Current through all regulations passed and filed through December 16, 2024
(A) For purposes of this rule, to be
considered "online," the course must satisfy the requirements found in
paragraph (A) of rule
1301:17-1-11 of the
Administrative Code and means any education process based on geographical
separation of student and instructor. "Qualifying education" means education
necessary to obtain an Ohio home inspector license as required by division
(D)(5) of section 4764.07 of the Revised Code.
"Qualifying education" for this rule shall be completed in a classroom or
online setting.
(1) An education provider who
is an applicant for initial qualifying education course approval shall submit
to the division of real estate for approval of home inspector qualifying
education courses on a form prescribed by the superintendent along with the
nonrefundable fee as specified in rule
1301:17-1-03 of the
Administrative Code. The application form and fee must be submitted to the
division at least thirty days prior to the proposed initial date of the course
offering. Upon notice from the superintendent that an application is incomplete
or incorrect as filed, the applicant shall, within thirty days of the date of
the last such notice, submit to the division the additional requested
information or the corrected application. Failure to timely submit the
additional requested information or the corrected application shall constitute
just cause for the superintendent to void the application.
(2) Qualifying education approved for this
rule shall be valid for three years from the date of issuance by the
superintendent provided the superintendent approves any substantial changes
made to the course, and the education provider and its instructors comply with
the requirements of this rule and Chapter 4764. of the Revised Code. Changes to
the course instructor or to the course syllabus, description or content
consisting of more than one-third of the course hours shall be considered a
substantial change. Each education provider of approved qualifying education
shall file an application with the division at least ten days in advance of any
substantial changes to a course.
(B) An applicant for an initial home
inspector license shall successfully complete at least eighty hours of
qualifying education in the following topics, and the superintendent may
approve course offerings for qualifying education which fall within the
following topics:
(1) Foundations, which
includes the following topics:
(a) Site
analysis/location;
(h) Foundation waterproofing and damp
proofing;
(2) Framing,
which includes the following topics:
(b) Wood frame -
stick/balloon;
(c) Roof structure -
rafters/trusses;
(e)
Porches/decks/steps/landings/balconies;
(j) Guardrails/handrails/balusters;
(l)
Sills/columns/beams/joist/sub-flooring;
(m) Wall systems/structure -
headers;
(w) Wood structural panel; and
(x) Conventional concrete.
(3) Building enclosure, which
includes the following topics:
(a) Review of
foundation and roofing relation;
(4) Roof systems, which includes the
following topics:
(a) Review - rafters, roof
joist, ceiling joist, collar ties, knee walls, purling, trusses, wood I joist,
roof sheathing, steel framing;
(e) Ventilation/non-ventilation;
(h) Slopes -
steep roof/low
slope/near flat;
(i) Materials -
asphalt, fiberglass, wood shake, wood shingle, slate, clay tile, concrete tile,
fiber cement (asbestos cement, mineral cement), metal, roll, build up, modified
bitumen, synthetic rubber (EPDM), plastic (PVC); and
(5) Plumbing systems, which includes the
following topics:
(a) Water supply
systems;
(c) Drains - sump
pumps and sewage ejector pumps;
(e) Water heaters (gas and electric);
and
(6) Electrical systems, which
includes the following topics:
(a) General
requirements, equipment location and clearances;
(b) Electrical definitions;
(d) Branch circuit and feeder
requirements;
(f) Power and lights
distribution; and
(g) Devices and light fixtures.
(7) HVAC systems, which
includes the following topics:
(a) Heating
including types of heating sources;
(c) Air conditioning; and
(8) Appliances, which includes the following
topics:
(c) Kitchen exhaust hood;
(d) Range, cooktop, and ovens (electric and
gas);
(e) Microwave cooking
equipment;
(g) Bathroom exhaust fan
and heater;
(h) Garage door
operator;
(9) Ohio standards of practice, which shall
include the following topics:
(a) Review of
general principles and specific Ohio practice standards;
(b) Inspection guidelines for structural
systems;
(c) Inspection guidelines
for electrical systems;
(d)
Inspection guidelines for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
systems;
(e) Inspection guidelines
for plumbing systems;
(f)
Inspection guidelines for appliances; and
(g) Inspection guidelines for optional
systems.
(10) Ohio home
inspector law, which shall include the following topics:
(a) Chapter 4764. of the Revised
Code;
(b) Rules of the board
related to Ohio licensed home inspectors.
(11) Ohio report content/report writing,
which shall include the following topics:
(a)
The required inspection report content as defined in division (D) of section
4764.01 of the Revised
Code;
(b) Allowed reproductions and
distributions;
(d) Review of typical
comments for each heading in the report; and
(e) Review of generally accepted technical
writing techniques.
(C) The following offerings will not be
considered by the Ohio home inspector board to meet qualifying education
requirements:
(1) Examination preparation
courses;
(2) Sales promotion or
meetings held in conjunction with the general business of the attendee or the
attendee's business associates;
(3)
Meetings which are a normal part of in-house staff training; or
(4) That portion of any offering devoted to
meals or other refreshment.
(D) Criteria for approval of offerings and
instructors.
(1) For this rule, "classroom
hours" shall mean the amount of time necessary to complete the course, without
interruption. One classroom hour consists of fifty minutes of instruction out of a
sixty-minute segment.
(2)
Instructors who present a qualifying education course, shall submit
documentation to the division through a form prescribed by the superintendent
demonstrating the instructor meets at least one of the following
qualifications:
(a) Possession of a bachelor's
degree or higher in a related field to that which the person is to teach, from
a school listed as an institution of higher learning by the United States
department of education, or from a comparable school of a foreign
country;
(b) Possession of a valid
teaching credential or certificate from Ohio or another state authorizing the
holder to teach in the field of instruction which the person is to
teach;
(c) Five years full-time
experience in a profession, trade, or technical occupation in the applicable
field; or
(d) Any combination of at
least five years of full-time experience relevant to the applicable field and
college level education.
(3) Acceptable education providers of home
inspector qualifying education include: a college or university that is a
degree-granting institution accredited by the commission on colleges, a
regional or national accreditation association or accrediting agency recognized
by the U.S. secretary of education; a community or junior college; a
proprietary school approved by the state board of career colleges and schools;
or a professional organization. A professional organization consists of an
organization that offers instruction in home inspector subjects found in
paragraph (B) of this rule; offers an organization designation to home
inspectors upon the completion of home inspector education and experience; and
has established a standard of practice and code of ethics for its organization
members that is consistent with the board's standard of practice and code of
ethics.
(4) Each qualifying
education course shall be open to all on an equal basis.
(5) An education provider may administer
quizzes or examinations in an online qualifying education course for the
purpose of verifying participation but passing a course examination shall not
be a requirement for successful completion of a qualifying home inspector
education course.
(E)
The education provider must issue certificates to an attendee using the correct
course certification number provided by the division. Any certificate
incorrectly issued must be reissued to each attendee within thirty days of
receipt of notice of the defective certificate by the education provider using
the valid certification number as assigned by the division.
(F) No approved education provider shall
certify the attendance of a person who was not physically present during
ninety-five per cent of the instruction time. All offerings must be
successfully completed.
(G) Record
keeping.
(1) Education providers shall
maintain for four years from the date of the course a record of attendance of
each person attending the course disclosing the following information:
(a) Ohio home inspector board approval
certification number;
(b) Name and
business address of attendee;
(c)
Course title, description of offering and name of course instructor;
(d) Classroom hours of attendance;
(e) Date of course offering; and
(f) Name, address, and signature of verifier
in employ of the education provider.
(2) The education provider shall certify the
items specified in paragraph (G)(1) of this rule on a certificate or transcript
and furnish a copy to the attendee within fifteen days after successful
completion of the offering.
(3)
Each education provider shall submit to the division, in a format prescribed by
the superintendent, within fifteen days after completion of each offering, a
list of the students who successfully completed the course. The list shall
include student names and addresses, the course certification number, the
number of approved hours and the date the course was held.
(H) Denial or withdrawal of offering.
(1) The superintendent may deny or withdraw
approval of the initial application for any proposed qualifying education
offering if the offering does not meet the requirements of Chapter 4764. of the
Revised Code or of the standards or criteria prescribed in this rule or rule
1301:17-1-11 of the
Administrative Code.
(2) The
superintendent may deny or withdraw the approval of a person as a qualifying
education course instructor for any person who was convicted of a disqualifying
criminal offense found on the division's web site within the time period
established in division (D)(2) of section
9.79 of the Revised Code, found
to have provided false information to the division, who has been disciplined by
the board for a violation of Chapter 4764. of the Revised Code or has been
disciplined by any state licensing board.
(3) If the superintendent determines an
initial offering, an offering previously approved, or an instructor previously
approved does not meet or no longer meets prescribed standards set forth in
this rule, then a written notice of the denial or withdrawal of approval will
be given stating the reasons therefore. The notice of withdrawal of approval
will be effective ten days from the date of the notice of withdrawal.
(4) A party served with the notice in
paragraph (H)(3) of this rule may file, within thirty days of the date of the
notice, a written request for hearing before the board. If a request for
hearing is timely filed, a hearing before the board will be held at the board's
next regularly scheduled meeting.
(I) The division shall keep a current list of
approved home inspector qualifying education courses which shall be available
to the public.
(J) An education
provider shall allow the division to audit a course approved pursuant to this
rule and shall permit division investigators and auditors to audit, upon
division request, an education provider's records related to that course during
normal business hours. An education provider has a duty to ensure an approved
course remains current with home inspector laws, rules and industry
practice.
(K) Applicants of an
initial home inspector license application must submit with the application a
certificate, transcript, letter or other similar documentation properly issued
from the education provider at which the course or courses of education were
completed. The superintendent of the division of real estate and professional
licensing may request supporting documentation to determine the acceptability
of a particular course or courses.
(L) For applicants only applying to satisfy
division (D)(6)(a) of section
4764.07 of the Revised Code, a
peer review session from the applicant's curriculum of experience is allowed by
division (D) of section
4764.05 of the Revised Code to
satisfy the education requirements found in this rule. At maximum, one peer
review session may be submitted as part of the education requirements for a
home inspector license. One peer review session shall count towards ten hours
out of the eighty hours of education required for a license. The peer review
session must comply with the Administrative Code.
(M) Upon notice from the division of real
estate and professional licensing that an application for an initial home
inspector license application is incomplete or incorrect as filed, the
applicant shall, within thirty days of the date of the last such notice, submit
to the division the additional requested information or the corrected
application. Failure to timely submit the additional requested information or
the corrected application shall constitute just cause for the superintendent to
void the application and impose a forfeiture of any application fee.
