Wisconsin to Indiana: home inspector license reciprocity

1. 1Application fee. Pay the application fee ($50). Application and issuance fee of $50, set by 878 IAC 1-3-1(b) and charged the same on the reciprocity route as on the examination route. It is not refundable and not transferable, and the online application takes it by credit or debit card. No separate issuance fee follows when the license is granted..
2. 2Insurance. Carry the required insurance ($100,000). General liability insurance of at least $100,000, required by IC 25-20.2-5-2(a)(4) and filed as a certificate of insurance with the application. Indiana is specific about how the certificate must read: the policy must come from an insurance company or other legal entity authorized to transact business in Indiana, it must name you personally as the insured rather than only your company, it must list the State of Indiana as an additional insured, it must show the Home Inspectors Licensing Board in the certificate holder section, and it must state that cancellation or nonrenewal does not take effect until the Board has had at least ten days prior written notice. Proof of the cover is required again at every renewal. Indiana does not require errors and omissions insurance or a bond; the statute asks for general liability or other evidence of financial responsibility acceptable to the Board..
3. 3Other. A board approved pre-licensing course: not fewer than 60 hours, with a minimum of 40 hours of classroom training and a minimum of 12 hours of practical experience, from a provider the Board has approved. Practical experience means on-site inspection work or lab work involving hands-on or visual defect recognition of building systems and components. The course must cover heating, cooling, electrical and plumbing systems, structural components, foundations, roof coverings, exterior and interior, and Indiana licensure law and report writing, and the provider's own comprehensive examination is passed at 75% or better. A copy of the certificate of completion is filed with the application on the reciprocity route as well as the examination route. IC 25-20.2-5-3 allows the Board to waive the other licensing requirements for an inbound applicant, but the Board publishes no waiver criteria and no waiver of this document, and it will not pre-approve a course you have already taken elsewhere before you apply..
4. 4Trade exam. Pass the destination's trade exam (if applicable). The National Home Inspector Examination, adopted by 878 IAC 1-3-3 as the examination for Indiana licensure. It is marked optional here because the requirement is met by filing a copy of the original score report, so an applicant who already sat it for another state's license does not sit it again. An applicant who has never taken it must pass it before Indiana will issue a license, and the Board names no alternative examination. Indiana adds no state paper on top: its licensure law is taught inside the pre-licensing course rather than examined separately..
5. 5Exam fee. Pay the exam fee (if applicable). The examination fee, payable only if you have to sit the National Home Inspector Examination. 878 IAC 1-3-1(a) provides that candidates pay it directly to the examination service rather than to the Board or the agency, and neither the Board nor the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency publishes the amount anywhere in its fee schedule or its rules. The Board's own Exam Information link points to nationalhomeinspectorexam.org, which is where the current fee and the scheduling rules are published..
6. 6Other. A written consent to Indiana jurisdiction, required by IC 25-20.2-5-4 of an applicant who is not an Indiana resident. You agree that any action arising out of your Indiana business may be brought in the county where the events occurred, you either give the Board the name and address of an Indiana agent for service of process or consent to the Board acting as your agent, and you accept service under the Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure as proper service. An inspector who will live in a neighboring state and work across the line needs this; an inspector moving into Indiana does not. (if applicable).
7. 7Background check. Complete a background check. Disclosure rather than fingerprinting. The application asks four disclosure questions, and any "Yes" answer must be explained in a signed statement or affidavit setting out the event, its location, date, cause number and disposition, with copies of the court or agency documents for each instance and, for a malpractice judgment, the name of the plaintiff. The statutory bars are in IC 25-20.2-5-2(a)(1)(C): conviction of an act that would ground discipline under IC 25-1-11, conviction of a crime bearing directly on the ability to perform competently as a licensee, listing on a national or state sex or violent offender registry, and being the subject of a disciplinary or enforcement action elsewhere in connection with home inspections. Neither the statute nor the Board's rules require a fingerprint card or a criminal history record check..
8. 8License fee. Pay the license or certificate fee ($50). Biennial renewal of the home inspector license, $50 under 878 IAC 1-3-1(c). Every home inspector license in Indiana expires on 1 October of odd-numbered years whatever date it was issued, and renewal opens about 90 days ahead. Continuing education and current proof of liability insurance are both required to renew. A license renewed after expiry costs the $50 renewal plus a $50 penalty; one expired more than three years is reinstated for $100 and needs 32 hours of continuing education taken in the previous 24 months, a pass on the National Home Inspector Examination and a current $100,000 certificate of insurance..
9. 9Continuing education. Complete continuing education. Not less than 32 hours of continuing education in each biennial renewal period, under 878 IAC 1-5-1. At least 75% of the hours must be Category I - heating, cooling, electrical and plumbing systems, structural components, foundations, roof coverings, and exterior and interior components - and at most 25% may be Category II, which covers other site aspects affecting a dwelling and business subjects such as contract writing, ethics, report writing and legal liability. Hours must fall inside the renewal period and cannot be carried over, and records are kept for two years afterwards. An inspector licensed for at least 12 but under 24 months before the first renewal takes 16 hours instead, and one licensed under 12 months takes none. Continuing education completed for a state with which a reciprocal agreement exists, where you also hold a home inspector license, may be applied toward the Indiana requirement..

Published fees on this path total $100, excluding exam-vendor fees, bonds, and insurance.