Ohio to Rhode Island: home inspector license reciprocity

1. 1Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam. The National Home Inspector Examination, which Rhode Island's rules call the national home inspectors' examination and treat as the Board-approved competency examination. It is 200 multiple-choice questions in four hours, 25 of them unscored pretest items, delivered by PSI at computer test centers, and the Board's application page asks simply for proof of completing a PSI exam. The statute allows it to have been passed before you apply and before Rhode Island's license existed, so an out-of-state licensee who already holds a passing result does not sit it again. Retakes are unlimited with a 30-day wait between attempts. Rhode Island writes no separate law-and-rules examination on top of it..
2. 2Exam fee. Pay the exam fee ($225). Examination fee, paid directly to PSI rather than to the Board, as published in the candidate handbook the Board hosts on its own site. It is charged for each registration, first sitting or retake, is not refundable or transferable, and is forfeited if you do not test within one year of PSI receiving it. The Board's general rules say testing dates, locations and fees are posted on its website, so confirm the current figure before paying. Nothing is due here if you already hold a passing result from the origin state..
3. 3License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($200). License fee, fixed by R.I.G.L. 5-65.1-9(a) at $200 for the home inspector license and for every renewal, with the license valid for two years by statute. The same $200 applies to the associate tier. Payment goes to the Board by card through its OpenGov portal or by check payable to RICRLB; the Board does not accept cash. Renewing after expiry adds a $50 late fee, and a license left lapsed for more than six months has to be applied for again from the start, examination included..
4. 4Insurance. Carry the required insurance ($500,000). General liability insurance of $500,000 in the aggregate, required of every licensed home inspector and associate home inspector by R.I.G.L. 5-65.1-10(a). The certificate is filed with the Board naming RICRLB as certificate holder and must be valid from the day the license is issued until it expires. Cover carried by a corporation, partnership or franchise counts if the inspector is a contracted employee specifically covered by that policy. The policy must state that it cannot be canceled or non-renewed without at least 10 days' written notice to the Board, and letting it lapse causes immediate loss of the license..
5. 5Insurance. Carry the required insurance ($500,000). Errors and omissions insurance of $500,000 in the aggregate. Rhode Island requires E&O outright rather than as one of several alternatives: R.I.G.L. 5-65.1-10(a) requires this certificate and the general liability certificate from every licensee at both tiers, and the Board's application and renewal checklists ask for both. It carries the same filing duty, the same 10-day cancellation notice and the same immediate loss of license if it lapses. No home inspection contract may limit the inspector's liability below these policy limits, and any such clause written on or after 1 September 2016 is void by statute..
6. 6Insurance. Carry the required insurance (if applicable). Workers' compensation insurance, required only if you have employees. The certificate names RICRLB as certificate holder and is filed with the application and again at each renewal. An inspector working alone does not file one..
7. 7Continuing education. Complete continuing education. 12 credit hours of Board-approved continuing education during each two-year license period, as a condition of renewal. At least one hour must be on professional ethics and at least one on standards of practice; the rest must relate to home inspection practice or to the licensee's business, such as report writing, building codes, business procedures or particular systems and components. One credit hour means fifty minutes of instruction by a Board-approved provider, and the Board publishes the list of approved 12-hour courses. A one-time six-month deferral within a two-year cycle can be requested for a $100 fee..
8. 8Business license. Obtain a business license (if applicable). If you will trade through an LLC, corporation or other incorporated entity, that entity registers with the Rhode Island Secretary of State and you supply its Business Identification Number with the application. The license itself stays personal to the individual. A company may operate as an inspection company only while a licensed home inspector is continuously engaged in supervising its inspections..
9. 9Other. One hundred home inspections performed for compensation, documented on the application. This is the requirement an out-of-state license replaces under R.I.G.L. 5-65.1-8, so an applicant admitted on a substantially equivalent license does not supply it. A first-time Rhode Island applicant who cannot show them has two other ways through: a year as a licensed associate home inspector with 100 compensated inspections behind it, or five years in good standing as a registered or licensed contractor in any state. (if applicable).
10. 10Other. Identification, and disclosure duties once licensed. The application takes a clear copy of a government-issued photo ID. The Board issues an identification card with the license, and the license number goes on all advertising proposals, contracts, inspection reports and invoices, displayed conspicuously. Every written report must tell the client that complaints about the inspection may be directed to the Board, give the Board's current address and telephone number, and disclose where an associate home inspector performed the inspection..

Published fees on this path total $425, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.