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

Washington licenses home inspectors statewide. The Department of Licensing issues the license and runs the program on the advice of the Home Inspector Advisory Licensing Board, and since 1 September 2009 nobody may act as, advertise as or hold themselves out as a home inspector in Washington without one. The Department puts it plainly: the license is needed by anyone who examines the condition of a home for a fee. It is worth being clear about how much more this is than Washington asks of the people who build the houses — construction contractors merely register with the Department of Labor and Industries under chapter 18.27 RCW, on an application that asks for a business identifier, workers' compensation coverage and the names of the principals but sets no examination and no coursework at all — while a home inspector must complete 120 classroom hours, do 40 hours of supervised field training and pass a two-part written examination. There is a single license grade with no apprentice, associate or trainee tier below it. Washington requires no insurance and no bond of a home inspector, but the law does bar the inspector, and anyone at the same company, from doing any work other than inspection-related consultation on a house for a year after the report. Licenses run two years and expire on the licensee's second birthday following issuance.