How to Become a Home Inspector

The Home Inspection industry offers exciting opportunities.

Home Inspectors provide piece of mind to people who are serious about buying a new home. The advice of a qualified inspector can save families thousands of dollars and years of headaches.

The Home Inspection industry offers exciting new opportunities, with many inspectors retiring and the average annual gross income over $70,000. Also, the industry is currently estimated to be worth $1.3 billion a year and is expected to surpass $2 billion a year in the next 10 years.

Your Day-to-Day Tasks Will Include:

Checking such exterior items as:

• Foundations
• Wall coverings, flashing and trim
• Doors and windows
• Attached decks, balconies, stoops, steps, porches and railings
• Eaves, soffits and fascias if they are accessible from ground level
• Vegetation, grading, surface drainage and retaining walls if they might adversely affect the building
• Walkways, patios and driveways.
• Roof covering, drainage systems, flashings and roof penetrations such as skylights and chimneys.

Or interior items such as:

• Plumbing systems (for example, water supply and distribution systems, fixtures and faucets, drains, vents, water heating equipment)
• Electrical systems (for example, service equipment and main disconnects, panels, conductors, over-current protection devices, a sampling of fixtures, switches and receptacles)
• Heating and air conditioning systems and fireplaces
• Walls, ceilings, floors, stairs, railings and a representative sampling of cabinets
• Insulation and ventilation.

Where to Study:

You can get started by getting trained at schools like:

• Stratford Career Institute
• Carson Dunlop

Where the jobs Are:

This is an expanding profession, so now is a great time to get trained. You can either align yourself with a good company, or go into business for yourself and become self-employed.