Minnesota to Tennessee: home inspector license reciprocity

1. 1Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam. The National Home Inspector Examination, developed by the Examination Board of Professional Home Inspectors and adopted by name in rule 0780-05-12-.04(2)(f) as Tennessee's competency examination. Tennessee sets no examination of its own beside it and no separate law-and-rules paper, and its exam page sends candidates straight to the national examination's own scheduling service. A pass is valid for five years from the date of completion for Tennessee licensing purposes. Because the rule names the examination rather than a vendor, a change in the company delivering it would not change which examination Tennessee requires..
2. 2Exam fee. Pay the exam fee. The examination fee is paid to whoever administers the National Home Inspector Examination, not to the department. Tennessee does not publish the amount: rule 0780-05-12-.06(3) leaves it to the contract with the entity designated to administer the examination, and no figure appears on the program's fee schedule. Check the current price when you register through the examination's own scheduling service..
3. 3Other. Education. A first-time applicant completes 90 hours of commissioner-approved training in the performance of home inspections and the preparation of home inspection reports. An applicant who holds an active license in another state may instead show 32 hours of commissioner-approved continuing education, which is the one genuine concession in the out-of-state route. Either way the course must be on the program's approved list, which can be filtered by course type, credit hour and provider, and a course hour counts as 50 minutes of teaching in each 60-minute segment. A copy of your high school diploma or GED certificate goes in with the application..
4. 4Application fee. Pay the application fee ($300). Non-refundable initial application fee, filed with the Initial Home Inspector License application through the department's CORE system at core.tn.gov. The rules break the same $300 into a $100 application fee and a $200 initial license fee. An application that is missing information is not rejected outright but held in pending status for a reasonable period of no more than 60 days from the date of application, and an application may be withdrawn without a refund..
5. 5Insurance. Carry the required insurance ($500,000). General liability insurance of at least $500,000, held and kept in force by every active licensee. Proof goes in on a standard Accord certificate with your first and last name in either the Insured or the Description of Operations section, and the certificate must carry a real policy number, because the program will not accept a policy number given as TBA. The State of Tennessee is named as certificate holder, addressed to the Tennessee Home Inspector Licensing Program, 500 James Robertson Parkway, Nashville, TN 37243. Cover must be valid and current on the day you apply, any change of carrier, term, dates, expiry or termination is reported within 30 days, and failing to keep the insurance continuously in force is a ground for discipline..
6. 6Insurance. Carry the required insurance. Errors and omissions insurance covering all home inspection activities. Tennessee requires it of every active licensee, and it sits on top of the general liability policy rather than replacing it, but the amount is yours to choose: the Act leaves both figures to the commissioner, the commissioner has set a minimum for general liability only, and the program states plainly that no minimum limit is specified for errors and omissions. The same Accord-format proof, real policy number and State of Tennessee certificate holder rules apply, and it must be current when you apply and kept in force afterwards..
7. 7Background check. Complete a background check. The application asks you to satisfy the commissioner that you have not been convicted of a crime with a direct bearing on your ability to perform competently and fully as a licensee, and that you are not the subject of a disciplinary or enforcement action by another state or a local jurisdiction over home inspections or the licensing of home inspectors. This is the statutory screen in T.C.A. 62-6-305 rather than a fingerprint check, and the letter of good standing an inbound applicant files is what evidences the second limb..
8. 8License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($200). Biennial renewal fee for an active license. The license expires two years from the date it was issued, and the renewal application, fee and education proof are filed no earlier than 120 days and no later than 30 days before that date. Miss it and you have 60 days to renew on payment of $25 for each month or fraction of a month late, which the program caps at $50; after 60 days the license is gone and you reapply and meet every initial requirement again, although the commissioner may waive re-examination if your exam was completed within the previous five years. Moving to inactive status costs $50, an inactive license renews for $50, and reactivating costs $200..
9. 9Continuing education. Complete continuing education. 32 hours of commissioner-approved continuing education in each two-year license period, evidenced by completion certificates and a log on the department's form; a transcript of credits is not accepted. Repeating a course in the same period earns the hours once, and a repeated course earns nothing within three years unless it has been significantly updated. If you live outside Tennessee and already meet your resident state's continuing education requirement, that counts here so long as the resident state's requirement is at least equivalent and you file a certificate from that state with the renewal in the same 120-to-30-day window. An inactive license needs no continuing education..
10. 10Other. A temporary practice permit of up to six months, for an applicant whose out-of-state home inspector license is active but is not treated as substantially equivalent, and whose spouse is an active member of the armed forces subject to a military transfer to Tennessee. It buys time to finish the education or examination, needs evidence of the spouse's service and transfer on top of the ordinary application, cannot be renewed, and ends on the earlier of six months or the issue of the full license. If the out-of-state license is revoked, suspended, refused renewal or restricted, the permit can go with it. (if applicable).
11. 11Other. Keep your paperwork. Every licensed home inspector retains original or true paper or electronic copies of all written contracts and agreements for home inspection services and of all home inspection reports for at least three years from the date of the inspection, and notifies the commissioner immediately of any change of name, trading name or business address..

Published fees on this path total $500, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.