I took the Tennessee state exam yesterday. It consists of 200 questions, and there were some questions related to topics I don’t recall covering here. Anyone else from Tennessee? Looking for some suggestions as I get ready to re take it.
And those topics would be…??
It was not a NACHI test.
There are all kinds of crazy questions that are for the people that think they can memorize a list. They are to test how you perceive and analyze a situation. They give you the answer, your job is to figure which is the best.
The number of these questions are not enough to make you fail the test. It is obvious that you missed a lot of the “normal” questions. You can’t study for the off the wall stuff (those things from the past, or not something you are ever going to see in TN, but do exist in other parts of the country) so don’t worry about them (you won’t see those questions again the next time anyway). Study the stuff you learned here.
You don’t need more education, you need more experience in related fields.
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So Tenneessee uses the National Home Inspector Exam or the NHIE. You need to visit the NHIE website, it has everything you need to help you study and prepair for the exam. Pay attention to the Exam Content Outline, it will show you the areas of knowledge you will be tested on and the percentage of questions for each area or domain. The NHIE study manuals are great tools to help prepair you. The NHIE is desigend to test your knowledge of the subject matter and most folks that have problems passing have only studed exam questions or have just not prepaired to take the exam properly. https://nationalhomeinspectorexam.org/
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Justin, Scott hit the nail on the head. I’m in East TN and took the NHIE about 4 months ago. If you’ve only completed the minimum education requirements for the CPI and haven’t finished the rest of the courses for the first year, you’ll be unprepared. While the InterNACHI courses are great and full of material, there are some questions on the exam that cover topics not available through the CPI courses. Take the final exams for each CPI course to find your weaknesses, then go back and restudy those topics. Bite the bullet, spend the money, and buy the NHIE study materials. Without those, I wouldn’t have passed. In addition to that, I also purchased the latest IRC book along with reference tabs to make finding certain topics faster, and the quick reference guide pamphlet. Set a studying schedule and a deadline for yourself to take the test so you hold yourself accountable to prepare. I studied hard for 2 weeks after taking my time going through the CPI process in order to pass.
The following books are additional materials I bought to help prepare. By cross-referencing all the materials and focusing on one area at a time - plumbing, HVAC, etc… you’ll find each book will offer some information the others don’t, and I found each one helpful.
IRC International Residential Code - for one and two family dwellings
IRC Quick Reference Guide - folding pamphlet highlighting various topics
“The Complete Guide to Home Inspection” by Roger C. Robinson & Michael Litchfield
“Black & Decker Codes For Homeowners, 5th Edition” by Bruce A. Barker
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Totally appreciate the in depth responses. I realized very quickly in the exam that this didn’t cover everything. Based upon the test results I’ve been studying the areas needing work.