Minnesota to New Hampshire: home inspector license reciprocity
Minnesota does not issue a statewide home inspector license, so there is nothing to transfer. Here is New Hampshire's standard path for out-of-state applicants.
Your origin state does not issue a statewide license at this level, so there is no license to transfer. The destination's standard out-of-state path is shown; expect to meet it in full.
Reference only, not legal advice. Rules change; confirm with the licensing board before you apply. Full disclaimer.
Licensure by endorsement (every state)
Your out-of-state credentials give no advantage. You meet the destination's requirements from scratch.
New Hampshire publishes no named-state reciprocity for home inspectors and keeps no list of partner states. RSA 310:17 instead directs the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification to license anyone who presents evidence of an active license in good standing from a jurisdiction whose requirements are substantially similar to New Hampshire's, and rule Plc 313.29 says what substantially similar means for this profession: the jurisdiction that licensed you must require its inspectors to complete an education or experience requirement. That one line is the whole test, and it is the same whichever state you come from. An applicant who meets it sits no New Hampshire examination, because the state writes none of its own, and files the Universal Application for Initial License through the Office's portal with primary source verification from the issuing board, the criminal records check and the fee. Plc 313.06 makes the grant mandatory once those items are in, and the Office issues a provisional license so you can work while the background check is still outstanding.
New Hampshire does not publish which jurisdictions it treats as substantially similar; the Office makes that determination on your application, in consultation with the board. If your jurisdiction does not meet the Plc 313.29 criterion, Plc 313.11 lets you ask for a waiver under Plc 211 on the strength of a combination of education, training and actual work experience as a licensed professional. Two other doors exist. The board's own rule Home 304.01 carries an older reciprocity route for candidates licensed or registered in a state that both grants reciprocity to New Hampshire residents and sets requirements substantially equivalent to or higher than New Hampshire's; under that rule the verification of licensure or examination is sent to the board directly by the verifying state. Anyone who qualifies under neither can apply the ordinary way, which means 80 hours of board-approved education, a high school diploma or its equivalent, and a pass on the National Home Inspector Examination. A license granted by endorsement is a full license: it runs two years and carries the same continuing education, insurance and conduct obligations as any other.
At a glance
- Trade exam
- Waived
- Law / code exam
- Not required
- Out-of-state hours
- Count toward eligibility
What you must already have
- Your Minnesota license must be active and in good standing.Plc 313.10(d) defines the licensing jurisdiction to include a county, county-equivalent or municipal government where that level of government, rather than the state, issues the license, so a city or county home inspector license from a state that does not license at state level can support a New Hampshire endorsement application. A license issued outside the United States and its territories is also eligible, but Plc 313.12 requires an evaluation of the credentials by a member of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services or the Association of International Credentials Evaluators.
- The jurisdiction that licensed you must itself require inspectors to complete an education or experience requirement. That is the entire substantial-similarity test New Hampshire sets for this profession under Plc 313.29. It names no state, sets no minimum number of hours, years or inspections, and does not require that the jurisdiction examine its applicants.Plc 313.10(c) adds that the license you hold must have been obtained by substantive qualification, meaning by showing the issuing jurisdiction that you met its own education, training and examination requirements. A license you yourself obtained by endorsement or reciprocity from a third state does not count.
- If your jurisdiction does not meet that criterion, you may still ask the Office to waive it under Plc 313.11 and Plc 211, on the strength of a combination of education, training and actual work experience as a licensed professional. A refusal does not shut the door either: Plc 313.06(f) says denial of a license by endorsement does not automatically mean denial of an ordinary license applied for under Plc 304.
What you'll do to get licensed in New Hampshire
- 1Application fee. Pay the application fee ($220). One combined application processing and licensing fee of $220 covers the two-year license, under Plc 1002.20 and Table 1002.20 effective 1 July 2025. The same $220 is charged for an initial license, a renewal or a reinstatement after expiration, so there is no separate license fee to pay once the application is granted. Active military applicants and military spouses are exempt from it under Plc 304.02(a). The board's own older rule, Home 301.04, still shows a $200 application fee and a $200 biennial renewal; the Office's fee table is the current figure. No extra fee is charged for the provisional license issued while a criminal records check is pending..
- 2Background check. Complete a background check. A criminal history record check. RSA 310-A:190, I(e) requires every applicant to submit a public criminal history record information authorization form provided by the New Hampshire State Police, and the applicant bears the cost of the check itself. RSA 310:17, I applies the same requirement to an applicant coming in by endorsement. Under Plc 313.06(c) the Office issues a provisional license that lets you practice in New Hampshire while the results are outstanding, and converts it to a regular license when they come back clear..
- 3Insurance. Carry the required insurance. Proof of liability insurance, required of every applicant by RSA 310-A:191, II(d) and filed again at each renewal and at reinstatement. Home 301.03(b) says what the proof must show: the name and address of the insurance company, the name and address of the certificate holder, the category of coverage and the minimum amounts of coverage, and the policy's cancellation terms. New Hampshire sets no dollar minimum. Neither the statute nor the board's rules name a figure or a per-occurrence limit, and neither says whether the cover must be general liability or errors and omissions, so bring the certificate for the policy you carry and ask the Office before you buy if you need the point settled..
- 4Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam (if applicable). The National Home Inspector Examination, created and graded by the Examination Board of Professional Home Inspectors and delivered on computer at NHIE test centers. Rule Home 303.01 adopts it as New Hampshire's only examination, in line with RSA 310-A:187, II, which tells the board to adopt a single independent nationally recognized proctored examination. New Hampshire writes no paper of its own on top of it: there is no jurisprudence, law or standards-of-practice exam in the statute or the rules. It is marked optional here because the endorsement route under RSA 310:17 and Plc 313.29 calls for no examination at all. Anyone applying the ordinary way instead needs the NHIE pass, and a pass already earned while licensing in another state counts..
- 5Other. For the ordinary route rather than endorsement: at least 80 hours of board-approved education covering all nine components RSA 310-A:190, I(a) lists, which are heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical systems, structural components, foundations, roof coverings, exterior and interior components, and site aspects as they affect the building. Board-approved courses also carry New Hampshire's own RSA 310-A and the Home 100-600 rules. The same section adds a high school diploma or its equivalent and a minimum age of 18. None of this is asked of an applicant licensed by endorsement, whose education and experience are taken as met by the jurisdiction that licensed them. (if applicable).
- 6Continuing education. Complete continuing education. At least 20 hours of board-approved continuing education in each two-year renewal period, under RSA 310-A:192 and Home 403.01(c). One of the 20 hours must be a board-approved course on building regulations, including any recent revisions to them; the rest may be technical, ethical or managerial as long as it is relevant to the practice of home inspection. Credit runs at one hour per contact hour, teaching a qualifying course earns double credit for the first delivery only, and service on a state or national licensing board is capped at 6 hours. The renewal form carries a signed attestation that the hours are done, backed by the board's Continuing Education Activity Log..
Published fees on this path total $220, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.
What you'll need to buy or arrange
Liability insurance
Some states require proof of general liability or workers' compensation coverage at licensing time.
- Insurance
Exam preparation
Most boards contract PSI, Prov, or ICC for exams. Check which code edition the exam is written to before buying a prep course.
- Trade exam · if applicable
- Other · if applicable
Continuing education
Renewals usually need approved CE hours, often on the latest NEC. Reciprocal licensees are rarely exempt.
- Continuing education
How New Hampshire licenses home inspectors
New Hampshire home inspector · “Licensed Home Inspector”
Statewide license
Issued by Board of Home Inspectors (NH Office of Professional Licensure and Certification)
New Hampshire licenses home inspectors statewide. The Board of Home Inspectors is one of the boards supported by the Office of Professional Licensure and Certification, and since 1 January 2010 no one may practice as a home inspector or conduct home inspections in the state without a license from it. There is a single tier: New Hampshire has no apprentice, associate or trainee home inspector grade and never has had one, so there is no junior license to arrive into and no sponsor to find. This is also one of the few construction-side credentials the state issues at all, because New Hampshire licenses no general or residential contractors and regulates the building trades one by one. The license runs two years, every applicant files proof of liability insurance and consents to a state police criminal history record check, and renewal turns on 20 hours of continuing education.
Why Minnesota has nothing to transfer
Minnesota home inspector · “Truth-in-Sale of Housing Evaluator”
Licensed by cities and counties
Minnesota issues no statewide home inspector license, so there is no state credential to apply for, no state examination and nothing to transfer from another state, and a buyer's home inspection can be performed anywhere in Minnesota by anyone. Chapter 326B of the statutes carries every construction credential the Department of Labor and Industry issues — the state building code and its building officials and construction code inspectors, elevators, electrical, plumbing, water conditioning, high pressure piping, boilers, contractor registration, and the residential trades licenses for residential building contractors, remodelers, roofers and manufactured home installers — and no section of it creates a home inspector license; a 2006 bill that would have added one was not enacted. Where a credential does exist it is issued by a city, not by the state: Minneapolis, Saint Paul and Bloomington each require a pre-sale evaluation of the home before it can be marketed, and each will accept that evaluation only from an evaluator it has licensed itself. Saint Paul's license is the demanding one and it is the one place in Minnesota where the National Home Inspector Examination counts: an applicant must already hold a passed NHIE before being admitted to the city's own written test, then pass a practical evaluation of a test house, carry insurance and pay an annual license fee. What binds an inspector doing ordinary unlicensed work is general law: the Prevention of Consumer Fraud Act makes unlawful any fraud, unfair or unconscionable practice, false promise, misrepresentation or deceptive practice in connection with the sale of merchandise, which the statute defines to include services, and Minn. Stat. section 8.31, subdivision 3a lets an injured person sue for damages, costs, investigation costs, reasonable attorney's fees and equitable relief. Beyond that it is the written pre-inspection agreement and ordinary contract and negligence law that set the duty owed, because Minnesota has enacted no statutory standard of care for home inspectors and no statute governing the content or form of a private inspection report. Two adjacent credentials matter in practice. Radon is licensed: since January 1, 2019 the Minnesota Radon Licensing Act has required an annual license from the commissioner of health for anyone who tests for radon for compensation, as a measurement professional, and separately for mitigation professionals, mitigation companies and analysis laboratories, so an inspector cannot add a radon test to the job without one. And any repair, remodeling or roofing work that comes out of a report belongs to a licensed residential building contractor, remodeler or roofer under chapter 326B, or to the state's licensed electrical, plumbing, mechanical and high pressure piping trades.
How local licensing works in Minnesota
No Minnesota city licenses "home inspectors" as such, and no license of any kind is needed to perform a private buyer's home inspection anywhere in the state. What several Twin Cities municipalities license is the evaluator who performs the pre-sale housing evaluation their own ordinances make compulsory, and each license is good only in the city that issued it — there is no reciprocity between them and none of them substitutes for another. In Minneapolis the seller must schedule a Truth in Sale of Housing evaluation before the house is shown, must hire an evaluator licensed by the City, and must display the report at showings; the City licenses evaluators on a January-to-December year, requires a certificate of insurance to receive the license and 18 approved continuing education credits each year to keep it, holds evaluators to a published code of ethics, and can suspend or revoke a license for breaching it. Evaluations performed on an expired license or without current insurance are rejected and returned. The program and the evaluator's duties sit in Title 12 of the Minneapolis Code of Ordinances, chapter 248, alongside chapter 244 (maintenance code) and chapter 250 (condominium conversions). In Saint Paul the evaluation must be completed before the property is marketed, it covers single family homes, duplexes, condominiums and townhomes, and it may only be done by an evaluator licensed by the City. Saint Paul is the one Minnesota authority that uses the National Home Inspector Examination: an applicant must already have passed the NHIE before being admitted to the city's own process, which is a $200 application, a closed-book written test of roughly 100 questions with a 75 percent pass mark, and then a practical evaluation of a test house judged as though it were a real client's. Passing both parts only makes the applicant eligible; the license itself also requires proof of insurance and a $110 annual fee that is not pro-rated. The requirements sit in Saint Paul Legislative Code chapter 189, and failing to comply with that chapter is a misdemeanor. Bloomington runs the same idea under a different name: a Time-of-Sale housing inspection and evaluation report must be filed for every single and two-family dwelling, condominium, townhouse and mobile home offered for sale, and a seller may use a City inspector or an independent evaluator holding a City of Bloomington Time of Sale license. That license is issued by the City Clerk's Business Licensing office, requires a Minnesota or federal business tax identification number and proof of workers' compensation coverage or a stated exemption, and requires the building official to verify 18 continuing education credits every year before renewal, with suspension, revocation or a civil penalty for working without them. Other metropolitan cities operate comparable pre-sale evaluation programs, and some, such as Richfield, use their own staff inspectors rather than licensing private evaluators at all, so an inspector planning to work across the metro should check each city's own program before taking the work. Outside those programs no Minnesota city license is required to inspect a home.
Common questions
- Do I have to take the New Hampshire home inspector exam if I'm licensed in Minnesota?
- No. The trade exam is waived on this path.
- What does it cost to get a New Hampshire home inspector license from Minnesota?
- Published fees on this path total $220, not counting exam vendor fees or bonds.
- Do my Minnesota work hours count in New Hampshire?
- Yes. Documented out-of-state experience counts toward New Hampshire's eligibility requirements.
- Does it work the other way, from New Hampshire to Minnesota?
- Not necessarily. Reciprocity is directed. Going from New Hampshire to Minnesota, the mechanism is not applicable.
Sources
- N.H. Code of Administrative Rules, Chapters Home 100-700 - Board of Home Inspectors · N.H. Code Admin. R. Home 301.02, 301.03, 301.04, 302.01, 302.03, 303.01, 304.01, 305.03, 401.02, 401.03, 401.05, 403.01, 403.03 · New Hampshire Board of Home Inspectors · Admin Rule · verified September 17, 2026
- Board of Home Inspectors - NH Office of Professional Licensure and Certification · New Hampshire Office of Professional Licensure and Certification · Agency Page · verified September 17, 2026
- N.H. Code of Administrative Rules, Plc 1002.20 - Fees for the profession regulated by the Board of Home Inspectors · N.H. Code Admin. R. Plc 1002.20, Table 1002.20 · New Hampshire Office of Professional Licensure and Certification · Admin Rule · verified September 17, 2026
- N.H. Code of Administrative Rules, Part Plc 313 - Licensure by Endorsement · N.H. Code Admin. R. Plc 313.01, 313.02, 313.03, 313.05, 313.06, 313.07, 313.08, 313.09, 313.10, 313.11, 313.12, 313.29 · New Hampshire Office of Professional Licensure and Certification · Admin Rule · verified September 17, 2026
- RSA 310:17 License Reciprocity · N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. 310:17 · New Hampshire General Court · Statute · verified September 17, 2026
- RSA 310-A, Home Inspectors subdivision (RSA 310-A:182 through 310-A:201) · N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. 310-A:182, :183, :184, :185, :186, :187, :189, :190, :191, :192, :193, :195, :196, :199, :201 · New Hampshire General Court · Statute · verified September 17, 2026
- National Home Inspector Examination - Exam Overview Packet · Examination Board of Professional Home Inspectors · Other · verified September 17, 2026
Verified dates are when a person last opened each source and confirmed the facts above. Cite the board, not us.