| (a) Educational Requirements for a Real Estate Inspector
License. To become licensed as a real estate inspector a person must
satisfy the 90-hour education requirement for licensure by completing
the following coursework:
(1) 10 hours in foundations;
(2) 8 hours in framing;
(3) 10 hours in building enclosure;
(4) 10 hours in roof systems;
(5) 8 hours in plumbing systems;
(6) 10 hours in electrical systems;
(7) 10 hours in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
systems;
(8) 8 hours in appliances;
(9) 4 hours in Texas Standards of Practice;
(10) 4 hours in Texas Standard Report Form/Report Writing;
and
(11) 8 hours in Texas Legal/Ethics.
(b) Educational Requirements for a Professional Inspector
License. To become licensed as a professional inspector, a person
must satisfy the 130-hour education requirement for licensure by completing
the courses required for licensure as a real estate inspector in subsection
(a) of this section; and
(1) 8 additional hours in Texas Standard Report Form/Report
Writing;
(2) 8 additional hours in non-elective coursework in
legal, ethics, SOPs, and report writing as defined in §535.218
of this title (relating to Continuing Education Required for Renewal);
and
(3) 8 additional hours in Texas Standard Report Form/Report
Writing;
(c) Experience Requirements. To meet the experience
requirements for licensure or to sponsor apprentice inspectors or
real estate inspectors, the Commission considers an improvement to
real property to be any unit capable of being separately rented, leased
or sold, subject to the following restrictions:
(1) An inspection of an improvement to real property
that includes the structural and equipment/systems of the unit constitutes
a single inspection.
(2) The Commission may not give experience credit to
the same applicant or professional inspector for more than three inspections
per day. No more than three applicants may receive credit for the
inspection of the same unit within a 30 day period, and no more than
three apprentice inspectors may receive credit for an inspection of
the same unit on the same day.
(3) An applicant for a real estate inspector license
must have:
(A) been licensed as an apprentice inspector on active
status for a total of at least three months within the 12 month period
before the filing of the application; and
(B) completed 25 inspections.
(4) An applicant for a professional inspector license
must have:
(A) been licensed as a real estate inspector on active
status for a total of at least 12 months within the 24 month period
before the filing of the application; and
(B) completed 175 inspections.
(d) Substitute Experience Requirements for a Real Estate
Inspector License.
(1) A person may satisfy the substitute experience
requirements for licensure as a real estate inspector as follows:
(A) complete a total of 32 additional hours of qualifying
inspection coursework, which must include the following:
(i) 8 hours in Texas Standard Report Form/Report Writing;
(ii) 8 hours in non-elective coursework in legal, ethics,
SOPs, and report writing as defined in §535.218 of this title;
(iii) 16 hours in any qualifying inspection subject(s);
and
(B) complete:
(i) 20 hours of field work through ride-along inspection
course sessions as defined in §535.213(g) of this title (relating
Qualifying Real Estate Inspector Instructors and Courses); and
(ii) 12 hours of an approved interactive experience
training module.
(2) Exceptions. The Commission may award substitute
experience credit to an applicant who has not met the additional qualifying
course requirements under this subsection if:
(A) the applicant:
(i) has three years of experience in a field directly
related to home inspection, including but not limited to installing,
servicing, repairing or maintaining the structural, mechanical and
electrical systems found in improvements to real property; and
(ii) provides to the Commission two affidavits from
persons who have personal knowledge of the applicant's work, detailing
the time and nature of the applicant's relevant experience; or
(B) The applicant:
(i) has at least two years of experience as an active
practicing licensed or registered architect, professional engineer,
or engineer-in-training and has completed 16 additional hours of qualifying
inspection coursework, which must include the following:
(I) 8 hours in Texas Standard Report Form/Report Writing;
and
(II) 8 hours in non-elective coursework in legal, ethics,
SOPs, and report writing as defined in §535.218 of this title;
and
(ii) submits a license history from the regulatory
agency that issued the license or registration documenting the period
of practice as a licensed or registered architect, professional engineer,
or engineer-in-training.
(e) Substitute Experience Requirements for a Professional
Inspector License.
(1) A person may satisfy the substitute experience
requirements for licensure as a professional inspector as follows:
(A) complete a total of 200 additional hours of qualifying
inspection coursework, which must include the following:
(i) 30 hours in foundations;
(ii) 30 hours in framing;
(iii) 24 hours in building enclosure;
(iv) 24 hours in roof systems;
(v) 16 hours in plumbing systems;
(vi) 24 hours in electrical systems;
(vii) 24 hours in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
systems;
(viii) 6 hours in appliances;
(ix) 8 hours in non-elective coursework in legal, ethics,
SOPs, and report writing as defined in §535.218 of this title;
(x) 8 hours in Standard Report Form/Report writing;
and
(xi) 6 hours in any core inspection subject(s); and
(B) complete:
(i) 40 hours of field work through ride-along inspection
course sessions as defined in §535.213(g) of this title; and
(ii) 24 hours of an approved interactive experience
training module.
(2) Exceptions. The Commission may award substitute
experience credit to an applicant who has not met the additional qualifying
course requirements under this subsection if:
(A) the applicant:
(i) has five years of experience in a field directly
related to home inspection, including but not limited to installing,
servicing, repairing or maintaining the structural, mechanical and
electrical systems found in improvements to real property; and
(ii) provides to the Commission two affidavits from
persons who have personal knowledge of the applicant's work, detailing
the time and nature of the applicant's relevant experience; or
(B) The applicant has:
(i) at least three years of experience as an active
practicing licensed or registered architect, professional engineer,
or engineer-in-training, who has completed a total of 16 additional
hours of qualifying inspection coursework, which must include the
following:
(I) 8 hours in Texas Standard Report Form/Report Writing;
and
(II) 8 hours in non-elective coursework in legal, ethics,
SOPs, and report writing as defined in §535.218 of this title;
and
(ii) submits a license history from the regulatory
agency that issued the license or registration documenting the period
of practice as a licensed or registered architect, professional engineer,
or engineer-in-training.
(f) For purposes of this section:
(1) "qualifying inspection coursework" means course
work on the subject matters listed in §535.213(e) of this title;
and
(2) "interactive experience training module" means
education that provides regular and substantive interaction between
the students and the instructor, either synchronously or asynchronously,
and is delivered:
(A) in-person to students in the classroom; or
(B) through the use of one or more of the following
technologies:
(i) the internet;
(ii) one-way and two-way transmissions through open
broadcast, closed circuit, cable, microwave, broadband lines, fiber
optics, satellite or wireless communications devices;
(iii) audio conferencing; or
(iv) video cassettes, DVDs, and CD-ROMs, if the cassettes,
DVDs, or CD-ROMs are used in a course in conjunction with any of the
technologies listed in clauses (i) through (iii) of this subparagraph.
(g) Education submitted under this section will only
be accepted to satisfy the requirements for licensure if started before
March 1, 2021 and completed and submitted in conjunction with an application
filed by June 30, 2021.
|
| Source Note: The provisions of this §535.212 adopted to be effective January 1, 2011, 35 TexReg 11693; amended to be effective November 21, 2013, 38 TexReg 8237; amended to be effective May 21, 2014, 39 TexReg 3858; amended to be effective March 2, 2015, 40 TexReg 929; amended to be effective May 24, 2017, 42 TexReg 2726; amended to be effective March 5, 2019, 44 TexReg 1126; amended to be effective August 31, 2020, 45 TexReg 6117 |
