Yes, and Texas prescribes more of the job than any other state. The Texas Real Estate Commission licenses inspectors in three tiers under Occupations Code chapter 1102, writes its own standards of practice instead of adopting a trade association's, and requires every inspection of a one- to four-family home to be delivered on a single mandated form, Property Inspection Report Form REI 7-6. That last rule is why Texas reports from different inspectors look alike — and why a buyer can learn to read one.
Official sources
Links below go to the state’s own systems. This site holds no records and cannot look anything up for you.
- Verify a credential: TREC License Holder Search Searches all TREC licence types by individual or organisation name; individual names are entered last name first.
- Regulator: Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC)
- Governing law: Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 1102 (Real Estate Inspectors)
- Administrative rules: 22 Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 535, Subchapter R (Real Estate Inspectors)
- Complaints: File a complaint with the regulator
The report belongs to the state, not the inspector
Texas mandates Property Inspection Report Form REI 7-6 for every real estate inspection of one- to four-family residential property performed in the state. An inspector may attach photographs, summaries and additional pages, but the required form is the report. There is no house style to decode and no proprietary format that hides the bad news in an appendix.
For a buyer that has an unusual consequence: the structure of the document is fixed before anyone opens your front door. Two reports on two houses, written by two inspectors who have never met, march through the same categories in the same order. Comparing them is a fair comparison, which is rarely true anywhere else.
The corollary is that a Texas report you are handed on a non-standard form, or a one-page letter with a verbal walkthrough, is not what the state requires for a residential inspection. That in itself tells you something.
How the mandated categories teach you to read it
The form tracks the state's own standards of practice at 22 TAC 535.227 through 535.233. Those rules run through general provisions, structural systems, electrical systems, heating and air conditioning, plumbing, appliances, and optional systems, and they define the minimum an inspection must cover for a one- to four-family dwelling.
So read the report as a checklist against a published minimum rather than as an essay. Every mandated category should be addressed. Where the report says a system was not inspected, or was not present, that is a statement with consequences — an attic that could not be entered or a system that was shut off is a gap in your information, and the time to raise it is while the option period is running, not after closing.
It also frames what a deficiency means. The standards set a minimum inspection, not a code compliance review and not a comparison against a new house. An older home that complied when it was built will still generate deficiencies, and a report free of them on a forty-year-old house should raise your eyebrows, not lower them.
Three tiers, and which one is standing in your kitchen
Texas licenses at three levels, and they are not interchangeable.
- Apprentice Inspector. No qualifying education and no examination. An apprentice works under sponsorship and is at the start of the path.
- Real Estate Inspector. Requires the qualifying modules, the two-part examination, at least three months of active experience as a licensed apprentice and 25 completed inspections, plus sponsorship by a professional inspector. A substitution route accepts three years of related home inspection experience supported by affidavits, together with additional modules.
- Professional Real Estate Inspector. The top tier, and the only one that needs no sponsor.
The register shows which tier a person holds. If the inspection is being performed by an apprentice or a real estate inspector, a sponsoring professional stands behind that work, and it is entirely reasonable to ask who that is.
The qualifying modules, restructured in 2021
The education for a Real Estate Inspector is delivered as standard modules: Property and Building Inspection Module I of 40 hours, Property and Building Inspection Module II of 40 hours, and the Business Operations and Professional Responsibility Module of 10 hours. Applicants qualifying through the substitute-experience route also take the Texas Standards of Practice Module of 24 hours and the Texas Practicum of 40 hours.
That structure dates from 2021, when the pre-licensing requirement was reorganised into modules and cut by roughly half. It matters for reading older guidance: articles written before 2021 describe a much heavier classroom requirement that no longer applies, which is one of the more common pieces of stale information about Texas licensing still circulating.
Financial responsibility, tested twice
Texas does not simply ask for an insurance certificate at the start. Proof of financial responsibility is required before a licence is issued and again at every renewal. The threshold is professional liability insurance — or other coverage for violations of chapter 1102, subchapter G — of at least $100,000 per occurrence and $100,000 in annual aggregate, or a continuous bond of at least $100,000 that cannot be cancelled on less than 90 days' notice.
Read the aggregate figure carefully. Annual aggregate is the ceiling across every claim in the year, not per client. On a busy inspector, the state minimum is a floor set well below what a serious structural claim can cost, which is a reason to ask what limits are actually carried rather than assuming the minimum is the norm.
Verifying a licence while the option period runs
TREC publishes a licence holder search covering every credential type it issues, with individual names entered last name first. Check the tier, the status and the expiry, and check the person rather than only the firm — the licence attaches to the individual walking the house.
Licences are issued and renewed for a period not to exceed 24 months, and continuing education runs at a minimum of 16 classroom hours of core inspection or continuing education courses for each year of the licence period, which is 32 hours across a two-year renewal. Fingerprinting through the Department of Public Safety is part of the application process, so a Texas licence also represents a completed criminal history check.
If something goes wrong, TREC accepts written, signed complaints against inspectors; the commission's page describing what can be complained about is linked from this page. None of this is legal advice, and a licence is a floor rather than a verdict on competence — but in Texas the floor is unusually well documented, and the mandated form means the evidence of what was and was not inspected is written down in a shape you can check.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the same inspection report form required for every Texas inspection?
For real estate inspections of one- to four-family residential property in Texas, yes: Property Inspection Report Form REI 7-6 is required. Inspectors can add photographs, summaries and extra pages, but the mandated form is the report itself, which is why Texas reports share a structure regardless of who performed the inspection.
What are the three Texas home inspector licence levels?
Apprentice Inspector, Real Estate Inspector, and Professional Real Estate Inspector. An apprentice takes no examination and no qualifying education and works under sponsorship. A real estate inspector needs the modules, the two-part exam, apprentice experience and 25 inspections, plus a sponsor. A professional real estate inspector needs no sponsor.
Does TREC require home inspectors to carry insurance?
It requires proof of financial responsibility at issuance and at every renewal: professional liability cover of at least $100,000 per occurrence and $100,000 annual aggregate, or a continuous bond of at least $100,000 that cannot be cancelled on less than 90 days' notice. That is a legal minimum, not a typical limit.
Who writes the standards a Texas inspection has to meet?
The state does. The standards of practice sit in rule at 22 TAC 535.227 through 535.233 and cover structural, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, appliances and optional systems for one- to four-family dwellings. Texas writes its own rather than adopting a trade association's standards, and the mandated report form follows them.
How do I check a Texas inspector's licence?
Use TREC's licence holder search, linked from this page, entering individual names last name first. Confirm the tier, that the status is active, and that the expiry date is in the future. Licences run for periods not exceeding 24 months, so an old certificate proves nothing on its own.