Students visit a 'House of Horrors' to learn about home inspections

Ever wonder how home inspectors know what to look for? What kind of training they get? At a basic level, home inspectors must be licensed. Licensing results from taking a short body of required courses. But they aren’t required to have any construction or remodeling experience beforehand.

Beyond the course requirements, individual states (in the US) and provinces (in Canada) have their own additional requirements. For instance, in British Columbia, licencing requires a minimum of 50 hours of Field training with a qualified Field Trainer. In Pennsylvania, inspection students can attend a specialty training facility called the “House of Horrors.” There are more than 1,000 mistakes in the House of Horrors, and future inspectors and contractors are challenged to find them.

Due to the varied licensing requirements, it makes sense for home buyers to ask home inspectors for details about their practical experience before hiring them. Personally, I’d rather hire an inspector who’s done construction work, than a former office worker who just took courses to get licensed.