Moving to Illinois as a home inspector: every state's rule

Illinois licenses home inspectors statewide. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation runs the profession through its Division of Real Estate under the Home Inspector License Act, 225 ILCS 441, and 68 Ill. Adm. Code 1410, and a license is needed before anyone may perform a home inspection for compensation, prepare a home inspection report, or use the title home inspector. There is one tier and no apprentice, associate or trainee grade below it, so Home Inspector is the only credential an arriving inspector applies for. Illinois also issues a second, related credential that is easy to miss: the Home Inspector Entity license, held by the business rather than the person. A corporation, limited liability company or partnership that provides home inspections must hold an entity license of its own, designate a managing licensed home inspector, and pay its own $250 fee, so an inspector who intends to trade through a company needs both licenses; the entity license is not required where the business is a sole proprietorship, single-member LLC or single-shareholder corporation owned by the one licensed inspector who performs all its inspections, or a company co-owned only with that inspector's unlicensed spouse. Every applicant and licensee carries general liability insurance of at least $100,000, and both the individual and the entity license expire on 30 November of even-numbered years.