The Home Inspection Training Program
Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Tutoring?

Tutoring is essentially the tuition you pay on the Home Inspection Training Program. Tutoring includes technical advice (telephone, e-mail or fax) from our inspectors, test grading, a transcript of your marks and a certificate upon completion. The Technical advice component is unlimited; we will continue to answer questions after you finish the program.

2. How long does it take to complete the course?

Each of the 10 modules takes 30 to 80 hours to complete. The entire program is 540 hours. If you study full time, the course may take as little as approximately 10 weeks. Most people take approximately 6 months to complete the program.

3. What does the CD-ROM consist of and how long is each CD-ROM?

The nine CD-ROM's contain hundreds of computer-enhanced real-world inspection scenes, narrated by professional home inspectors. There are over 17 hours of visual in total (approximately 2 hours each).

4. Is your course recognized by any home inspection association?

Several Canadian home inspection associations also recognize the program. These include CAHPI-BC, ASTT of BC, CAHPI Alberta, CAHPI Manitoba, CAHPI Atlantic and CAHPI Saskatchewan.

5. How many students have taken this program?

Thousand of students have taken the program..

6. What time frame do I have to complete the course?

The course is geared for home study; you work at your own pace. Students can enroll at any time and complete the course whenever they are finished (regardless of how long it takes).

7. Can I complete the modules in any order?

The course has been designed so that you can work on any Module at any time. Heating I and Heating II should be taken in order. Otherwise, it's up to you.

8. Is there a final exam? What is the passing grade?

Each Module contains approximately 3 exams (31 in total). Your exams are all done in an online environment, which allows you to receive your mark back as soon as you have completed the test. Helpful commentary is also provided after your test has been completed so that you know what to study and where to find it in your course materials. An overall passing grade of 75% is required in each module. Once all the exams have been successfully completed, a certificate and mark transcript will be issued.

Final proctored exams are available.

Students are required to achieve a test mark of 75% or greater on each module - not on each test. If a student should fails to achieve the 75% passing grade on a test, the student can still achieve an overall grade of 75% or higher on the other tests, thereby pulling their grade to a passing level. Test re-writes are not permitted. If a student fails to achieve a passing grade of 75% or higher on any module, they will be required to re-take the entire module. The cost for a module re-take is $150.00. Students will get their wrong answers returned to them as they cannot resubmit their tests.

9. Do I have to enroll in the entire course, or can I buy modules individually?

You can buy courses individually.

10. What happens after I finish the course?

You are in a good position to start your home inspection business or career. You are also well prepared to take the membership examinations from Home Inspection associations that require it.

11. How much money can a Home Inspector make?

A home inspector can perform up to (or more) 500 inspections per year. ASHI's Business Operations Study showed that inspectors on average performed 221 inspections per inspector per year and had an average inspection fee of $321. At $321 per inspection, 221 inspections would result in a gross income of $70,000. Inspectors performing 500 inspections per year can gross more than $160,000. It takes time to build up a business to that level, depending on market conditions and your business development skills but Carson Dunlop can help you get there. You can start your own business, work for another firm or buy a franchise.

12. How big does a market have to be to support an Inspector?

500 house sales per year within your travel area is probably an absolute minimum. You can get information about the number of house sales from your local Board of Realtors.

13. Is it good if there are no Inspectors in my area now?

Some people feel it's better to have no competition, others feel the competition will have educated the market place for them. Either way, starting a new business is a challenge.

14. Do I need insurance?

You will want to insure your vehicle and property, of course. You should also have liability insurance in case you damage a house or cause an injury.

There are other insurance's to consider as well, including health and dental insurance and disability insurance.

15. What tools does an Inspector need?

You can find this information on our Website or we can mail, fax or e-mail this to you. There are tool companies that specialize in providing tools to home inspectors. Click here to view a list of other tools a home inspector may use.

16. What kind of reporting do I have to do?

There are several report writing systems available to inspectors. We happen to think that our Home Reference Book is the best paper based material on the market. We have also created a new state of the art electronic report writing system called HORIZON. Please click here to learn more.

17. Is there a Payment Plan available for the Home Inspection Program?

Yes there is a payment plan that we have available. It runs over 9 months and you still receive all your materials up front so you can structure your studies as it suites you best. Please call us at 800-268-7070 to find out about our payment plan.