Texas home inspector courses and school pass rates

TREC sets six classroom modules by rule, plus a 40-hour Texas Practicum. Which ones you need depends on the tier and the path. This table lists every module, its hours, and the license tier that first needs it:

A real estate inspector needs 90 hours plus 3 months and 25 inspections under direct supervision, or 154 hours on the substitute path. A professional inspector needs 134 hours plus 12 months and 175 inspections as a sponsored real estate inspector, or 194 hours including a 40-hour Texas Practicum.

The two 40-hour property modules carry most of the building content. TREC sets their topics on a course approval form that every school has to follow.

Module I covers the site, the exterior, the roof, the structure, and the interior. It also takes in fireplaces, fuel-burning appliances, chimney vents, and the built-in kitchen appliances.

Module II covers electrical, heating, cooling, insulation, moisture, ventilation, and plumbing with water heaters. It ends with optional systems like lawn sprinklers, pools, and spas.

Those are the same systems the NHIE tests. For how the exam weighs them, see the NHIE domain weights and content outline.

TREC publishes a first-try pass rate for each approved school. A pass means both the national and Texas parts on the first attempt. A student counts toward the school where they took most of their qualifying courses in the two years before the exam.

This table lists every school in TREC's data for December 1, 2023 to November 30, 2025, with the counts beside each rate:

TREC sets a minimum pass rate of 80% of the overall rate, which comes to 45.44% for this period. A school below it faces probation or disapproval when it applies for its four-year reapproval.

Read the small rows with care. Four schools had three students or fewer, so one result moves their rate by a third or more. For the full record on what is and is not published about passing, see what the NHIE pass rate is.

Course hours open the exam. The national part unlocks after the core modules, and the Texas part after Texas Law, Texas Standards of Practice, and the Practicum. The exam fee is $210 for the national part and $58 for the state part, in the Pearson VUE handbook dated September 2026.

You also need fingerprints, $100,000 of insurance or a bond, and TREC's approval of your application. For every step and fee in order, see how to become a home inspector in Texas.