Washington to Alaska: home inspector license reciprocity

1. 1Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam. The National Home Inspector Examination, administered by the Examination Board of Professional Home Inspectors, is the examination Alaska accepts for existing-home registration, and the Division's application asks the applicant to certify to it by name. It is required of every existing-home applicant, including one already registered or licensed in another state, but it is not retaken by someone who has already passed it; a pass obtained anywhere counts. The score report must be sent to the Division directly by the examination organization. Where more than three years have passed since the sitting, the application must also carry proof of at least eight contact hours of acceptable continuing competency for the concluding two-year period..
2. 2Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam (if applicable). New-home registration, and joint registration covering both new and existing homes, require all four International Code Council residential certification examinations instead: Residential Building Inspector, Residential Electrical Inspector, Residential Mechanical Inspector and Residential Plumbing Inspector. No home inspection examination substitutes for them, and the National Home Inspector Examination does not count toward them. The scores must reach the Division directly from the International Code Council. This requirement applies only to an applicant who wants the new-home or joint category; an inspector registering for existing homes alone does not need any of the four..
3. 3Exam fee. Pay the exam fee. Examination fees are paid to the organization that administers the examination rather than to the Division, and the Division publishes no amount for either route. Check the current price with the Examination Board of Professional Home Inspectors for the National Home Inspector Examination, or with the International Code Council for the four residential inspector examinations, when you register..
4. 4Application fee. Pay the application fee ($100). Non-refundable application fee of $100, made payable to the State of Alaska and filed with the notarized application. It is not returned if the application is denied or abandoned. Adding a further category to a registration you already hold is a separate $30 fee..
5. 5License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($250). Registration fee of $250, paid with the application so that $350 goes in together. Unlike the application fee it can be refunded if the application is abandoned and you ask within 30 days of the Division's notice. The registration then runs to 30 June of the next even-numbered year and renews on that two-year cycle..
6. 6Surety bond. Post a surety bond ($10,000). A $10,000 surety bond running to the State of Alaska, filed in the applicant's own name with the bonding company's power of attorney on the Division's Surety Bond form 08-4971. It answers for taxes and contributions, for labor, materials and equipment, and for amounts adjudged against the inspector for negligent or improper work or breach of contract. Instead of the bond you may file a Time Certificate of Deposit issued for at least three years, automatically renewable, by a bank physically located in Alaska, or a cashier's check held in a non-interest-bearing State trust account. Cash security stays pledged for three years after the registration ends. A general or specialty contractor already bonded under the same chapter does not file a second bond..
7. 7Insurance. Carry the required insurance. A certificate of public liability and property damage insurance issued in the applicant's name, at limits of not less than $20,000 for damage to property, $50,000 for injury including death to any one person and $100,000 for injury including death to more than one person. It is filed on the Division's certificate of insurance form 08-4001d at application and again at each renewal. Alaska does not require errors and omissions cover for home inspectors, and there is no net worth alternative; what it requires instead is this liability policy together with the bond. If the insurance ceases to be in effect the registration is subject to suspension..
8. 8Insurance. Carry the required insurance (if applicable). Workers' compensation insurance, to the extent required by AS 23.30, bought from a private insurer admitted to do business in Alaska and showing coverage in Alaska with the appropriate employee classifications and rates, or a valid self-insurance certificate from the Alaska Workers' Compensation Board. This bites only where you have employees; a sole inspector working alone files the Division's Workers' Compensation Insurance Exemption form 08-4771 instead..
9. 9Surety bond. Post a surety bond ($10,000) (if applicable). An applicant or registrant who is employed by a registered home inspector already in compliance with the bonding requirement may file evidence of that employment instead of posting a bond or deposit of their own. This is an alternative to the $10,000 bond, not an extra requirement, and it only helps an inspector who is joining an established Alaska firm rather than setting up alone..
10. 10Business license. Obtain a business license. An Alaska business license, which the Division states home inspectors must also obtain. The application instructions add that a professional registration does not bypass the need for a business license and that the business license is obtained after the initial professional registration is issued. The status of the registration directly affects the status of the associated business license, and business licenses are renewed separately..
11. 11Continuing education. Complete continuing education. At least eight contact hours of acceptable continuing competency activity for each two-year licensing period, documented on renewal. For a first renewal it is four contact hours for each complete calendar year the registration was held, and nothing at all if it was held for less than a complete calendar year. An activity approved by the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, the University of Alaska, the ASHI Alaska Chapter, an Alaska chapter of the International Code Council, the Alaska State Home Building Association or a qualifying state agency counts without further approval. A registration lapsed for less than five years can be renewed on the continuing competency, or on passing the applicable examination within the last 12 months; one lapsed five years or more cannot be reinstated at all and a fresh application is needed..
12. 12Other. A notarized application, sworn before a notary, and a United States Social Security number on file with the Division before the registration is issued; an applicant without one files the Division's Request for Exemption from Social Security Number Requirement. Applications go stale after 12 months without correspondence and are then denied without prejudice, and any verification of licensure from another jurisdiction is treated as stale 12 months after the Division receives it, so time the paperwork so it all lands together..

Published fees on this path total $350, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.