Format · scoring · scheduling
What is on the National Home Inspector Examination (NHIE)
Four hours, two hundred questions, and a scoring model that is not a percentage. Knowing the shape of it is worth a couple of marks on its own, because it stops you rationing time against the wrong thing.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Questions | 200 administered — 175 scored, 25 unscored pretest items you cannot pick out |
| Format | Four-option multiple choice, single best answer |
| Time | 4 hours. The clock starts on the first question; the tutorial (up to 15 minutes) is not counted. No calculators. |
| Delivery | Computer-based and proctored. PSI in most states; Pearson VUE in Florida, Nevada and Texas |
| Scoring | Scaled 200–800, pass at 500. Criterion-referenced — a panel of subject-matter experts sets the cut score with a psychometrician |
| Fee | $225 in most states and Canada. Non-refundable, non-transferable |
| Retakes | Unlimited attempts, 30-day wait between them, full fee each time |
| Eligibility | Set by your jurisdiction, not by EBPHI. There is no national prerequisite to sit |
Sources: EBPHI exam overview packet and the EBPHI FAQ. Item counts corroborated by the PSI candidate handbook.
The blueprint, and why ours disagrees with the SERP
EBPHI publishes a content outline. The current one took effect 1 April 2024 and splits the exam 70 / 20 / 10. We checked it in two independent PDFs and the nineteen task weights sum to exactly 100 in both.
Several large prep sites still publish 63 / 25 / 12, and an older PSI handbook shows 64 / 24 / 12 under different domain names. Those are retired. If you plan your revision on them you will over-weight reporting by five points and under-weight the house by seven.
| Domain | Weight | Breakdown |
|---|---|---|
| Property and Building Inspection / Site Review | 70% | 13 tasks |
| Analysis of Findings and Reporting | 20% | 4 tasks |
| Professional Responsibilities | 10% | 2 tasks |
Weights are EBPHI’s published content outline, effective 1 April 2024 (EBPHI exam overview packet, cross-checked against Pearson VUE publication 101001).
All nineteen tasks
Domain 1 repeats the same four questions about every system in the house: what types and materials exist, what the standards and installation methods are, what typically fails, and what is a safety issue. Once you see that, the thirteen tasks stop looking like thirteen subjects.
| Task | Weight | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Site conditions | 5% | Vegetation, grade, drainage, retaining walls; driveways, patios and walkways; pool and spa access barriers. |
| Building exterior | 5% | Wall cladding, flashing, trim, eaves, soffits and fascia; exterior doors and windows; decks, balconies, stoops, stairs, porches and railings; garage vehicle doors and operators. |
| Roof components | 6% | Roof coverings, flashings, roof drainage and penetrations. |
| Structural components | 6% | Foundations, framing, and the load path from roof to footing. |
| Electrical systems | 7% | Service entrance, panels, branch circuits, grounding and bonding, devices and fixtures. |
| Cooling systems | 4% | Central and through-wall cooling equipment, distribution and controls. |
| Heating systems | 5% | Heat-producing equipment, distribution, venting and controls. |
| Insulation, moisture management and ventilation | 5% | Conditioned and unconditioned spaces: attics, crawlspaces, walls. |
| Mechanical exhaust systems | 5% | Kitchen, bath and dryer exhaust, and where each one is allowed to terminate. |
| Plumbing and fuel distribution | 6% | Supply, drain-waste-vent, water heating, fuel piping and shutoffs. |
| Interior components | 4% | Walls, ceilings, floors, steps, railings, doors and windows inside the envelope. |
| Fireplaces, fuel-burning appliances and chimneys | 6% | Solid-fuel and gas appliances, hearths, flues, liners and terminations. |
| Life-safety equipment and systems | 6% | Smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms, fire suppression and sprinklers. |
| Describe what was inspected and how | 4% | Name the systems by their distinguishing characteristics — purpose, type, size, location — and state the methodology used. |
| Describe the limitations | 4% | What was not inspected, and the reason it was not inspected. |
| Describe defective components | 6% | Systems and components that are not functioning properly, in reporting language rather than diagnosis. |
| Describe what needs further evaluation | 6% | Which findings get referred on, and to whom. |
| The pre-inspection agreement | 5% | Scope, limitations and terms; exclusions, limits of liability, dispute resolution, privacy and timing. |
| Quality, integrity and objectivity | 5% | Contractual responsibility, negligence, applicable regulations and conflicts of interest. |
Booking it
There are no fixed NHIE test dates. Registration is continuous — you book a slot online or by phone with your state’s vendor, six days a week, year round, at hundreds of centres. If a site is showing you a table of “2026 NHIE exam dates”, it made the table up.
Your score report
You get the result on screen straight away, and a paper copy before you leave a PSI centre. Here is the useful asymmetry: a failing report carries a strengths-and-weaknesses breakdown by content area. A passing one does not. If it goes badly you walk out holding a targeted study plan.
How many questions can I get wrong?
Unanswerable, and not because we are being coy. Scaled scoring means the raw-to-scaled conversion depends on the form you sat. There is no fixed number of misses that equals 500.
Are the 25 pretest questions marked?
No, and you cannot tell which ones they are. They are being trialled for future forms. Answer everything as if it counts, because you have no way to spend less effort on the ones that do not.
Is the exam the same in every state?
The national form is. Illinois, South Dakota and Washington add state-specific sections on top of it, and several states run it under their own catalogue name — TX Professional Inspector National, Vermont Property Inspector, FL – EBPHI and so on. Same instrument.
Can I bring a calculator?
No.
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Crawlspace Prep is an independent study site. We are not EBPHI, ASHI, InterNACHI or a state board, we do not administer the NHIE, and nothing here licenses anybody. Always check the current rule with your state and with EBPHI.