I wanted to share some thoughts on the recent SF460 update and the Iowa licensing changes. I’m currently working on certification and caught in the middle of this, having finished the coursework and test on June 3rd. While I support efforts to raise the bar for professionalism, there’s one piece that’s proving to be a major challenge — the 100 inspections.
For new inspectors, this requirement is a big hurdle. There’s no structure in place for how someone is supposed to get those inspections under supervision. The law clearly says what’s needed, but not how to get there —that’s a problem.
A few issues I foresee:
Established inspectors aren’t required to take on trainees, and understandably, many won’t — whether it’s time, liability, or just not wanting to train future competition.
The potential is there for new inspectors to be told they need to pay to shadow or hire on and sign non-competes to get experience. That’s not the same as someone voluntarily paying for mentorship — this is a state-mandated requirement. Without clear pathways, it gives a lot of leverage to a small number of firms and could create a bottleneck.
There’s also no clear definition of what “participated in” means, or what kind of documentation is actually acceptable for those inspections.
Some type of structure or clarification is going to be necessary for this to succeed. Right now, it’s tough to see how new people are going to get licensed without knowing the right people or already being in the business, and that’s something I hope can be addressed before it discourages qualified people from entering the field.
Would love to hear if anyone else is running into the same wall — or if InterNACHI has ideas in the works to help bridge the gap.
Where do you see any of those requirements in the law?
Give me the exact sentence in the law that you are referring to. Here is what was signed into law: https://s3.amazonaws.com/uploads-east-1.nachi.org/page-uploads/2025/05/1748625496146-Iowa+Act+SF+460+Gov+Letter.pdf
Thank you for the reply. If I am misreading this, then I appreciate the correction and apologize.
I’m referring to Section 1, paragraph d(3) of SF 460. It says a “national home inspectors association” must require that a person “shall not become a full member unless the person has performed or participated in more than one hundred home inspections…” along with passing a qualifying exam.
My interpretation is that it is the requirement that the 100 inspections are done prior being able to work on your own. Again, if I’m misinterpreting this, I apologize.
I have since got a message from Kaela, and will proceed forward.
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