This is the first level of licensure in the three-tier progression. To be eligible for licensure as an apprentice, the applicant must be 18 years of age or older; a citizen of the United States or a lawfully admitted alien; and a legal resident. The applicant must be able to pass a background check to determine the applicant’s honesty, trustworthiness and integrity.

Application must be on a form approved by and obtained from the Commission (it can also be obtained from the sponsor).

Apprentices must be sponsored by an existing Professional Inspector, and that Inspector must join the applicant in making the application. The Professional Inspector must accept responsibility for the Apprentice’s inspection activities.

Before an apprenticeship may be considered complete, the Apprentice Inspector must have been licensed for a minimum of 90 days and have performed 25 inspections under the direct supervision of the Professional Inspector or Real Estate Inspector under the supervision of the same licensed Professional Inspector. Even after completion of these requirements, an Apprentice Inspector may only perform under direct supervision.

To renew your license on ACTIVE status, you must have completed 16 classroom hours of commission-approved core/continuing education real estate inspection courses during each twelve month period between your most recent license expiration date and your next license expiration date. If your most recent license renewal was for one year, you need 16 classroom hours. If your license renewal is for two years, you need 32 classroom hours (16 hours during each of the two years).

Up to two years after license expiration, an individual can file another application for a license with no additional examination required; however, at least 16 hours of commission-approved core real estate inspection courses are required.

The intermediate level of your Texas real estate licensing process in the three-tier progression is the obtaining of a license as a Real Estate Inspector. To obtain this license an applicant must verify having completed the apprenticeship requirements described above as well as 90 classroom hours in “core real estate Inspection courses.”

Application must be made on a form approved by and obtained from the Commission (it can also be obtained from the sponsor). Just as with an Apprentice Inspector license, an applicant for a Real Estate Inspector license must be sponsored by an existing Professional Inspector, and that Inspector must join the applicant in making the Real Estate Inspector License application and accept responsibility for the applicant’s inspection activities.

Upon processing the application for a Real Estate Inspector license and becoming eligible to take the examination, the applicant will receive a document called a Candidate Information Brochure (CIB). This CIB will provide all the information and instructions for making a reservation to take the examination. The CIB also contains study materials and instructions about licensing. Upon successful completion of the examination and prior to issuance of a license, the applicant must pay a fee of $100 into the Real Estate Inspection Recovery Fund, which exists to compensate persons who successfully sue a real estate inspector and then find inadequate attachable financial resources to satisfy the judgment.

The fund is not and should not substitute for liability insurance or errors and omission insurance which the inspector might be wise to carry. A Real Estate Inspector license permits the holder to perform real estate inspections under “indirect supervision” of the licensed Professional Inspector. Before applying for the final stage of licensure, a Real Estate Inspector must have completed a minimum of 12 months of such licensure and performed a minimum of 175 inspections in addition to those performed while an Apprentice Inspector.

The third level of licensure in the three-tier progression is filing to become a licensed Professional Inspector. An applicant for a license as a Professional Inspector must complete 38 classroom hours of core real estate inspection course work including a minimum of 8 hours in the study of standards of practice, legal issues, or ethics related to the profession of real estate inspections. These 38 hours are in addition to those completed to meet licensure requirements for a Real Estate Inspector.

Application must be made on a form approved by and obtained from the Commission. This application will include a log for the 175 inspections which must also be verified by the Professional Inspector under whom the applicant trained.

After the application is processed, the applicant will receive a Candidate Information Brochure (CIB) to take a second higher level examination. Upon successful completion of the examination, the applicant will be issued a document showing that the applicant is a licensed Professional Inspector. From and after that time the Inspector may voluntarily associate with any other inspector but will no longer require another inspector’s sponsorship.

The commission accepts courses as core inspection courses for pre-licensing only if a final examination is successfully completed at the end of the course. Renewal courses do not require a final examination. Core inspection courses are educational courses approved by the commission, including but not limited to structural, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, roofing, business, legal, standards of practice, report writing, appliances or ethics, all of which must relate to a real estate inspection.