South Dakota to Virginia: home inspector license reciprocity

1. 1Application fee. Pay the application fee ($80). Initial home inspector application fee, set by 18VAC15-40-50. The same $80 applies whether you file the ordinary license application or the universal license recognition application. Application fees are not refundable. From 1 July 2026 until 30 June 2030 certain Department fees also carry a separate technology fee of $7.25 per year, enacted by the 2026 session's House Bill 30 and used only to replace the Department's licensing software..
2. 2Insurance. Carry the required insurance ($250,000). General liability insurance with minimum limits of $250,000 per occurrence, required of every applicant by 18VAC15-40-30 G. A business liability policy or a commercial general liability policy at the same limits may be accepted so long as you are listed as an additional insured, and if the Board cannot satisfy itself that you are sufficiently covered it may require coverage in your own name. A copy of the policy goes in with the application, and the license is not issued until that proof is on file. Virginia does not require errors and omissions cover, a surety bond or a net-worth test of home inspectors; general liability is the whole of the financial responsibility requirement..
3. 3Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam (if applicable). The National Home Inspector Examination, provided by the Examination Board of Professional Home Inspectors and administered in Virginia by PSI, is the only board-approved examination. Va. Code § 54.1-517.2 A 2 c requires the Board's approved examination and 18VAC15-40-32 A 1 names the National Home Inspector Examination as that examination. It is marked optional here because it is exactly what the two out-of-state routes can remove: universal license recognition treats your out-of-state license as fulfilling Virginia's qualifications, and 18VAC15-40-34 lets the Board waive 18VAC15-40-32 in full. Anyone who qualifies under neither route sits it. Virginia writes no state law-and-rules paper of its own for home inspectors, and the Board publishes no examination fee — the examination is booked and paid for through the examination provider..
4. 4Other. Qualifying points under 18VAC15-40-32: at least 15 in total, with at least five from the education table and five from the experience table. Education counts a 35-hour board-approved prelicense course at 5 points and a 70-hour one at 10, a three-credit-hour college class in home inspection at 5, and shorter related coursework at 1 point each within caps. Experience counts a month of full-time work at 2 points to a maximum of 12, every five home inspections at 1 point to a maximum of 12, a year of teaching at 2 points, and Virginia contractor, architect, engineer or building code official credentials at 1 to 2 points each. A month of full-time experience means at least 146 hours or 18 workdays. These points are what the two out-of-state routes are meant to replace. (if applicable).
5. 5Application fee. Pay the application fee ($80) (if applicable). Initial New Residential Structures specialty application, set by 18VAC15-40-50 and filed on its own form. It is optional only in the sense that you need it solely if you intend to inspect new homes; without it, 18VAC15-40-20 B puts any inspection of a new residential structure, including any course-of-construction inspection, out of bounds. You must already hold, or be applying for, a current and valid Virginia home inspector license..
6. 6Other. New Residential Structures training module: a board-approved module of at least eight contact hours, completed no more than two years before you apply for the specialty. The syllabus covers the origin and scope of the Virginia Residential Code, exemptions and compliance alternatives, code official discretion, the amendment process, violations and enforcement, and the respective roles of the building code official and the home inspector. The module also counts toward the 16 continuing education hours for the renewal cycle in which it is taken. (if applicable).
7. 7Background check. Complete a background check. Disclosure rather than fingerprinting. Under 18VAC15-40-30 D and Va. Code § 54.1-204 an applicant must disclose all misdemeanor convictions except marijuana convictions within three years of the application date, and all felony convictions, filing a Criminal Conviction Reporting Form where either applies. The Board may deny a license on that history. Applicants must also report any disciplinary action taken against them by any local, state or national regulatory body on a Disciplinary Action Reporting Form..
8. 8License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($45). Home inspector renewal, set by 18VAC15-40-50 and due every two years; the license expires two years from the last day of the month in which it was issued. Renewal costs $90 where the New Residential Structures specialty is held. There is a 30-day grace period in which the license may be renewed without penalty; after that the license must be reinstated, at $125, or $170 with the specialty. The date the Board receives the payment is what counts, not the postmark..
9. 9Continuing education. Complete continuing education. 16 contact hours of continuing professional education per two-year renewal cycle, under 18VAC15-40-72. A contact hour is 50 minutes. Classroom, distance learning and online delivery all count, but the subject matter is limited to the content areas covered by the board-approved examination and the topics listed in 18VAC15-40-73, and the same course cannot be claimed twice in one cycle. Proof is filed only if you are audited: the Board audits 25 percent of expiring licenses every six months. Holders of the New Residential Structures specialty must also complete a board-approved NRS continuing education course of at least four contact hours each cycle, and that proof must go in with the renewal rather than wait for an audit; those four hours count toward the 16..

Published fees on this path total $125, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.