Steven L. Smith, Bellingham, WA Home Inspector (King of the House)

This post is in response to Bob Stewart's "it's raining" blog. He has created a challenge: Sanitize and post some past business or client Emails and responses. The goal is to provide, to the public, easily accessible online information. Especially since home inspector licensing kicked-in here in Washington State, there are now many consumers who are trying to determine whether or not an inspector is licensed to legally work in the state.

This post starts with an Email from an agent.

Hi Steve,

I know that you teach the local Home Inspector Licensing course at Bellingham Technical College and are closely tied to the licensing process since you serve on the state licensing board.  My client is selling a home and is trying to look up licensing information on the inspector who just performed the buyer's inspection on her house.  Who should she contact, or where can she go, to obtain this information for a home inspector in Seattle?  We do not know if he was licensed to do the structural pest inspection. For that matter, we do not know if he is licensed at all. Thanks,

A Top Bellingham Realtor

 Dear Top Bellingham Realtor,

Since the home inspector licensing law took effect, an inspector may now legally work without also being a licensed structural pest inspector. Prior to licensing, almost two years back now, that was not the case. Realistically, to inspect legally, you had to have the (SPI) structural pest inspector license. However, even with the new laws, a home inspector without the SPI license is very limited as to what he or she may inspect and report on. I wrote a post on this very topic last week at ActiveRain. If you click on the link at the end of this sentence, the article will explain what a home inspector, who is not also a structural pest inspector, is allowed to do if he or she sees signs of wood destroying insects -- The home inspector vs the structural pest inspector

This next link will help you as far as the last part of your question. Is someone licensed or not?  This is, by popular demand, a search tool that I created at ActiveRain. As you might guess, I get questions like yours all the time and people seem to have real trouble finding the various state websites that include licensing information. From this, you can check for licensed home inspectors and licensed pest inspectors. Simply follow the directions posted with the search tool --  Inspector licensing search tool

If I can be of additional help, please call me or send another Email.

Steve