Rethinking the CE Cycle:
A Lifelong Learning Model for Home Inspectors
Rethinking the CE Cycle:
A Lifelong Learning Model for Home Inspectors
by The Home Inspection Learning Laboratory
Let’s start with a premise that shouldn’t be controversial: home inspector education shouldn’t go stale. And yet, look closely at most continuing education (CE) catalogs, and you’ll find courses written 8 to 10 years ago still in circulation. Construction practices have changed. Code cycles have advanced. Materials have evolved. But the curriculum hasn’t.
It’s time to rethink how we structure continuing education—starting from the moment a home inspector becomes licensed.
The 2+1 Model: Post-Licensure and Beyond
I’m proposing a lifelong learning structure built around a 2+1 model.
Years 1–2: The Post-Licensure Phase
Required education focuses on core systems: structure, roofing, exterior, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, moisture, insulation, ventilation, and reporting.
Year 3: Elective Education
Inspectors are encouraged to begin advanced and ancillary topics such as indoor air quality (IAQ), energy rating, radon, mold, thermal imaging, solar, EV systems, smart home technologies, or wood-destroying organisms (WDO).
This model offers flexibility without losing sight of the core knowledge required of all home inspectors. Over three years, inspectors refresh foundational skills and add new perspectives. Think of it as refreshing two-thirds of your basic training, then expanding the remaining third.
Years 4 and Beyond: The Veteran Cycle
In the next three years—and every three-year cycle that follows—inspectors may take their required educational credits along with advanced or ancillary credits at any time within the cycle. This aligns with their state licensing requirements or chosen association membership standards.
The added flexibility in these later cycles reflects a simple truth: once a strong foundation is laid, when a course is taken becomes less critical than what is being learned and how well it adapts to evolving practices.
This model recognizes that experienced inspectors don’t need the same material year after year, but they do need to revisit the foundations regularly, with fresh context and current standards.
What This Solves
Staleness: No more decade-old courses recycling the same slides.
Complacency: Inspectors can’t just “check the box”—they rotate through both reinforcement and expansion.
Curriculum neglect: Educators are given a reason—and a rhythm—to refresh their course content every few years.
Relevance: CE stays connected to the field: new materials, shifting practices, and changing code landscapes.
Lifelong Learning With Purpose
This isn’t about adding burden. It’s about building rhythm. Inspectors deserve an education model that matches the way they learn and grow: not front-loaded, not ad hoc, but cyclical and sustaining.
It’s time to move beyond random electives and moldy courses. It’s time to create a learning ecosystem that evolves as we do.
If nothing else, let this post mark a point in time: the day we stopped accepting a broken CE model just because it was already in place.
Consideration for transferees: Any new members of an association may transfer in at any time. A review of their last 3 years of course credits will establish where they are in the 3 year cycle.
Let the critics speak—but let them bring more than nostalgia and excuses. The future of this profession deserves better.
There you go again, thinking outside the box! Makes sense, sir!