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

Nebraska does not license home inspectors, but it does require them to register with the state, and that registration is mandatory rather than optional. Since January 1, 2023, sections 76-3601 to 76-3606 of the Nebraska Revised Statutes have made it unlawful to conduct a home inspection for compensation in Nebraska without first registering with the Secretary of State's Licensing Division, and a violation is a Class IV misdemeanor. The registration is an administrative filing, not a qualification: an applicant gives the name of the individual or legal entity, the address of the home office, an agent for service of process, and any national home inspection certification currently held, and files a $300 fee with a certificate of insurance showing at least $250,000 of general liability coverage that stays in force for the whole term. There is no examination, no required coursework, no experience threshold, no continuing education and no background check. National certification is disclosed if the inspector has it and is not required if the inspector does not. The registration runs two years, renewal may be filed in the 45 days before it expires, and any change to the registered information has to be reported within 45 calendar days. Because the whole scheme turns on filing rather than on qualifications, an inspector arriving with an out-of-state license is in exactly the same position as a Nebraska beginner: the license does not shorten anything, and nothing about it can be transferred. What Nebraska licenses instead sits around the edges of the job. The Department of Health and Human Services credentials asbestos, lead-based paint and radon work along with the registered environmental health specialist, so an inspector cannot bolt any of those services onto a home inspection without the matching credential, and the Department of Labor runs a separate statewide contractor registration tied to workers' compensation coverage that reaches anyone who also does work on someone else's real property.