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National Home Inspector Examination
The NHIE is the competency examination for the home inspection profession, governed and administered by the Examination Board of Professional Home Inspectors (EBPHI); it is used in 35 states and several Canadian provinces for home inspector regulation and delivered by computer at more than 300 proctored test centers in the U.S. and Canada.
Official exam siteJump to prep options ↓
Questions200 multiple-choice questions, of which 25 are unscored pretest questions (175 scored)
Testing time4 hours, starting when the first question is viewed; the pre-exam tutorial does not count against exam time
ScoringPassing scaled score of 500, set by a criterion-referenced standard-setting process; candidates are not graded on a curve
Exam feeUSD 225 per test in most states and in Canada (confirm at registration; fees are nonrefundable and nontransferable)
Prep options
Study resources for NHIE
Independent prep
Courses and study resources
Exam overview
What to know before choosing your prep
- Who runs it
- EBPHI
- Category
- Home Inspection
- Current version
- Content outline based on EBPHI's role delineation study, published in the 2023 edition of the NHIE Overview: Policies, Procedures, Content (no numbered version label)
- Where it applies
- International / multi-country
- Exam languages
- English
- Score scale
- 200–800
- Testing provider
- PSI administers the exam in most U.S. states and Canada (more than 220 PSI proctored centers); Pearson VUE is contracted for Florida, Texas, and Nevada
- Format
- Computer-based at proctored test centers equipped with touchscreen computer technology
- Availability
- Available whenever the chosen test center is open and has seats, with advance registration required (most centers open six days a week); candidates have 1 year from fee payment to test
- Results
- In the U.S. an official score report is received before leaving the testing center (mailed in Canada); report format varies by state and test center
- Remote testing
- Not available
Exam structure
200 multiple-choice questions across three performance domains: Property and Building Inspection/Site Review (70%), Analysis of Findings and Reporting (20%), and Professional Responsibilities (10%)
Where rules vary
One uniform national-standard exam used in 35 U.S. states and several Canadian provinces for home inspector regulation and administered at testing centers in the U.S. and Canada; adoption is voluntary per state. Exceptions flagged for reviewers: Illinois, South Dakota, and Washington add state-specific questions to their NHIE administrations, and Florida, Texas, Nevada, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Vermont administer the exam through state-contracted test administrators.
Eligibility
Open registration with no published EBPHI eligibility prerequisite; state rules may add requirements (e.g., Oklahoma requires preapproval by the Oklahoma Construction Industries Board before registration)
Retake policy
Unlimited retakes (unless otherwise regulated by the state) with a 30-day waiting period between attempts; each attempt requires a separate fee