I am a CPI currently residing and doing inspections in Western Cape, South Africa, about 3 years experience inspecting properties.
I am looking for an opportunity to work in the US as an inspector on a contract basis for 3-6months.
[email protected]
+27 611 198 384
Not to be a ‘Dick’, but, considering the current state of affairs, what’s your Immigration status?
Nothing else matters if you are not legally able to enter and work in our country, and why only 3 to 6 months? Doesn’t sound very legit.
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Jeffry Jonas, I am not going to get into a discussion on the “current state of affairs”… way to political in my opinion for this forum, and if you’re a ‘Dick’ I would not know… I haven’t met you.
I am looking to get some international experience and being a member of InterNachi thought that this forum would be a great place to start the process… in actual fact InterNachi help desk referred me to this specific page.
Pieter,
Where do you plan to live? Have you chosen a city yet, or are you searching for a job first and then plan to make living arrangements dependent on where you find work?
Nobody asked you to.
That wasn’t my question.
This question is more relevant to your request than you can know!
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Hi Bert, I am obviously not licensed as the requirement in certain states so I think “unlicensed states” would be preferable. If someone is willing to give me an opportunity I will start to make the necessary arrangements.
Jeffrey, I know that it takes 3-6months to get the necessary docs to be able to work in the US, but I need to start somewhere. Inspections are still “new” in South Africa and I believe that in future it will be a necessary part of the process when a property are being listed to go onto the market. Having international experience will be a huge advantage and if I can become a CMI it will even be more of an advantage with relation to the competition.
Welcome to the InterNACHI MB Pieter.
Here’s what I found via AI that should help you somewhat narrow down your search.
list of states that require home inspector licensing - Google Search
AI Overview
State-by-State Home Inspector Licensing Requirements for 2025
Many states require home inspectors to be licensed. States with licensing requirements include Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming
list of states that DO NOT require home inspector licensing - Google Search
AI Overview
Several states do not require home inspectors to be licensed. These include California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Utah, and Wyoming, according to McKissock. While these states don’t have state-mandated licensing, some may have other regulations or encourage membership in professional organizations.
Best of luck to you moving forward.
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Hi Leonard, thank you for the information. Much Appreciated. I have reached out to some Inspection companies in Georgia and Pennsylvania via email. I will post more specific in future.
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Hi Pieter - I was wondering where your statement about international experience came from? Does the South African market place a premium on international experience? Why? I am not sure it would do anything to my resume here in the U.S., but things might be different in other parts of the world and just curious. My first thought is that any momentum you have with your existing work / business outlook would instead suffer while you were out-of-country for several months.
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Hi Brian, the US is seen as the leader on home inspections, therefor to have experience from the leading country will have a positive connection. SA is a small country in Africa compared to US and it does matter. Being associated with InterNachi(International Association) is seen as better than whatever is local… Thus adding the international experience will definitely be advantageous.
I am currently working in my own inspection business and have contingency plans if I get the opportunity… and if all goes well I will hopefully get the opportunity to visit and train at one of the “House of Horror facilities” before I return.
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You probably will do better looking for work in Canada, especially if you’re not caucasian. You need to apply for an H-1 visa and have a sponsor in the States.
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Honestly this is something that INACHI can start as a benefit for their international members. Colorado is a non-licensed State and what you want to do can be done with an H-2B, H-3 (training), or even a B-1 Visa. Possibly you should speak with Nick G. directly and start a new program for this very purpose. INACHI can help hook you up with the Visa, a local Inspector, and even a House of Horrors training session. It can only help the INACHI reputation not to mention our foreign members.
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Even in un licensed states you still are required to have a social security number or federal employee identification number to work on a contract basis. You won’t be paid cash without being legal, as anyone paying you like that is breaking the law.
If you get a visa to vacation in the states it’s just that. You can not work. Learn the rules, we are professionals as you are also, so we are not going to break the law so you get some spending cash. Come to the US legally and be ome a citizen, then come back here are ask for help.
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Thank you Dave Fetty! Took care of the Nick misspelling. Either I’m getting older and fingers getting fatter or I mistake Nick for Mick battling the alligators of the home inspection industry.
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We are also not going to absorb any liability for your actions/accidents/damages, so you will need to provide proof of insurance.
Then there’s the consideration of allowing an “illegal” into the home and on the property of our clients. Since you have not yet replied to my queries regarding your “status”, you would not be a consideration for any mentoring openings.
The issue I see is it doesn’t matter how good of an inspector you are, every local state, in some cases, local cities/counties, have their own rules, codes, and methods of buildings.
It would still take weeks, if not months, of training to get even a good inspector up to speed on local methods. Plus learning each inspectors prefered software.
So simply coming in and expecting to hit the ground running, and then be gone in 3-6 months likely isn’t realistic investment for most companies.
For me, to spend time training someone to do inspections the way I want them done, to represent my company (and my insurance policy), I want to know they’re going to stick around for a few years to recoup the time it took training them.
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Don’t come to the States as an undocumented worker. Do it legal. Coming here to work for 3 to 6 months, my guess is you are going to have to pay someone. Training costs money in lost time for the company. From my perspective, I’d want to receive $100 > $200 per inspection that you tag me on. This is no offer, but it’s feedback from my experience as a construction and now inspection business.
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Good morning, Emmanuel. This is an amazing idea, I will get on it, and reach out to Mr Gromicko. Thank you!.