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How to Become a Certified Home Inspector in Georgia
Olivia Oksenhorn
7/25/22 10:40 AM
Updated December 4th 2024
If you want to become a home inspector in Georgia, look no further. While Georgia doesn't require home inspectors to complete education or be licensed, there are steps prospective home inspectors should take to ensure a successful career.
In this guide, we'll walk through the steps we recommend for becoming a home inspector in the Peach State.
Prefer a video lesson? Watch our video, How to Become a Home Inspector in Georgia, instead.
While it's not required, we recommend completing a home inspection training course from a trusted school. Completing education will give you credibility to real estate agents and home buyers alike. Additionally, education may be required if you plan to get a job at a multi-inspector firm.
Schools like AHIT, ASHI, ICA, and InterNACHI all offer training and certification courses for home inspectors in Georgia.
We recommend completing field training before starting as a home inspector. While there is no formalized requirement for it in the state of Georgia, completing field training will ensure you are prepared to inspect homes on your own. Options include:
Like completing education and training, completing the National Home Inspection Exam (NHIE) will give you credibility and ensure you have the necessary knowledge to become a home inspector.
While no one likes it, accidents happen on the job. And when they do, it's necessary to be prepared with the right insurance coverage. Generally, home inspectors will at least want to carry E&O insurance and a General Liability policy, but some home inspection companies will have more insurance needs.
Even if accidents don't happen, the home is generally a buyer's largest investment of their lifetime. Home buyers are — understandably — protective of their investment, and as such, home inspectors can find themselves as the subjects of lawsuits.
This is when it's time for our shameless (but necessary) plug: a thorough and easy-to-understand home inspection report helps ensure clients understand the findings in their inspection and reduce the chances of claims, and that's only possible with great home inspection software like Spectora.
Once you have completed education and training, passed the NHIE, and secured insurance coverage, it's time to actually become a home inspector. There are two common routes home inspectors take.
1. Joining an existing company: The benefit here is that you're not responsible for owning and running your own business, and you'll get valuable experience from a seasoned pro right off the bat. However, many home inspectors say they choose the career path for its independence and flexibility, which may be the downside to joining a multi-inspector firm.
2. Start your own business: Whether you're planning on being a full-time home inspector or becoming a home inspector as a part-time gig, you can start your own business. While this route comes with more responsibility and will require you to invest your own money, many home inspectors choose to do so as they like the flexibility and the higher ceiling that comes with running their own company.