Success 15 min read November 11, 2026

Home Inspector Continuing Education by State (2026)

Home inspector continuing education by state: CE hours and renewal periods for licensed states, how to find approved courses, association CE and tracking tips.

Binsr Team

Home Inspector Continuing Education by State (2026)

Short answer: Most states that license home inspectors require continuing education (CE) to renew, anywhere from 8 hours per two-year registration in Alaska to 60 hours per three-year license in New Mexico, as of September 2026. The hours must usually come from courses your state approves. InterNACHI and ASHI set their own CE on top: 24 hours a year for InterNACHI certified inspectors, and 20 ASHI-approved hours a year for ASHI members after their first year.

Continuing education is the part of the job nobody plans for until the renewal notice arrives. The rules differ in three ways from state to state: how many hours, over what period, and which courses count. Some states also require specific topics, such as Florida's wind mitigation hours or Texas's legal and ethics course.

This guide gives the CE requirement for each state that licenses home inspectors, with the regulator's own figures where we could find them, then covers association CE, how to find approved courses and how to keep track.

CE requirements by state

Figures below are as published by each regulator or in the state's statute or rule, as of September 2026. Where we could not confirm a figure on an official source, we say so rather than guess. Check with your regulator before you renew: rules change, and some states pro-rate hours for a first renewal.

State	CE required	Period	Notes
Alabama	15 hours	Each year
Alaska	8 contact hours	Two-year registration period	4 hours per full year for a first renewal (12 AAC 22.300)
Arizona	Not set	Yearly certificate renewal	The board's rules (A.A.C. Title 4, Chapter 30) set no CE hours for home inspectors
Arkansas	14 hours	Each year (renews December 31)	At least 8 hours in mandatory subjects (17 CAR 200-506); completion certificates required
Connecticut	20 credit hours	Two-year cycle	Includes a 3-hour course on current law; CE window ends March 31 of odd years
Delaware	40 hours	Two-year period (Sept 1 to Aug 31, odd years)	Courses approved by the Board, ASHI, NAHI or InterNACHI; pro-rated for first renewal
Florida	14 hours	Two-year license (expires July 31, even years)	At least 2 hours on wind mitigation
Illinois	12 hours	Two-year cycle	At least 8 hours of mandatory courses (68 Ill. Adm. Code 1410.160), plus sexual harassment prevention training
Indiana	32 hours	24 months	At least 75% in Category I technical subjects; 16 hours if licensed 12 to 24 months, none if under 12
Kentucky	14 hours	Each license year (28 for a two-year renewal)	Includes 3 hours on Kentucky law and regulations and 3 hours of report writing, both face to face; the pre-licensing course counts as the first 14 hours (831 KAR 2:040)
Louisiana	20 hours	Each year (one-year license)	30 hours for a first renewal; no more than 10 hours from a board-approved online school
Maryland	30 hours	License renewal term	Not required for the first renewal; up to 30% outside a classroom
Massachusetts	12 hours	24 months	At least 4 hours on 266 CMR and the standards of practice, and 1 hour on ethics
Mississippi	20 hours	Two-year license	MHID-approved courses
Montana	No state hours		The Department of Labor & Industry lists CE as not required. Its current licensing checklist requires membership in a national home inspection association, so that association's CE applies
Nebraska	None listed		The Secretary of State's page lists no education requirement
Nevada	20 hours	2 years before renewal	At least 3 hours on safety and 2 hours on Nevada law (NAC 645D.390)
New Hampshire	20 hours	Two-year license	1 hour on building regulations (RSA 310-A:192)
New Jersey	40 units	Two-year period	8 units in person: 4 on report writing, 4 on ethics and rules
New Mexico	60 hours	Three-year license	Includes 6 hours of ethics; 20 hours per year for initial licenses shorter than 3 years
New York	24 hours	Two-year license	Approved courses
North Carolina	12 credit hours	Each year (license expires Sept 30)	4-hour board update course plus 8 elective hours. Approved courses cannot run from September 10 through September 30. Inspectors licensed without completing the pre-licensing program need 16 hours a year for their first three years
North Dakota	Not required by statute	Yearly registration	Renewal needs the fee and proof of insurance (NDCC 43-54-05)
Ohio	14 hours	Each year	42 hours per three-year license
Oklahoma	8 hours	Each year	No more than 2 hours on ancillary systems
Oregon	30 units	24 months before certification expires	Approved providers and subjects; some ride-alongs count
Rhode Island	12 credit hours	Two-year license	State-approved courses, including 1 hour of ethics and 1 hour on standards of practice
South Carolina	None listed	Two-year license	The 2026 to 2028 renewal application lists no CE. The statute lets the Commission require CE by regulation, so check each renewal notice
South Dakota	24 hours	Two-year license	Due by December 31 of the expiration year
Tennessee	32 hours	Two-year renewal	Commissioner-approved courses
Texas	32 hours	Two-year license	Includes the 8-hour Inspector Legal & Ethics and SOP Review course
Utah	No state hours	Two-year cycle	New license from 2026. You must keep your ASHI, InterNACHI or ICC certification current, so that body's CE applies
Vermont	No hour requirement found	Two-year license	Neither 26 V.S.A. chapter 19 nor the property inspector rules set CE hours. Confirm with OPR at renewal
Virginia	16 contact hours	Two-year cycle	18VAC15-40-72; 4-hour NRS course counts for NRS holders
Washington	24 hours	24 months	Board-approved courses, no carryover (WAC 308-408A-110)
West Virginia	16 hours	Each year	Per the Fire Marshal's program
Wisconsin	40 hours	Two-year biennium (Dec 15 to Dec 14, even years)	By statute (Wis. Stat. 440.974(2)), CE cannot be required for the first two renewals after registration; course pre-approval not required

Iowa and Pennsylvania issue no state license, but their statutes require the qualifying association an inspector belongs to to make continuing professional education a condition of membership. The hours are whatever that association sets.

States with no home inspector license have no state CE. If you hold an association credential there, the association's CE rules still apply.

For Florida inspectors: the 14 hours per renewal include at least 2 hours on wind mitigation, with the rest in department-approved courses related to home inspection. DBPR sends a renewal notice 90 to 120 days before the July 31 deadline. Our Florida guide covers the rest of the license.

Why the period matters as much as the hours

"20 hours" means different things depending on the window.

Annual requirements (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, West Virginia) mean you cannot catch up at the end of a longer license term. Ohio issues a three-year license but still counts 14 hours in each year.
Two-year requirements (Florida, New York, Texas, Washington and others) let you spread hours out, but the deadline can arrive before the license expires. Connecticut's CE window closes three months before the renewal deadline, and North Carolina bars approved CE courses from September 10 through September 30, the date its licenses expire, so plan to finish before September 10.
First renewals are often different. Maryland does not require CE for the first renewal, and Wisconsin's statute bars a CE requirement for the first two renewals after registration. Louisiana requires 30 hours for a first renewal instead of 20. Delaware, Indiana and New Mexico set lower hours for shorter first periods.

Topic requirements and delivery limits

Many states specify some of the content, or limit how it is delivered.

State	Required topics or limits (as of September 2026)
Florida	At least 2 hours of wind mitigation per renewal
Texas	The 8-hour Inspector Legal & Ethics and SOP Review course; no more than 16 hours on any one subject
New Jersey	8 in-person units: 4 on report writing, 4 on ethics and New Jersey rules; up to 10 units can carry over if earned in the last six months
Massachusetts	4 hours on 266 CMR and the standards of practice, 1 hour on ethics
Connecticut	A course of at least 3 hours on current home inspection legislation, licensing laws and regulations
Nevada	3 hours on safety, 2 hours on Nevada law
New Hampshire	1 hour on building regulations
Louisiana	No more than 10 hours from a board-approved online school
Maryland	Up to 30% of hours outside a classroom; live interactive virtual courses approved by the Commission count as classroom
Oklahoma	No more than 2 hours on ancillary systems
Illinois	At least 8 hours of mandatory courses, plus sexual harassment prevention training
Kentucky	3 hours on Kentucky law and regulations and 3 hours of report writing, both face to face
Arkansas	At least 8 hours in mandatory subjects, each course at least 2 hours
Indiana	At least 75% in Category I technical subjects
New Mexico	6 hours of ethics per three-year license
North Carolina	The 4-hour board update course each year
Rhode Island	1 hour of ethics and 1 hour on standards of practice

How to find approved CE courses

In most licensing states, only courses the regulator approves count. Three ways to check:

Your regulator's approved course list. Many publish one. Examples: New York's approved schools page lists continuing education schools; Kentucky's board publishes an approved CE course list; Connecticut publishes its approved home inspection CE courses on its open data portal; Oklahoma's Construction Industries Board posts a schedule of committee-approved courses.
The course listing itself. Many providers print a state approval number on the course page or certificate. Match it against the regulator's list.
Ask the regulator. If there is no list, email the board with the course name and provider before you take it.

Two states worth noting: Wisconsin says course or provider pre-approval is not required, as long as the instruction relates to home inspection. Virginia's rule (18VAC15-40-72) limits CPE subject matter to the content areas of the board's approved exam and the topics listed in 18VAC15-40-73.

Association courses can count toward state CE, but only where the state approves them. InterNACHI's online course catalog, for example, lets you filter courses by the region or body that approved them. Delaware's rules accept courses approved by ASHI or InterNACHI. Always confirm against your own state.

Association CE requirements

Association CE is separate from state CE. If you hold both a state license and an association credential, you must meet both, though one course may count toward each if both accept it.

	InterNACHI	ASHI
Who it applies to	Certified members (CPI)	ASHI Inspector and ACI levels; Associates after one full year
Hours	24.0 hours every year	20 ASHI-approved hours a year
First year	No CE for the first year after certification	Associates start after one full year
Rollover	Up to 24 extra hours, to the following year only	Not stated on the levels page
What counts	Inspection-related education from many sources, one credit per hour; the same course only once in nine months	ASHI-approved CE
Tracking	Online education record, updated automatically for InterNACHI courses	Through ASHI's education platform

InterNACHI's CE policy also says it stopped accepting ASHI CE credits in December 2021. If you belong to both, plan for that. Our InterNACHI vs ASHI comparison covers the rest of each association's requirements.

Tips for tracking your CE

Put the CE deadline on your calendar, not the license expiration. In Connecticut and North Carolina, CE is due weeks or months before the license lapses.
Keep every completion certificate. Arkansas requires completion certificates rather than attendance verifications. Tennessee does not accept a transcript. Delaware's board publishes CE audit information, so expect to be asked for proof.
Use one folder per renewal period. Name each file with the date, provider, course, hours and approval number.
Use the state's tracking tool if it has one. New Hampshire's OPLC says CE Broker is now mandatory for home inspectors.
Count hours by requirement, not just total. Track the mandatory topics (Florida's wind mitigation, Texas's legal and ethics course) separately so you do not reach the total and still miss a required course.
Watch the online and in-person limits. Louisiana, New Jersey and Kentucky cap or exclude online hours for some requirements.
Do not repeat courses blindly. InterNACHI will not credit the same course twice within nine months. Check your state's rule on repeats.
Spread it out. Annual-requirement states give you no room to catch up.

Make CE count in your reports

CE hours are required, but the point is better inspections. After each course, update your report template and comment library with anything that changes how you describe a defect or what you recommend. Binsr's reusable comment library tracks which comments you use, so you can find and update the ones a new course affects.

Frequently asked questions

It depends on the state. As of September 2026, published requirements range from 8 hours per two-year registration in Alaska and 8 hours a year in Oklahoma, to 40 hours per two-year period in Delaware, New Jersey and Wisconsin, and 60 hours per three-year license in New Mexico. Montana and Arizona set no CE hours.

Florida DBPR requires 14 hours per two-year renewal: at least 2 hours on wind mitigation and 12 hours of department-approved courses related to home inspection. Licenses expire July 31 of even years.

Only where your state approves them. InterNACHI's course catalog lets you filter by approving body. Check the approval for your state on the course page and on your regulator's list.

No state CE applies where the state does not license inspectors. Association credentials still carry CE requirements: 24 hours a year for InterNACHI certified members and 20 ASHI-approved hours a year at ASHI's Inspector and ACI levels.

Some rules allow it. New Jersey allows up to 10 units if earned in the last six months of a period. Louisiana allows up to 10 in-person hours to carry over, but not online hours. InterNACHI allows up to 24 hours into the following year. Many states allow none.

It depends on the state. Some let you renew on inactive status, which means you cannot inspect until you finish the hours. Tennessee and Texas, for example, allow inactive renewal without CE. Others treat a late renewal as a reinstatement with extra requirements. Contact your regulator as soon as you know you will miss it.

In many states, yes. Louisiana limits online hours, New Jersey requires 8 units in person, Kentucky requires its 3-hour law course and 3-hour report writing course face to face, and Maryland caps non-classroom hours at 30%. Check your state's rule before you buy an online package.

Sources and verification

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