the following educational and experience requirements:
    a. High school diploma or equivalent; and
    b. One of the following:
      (1) Completed 35 contact hours of classroom instruction and have
      completed a minimum of 100 home inspections; or
      (2) Complete 70 hours of classroom instruction and have completed a minimum of 50 home
       inspections.

      Instruction courses shall cover the content areas of the board-approved examinations.

      An applicant who cannot fulfill the classroom instruction requirement as outlined in this subsection may substitute a minimum of 10 years of experience as a home inspector to satisfy this requirement. The experience substitution is subject to board review and approval.

3. The applicant shall have passed a written competency examination approved by the board.

4. The board may accept proof of membership in good standing in a national or state professional home inspectors association approved by the board as satisfaction of subdivision 1, 2, and 3 of this section, provided that the requrements for the applicant's class of membership in such association are equal to or exceed the requirements established by the board for all applicants.

5. The applicant shall have a good reputatuion for honesty, truthfulness, and fair dealing, and be competent to transact the business of a home inspector in such a manner as to safeguard the interests of the public.

6. The applicant shall... (for entire text of the regulations)

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