In the State of New Hampshire starting January 1st, 2010 all building inspectors “practicing or conducting home inspections” must be licensed by the The New Hampshire Board of Home Inspectors.
The new statute RSA 310-A:189 reads like this:
License Required. Beginning January 1, 2010, no person shall practice as a home inspector or conduct home inspections in this state without a home inspectors license issued by the board.
I know there are two sides to this story. Some inspectors say that if an inspector is bad or not doing a good job, they will eventually disappear as they will not get enough work to survive. I believe that is true as with any business, especially in the service industry your only as good as your last job. The good survive and the others find a new line of work or work for someone else.
My thinking on why this license requirement is good is; It will create a minimum standard for all inspectors. There will be a place to go if someone has issues, either bad or good. A central location to find inspectors, this is always an issue with new buyers. Buyers need information and it is hard for them to find an inspector an compare one to another. There are many different certifications that inspectors carry and hopefully a central board will help sort these designations out.
I am fortunate to have worked with several very good inspectors over the years but I think the consumer or buyer will benefit from this license requirement.