CMI Application
Application/Affidavit
for the Certified Master Inspector® professional designation
The process for becoming a Certified Master Inspector® is very straightforward. You must complete the following steps:
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Complete 1,000 fee-paid inspections and/or hours of inspection-related Continuing Education (combined) in your lifetime at the time of your application.
a. Experience: Inspections must have been performed for actual fee-paying clients, but do not have to be your clients (you can count inspections you performed while working for someone else). Limit one inspection per residence (for example, three inspections on one home count as only one inspection).
b. Education: The Master Inspector Certification Board’s qualifying Continuing Education subject matter is quite broad. Anything one could reasonably deem to be inspection-related qualifies, including classroom, home study, and online courses and seminars. Business success, accounting, marketing, etc., courses do not count. Repeated courses do not count twice. Hours count hour-for-hour. For example: If it takes you six hours to complete a course, it counts as six hours. The Board realizes that applicants may not have maintained proof of every hour of Continuing Education accumulated, but applicants should be able to offer a list which substantially demonstrates the completion of the hours of inspection-related education completed in their lifetime.
The sum of the inspections performed (a) and the hours of Continuing Education completed (b) need to add up to 1,000 hours or more. -
Demonstrate that you have been in the inspection business for at least three years and supply proof by submitting ONE of the following:
a. a copy of your government-issued inspector's license demonstrating that you were an inspector as of three or
more years ago; or
b. s copy of your business license demonstrating that you were an inspector as of three or more years ago; or
c. evidence that demonstrates that you were a member of an inspection association as of three or more years
ago; or
d. a copy of the first page of your inspection business federal tax return from three or more years ago; or
e. a copy of a DBA document demonstrating that you were an inspector as of three or more years ago; or
f. three signed letters from business people or past clients stating that you were an inspector as of three or
more years ago. -
Agree to abide by the Master Inspector Certification Board’s Code of Ethics, a copy of which is posted at http://www.certifiedmasterinspector.org/cmi/coe.html. The Board’s Code of Ethics meets or exceeds all other inspection trade association’s and government-mandated Code of Ethics. Therefore, abiding by the Master Inspectors Certification Board’s Code of Ethics places the Certified Master Inspector® in compliance with all other existing inspector Codes of Ethics.
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Agree to substantially follow any one of the Board-approved Standards of Practice (ASHI, CAHPI, CREIA, FABI, ISHI, InterNACHI, TREC). Any state-mandated Standards of Practice is also approved for Certified Master Inspectors® in that state.
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Agree to submit to a criminal background check. Applicants may not be a convicted felon or sex offender. The background check will be arranged and paid for by the Master Inspector Certification Board. There is no additional fee for this background check.
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Fill out the application/affidavit, but don’t sign it yet. Sign the affidavit in front of a Notary Public and have it notarized. (You will need the appropriate photo ID for this.)
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Make a check or money order for $375 payable to “Master Inspector Certification Board.” This is a one-time application-processing fee and is good for your lifetime. There are no annual dues or hidden costs. This is a one-time, lifetime fee.
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Mail the application/affidavit, the check or money order, one form of proof of your business standing (from #2), and a copy of your driver's license to:
Master Inspector Certification Board
1750 30th Street, Suite 300
Boulder, CO 80301
Your application will be processed and your background check will be completed within 48 hours of receipt of your application. If your application is approved, you will be listed on the www.CertifiedMasterInspector.org website that same day. If you are not accepted, the Board will not cash your check and it will be returned to you with an explanation. Once your application is approved, you may advertise yourself as a Certified Master Inspector®
Once your application to become a Certified Master Inspector® is approved:
There are a variety of ways to tout your Certifed Master Inspector® professional designation. Some examples of the many permitted uses of the Trademarked professional designation include:
- John Smith, Certified Master Inspector®
- John Smith, C.M.I.™
- John Smith, CMI™
- I am a Certified Master Inspector®, have completed more than 1,000 inspections and/or hours of Continuing Education, have been in business for more than three years, abide by the Master Inspector Certification Board’s strict Code of Ethics, abide by a Board-approved Standards of Practice, and have passed a criminal background check.
- I have passed a criminal background check required by the Master Inspector Certification Board.
- I am listed as a Certified Master Inspector® by the Master Inspector Certification Board at www.CertifiedMasterInspector.org
- I am a Board-Certified™ inspector.
- John Smith, Board-Certified™
You may also use the Trademarked Certified Master Inspector® logos at: www.CertifiedMasterInspector.org/cmi/logos.html
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q. What courses are accepted?
A. The Board will accept any type of inspection-related course or seminar (classroom, home-study, online, or a combination of these), provided it is technical (no "business success," accounting, or marketing courses, etc.). Repeated courses do not count twice.
Q. What proof of the Continuing Education that I completed must I submit with my application?
A. Your affidavit (below) shall be satisfactory evidence thereof. However, the Board reserves the right to audit your records and demand that you substantially demonstrate that you have fulfilled all requirements, so keep a record of all Continuing Education that you participate in.
Q. Does my membership or lack of membership in any inspection trade association affect my chances of approval?
A. No. The Certified Master Inspector® professional designation is available to all inspectors.
Q. I have poor credit and am behind in child support payments. Will this preclude my application from being approved?
A. No. The background check only verifies whether you are a convicted felon or sex offender.
Q. Is there an annual fee to remain a Certified Master Inspector®?
A. No. The $375 fee is a one-time application-processing fee (lifetime fee). There are no annual dues.
Q. I have more questions. Where can I get answers?
A. Email the Master Inspector Certification Board's Founder, Nick Gromicko, at nick@certifiedmasterinspector.org, or visit www.CertifiedMasterInspector.org.
2009 Certified Master Inspector® Application/Affidavit
First Name: ___________________________________________________________________
Middle Initial (not required): _______
Last Name: ____________________________________________________________________
Company Name (not required): _____________________________________________
Address 1 (kept confidential): ______________________________________________
Address 2 (kept confidential): ______________________________________________
City: _________________________________________________________________________
State or Province: ______________________________________________________________
Zip or Postal Code: _________________
Country: ______________________________________________________________________
Phone Number: _(_______)_______________________________________________________
Email Address: ___________________________@_________________.__________
Web Address (not required): www.___________________________________.________
How many inspections have you performed in your career? (kept confidential): _______________
I hereby attest that the above information is true and correct, that I have completed 1,000 or more fee-paid inspections and/or hours of inspection-related Continuing Education (combined) in my lifetime, that I have been in the inspection business for at least three years, that I will abide by a the Master Inspector Certification Board’s Code of Ethics, that I will substantially follow a Board-approved Standards of Practice, that I am not a convicted felon, and that I have granted the Master Inspector Certification Board permission to perform a criminal background check on me.
_________________________________________________________________________________
Applicant’s Signature
Sworn and subscribed to before me _____________________
Date
Notary Seal here
Mail:
1) this notarized application/affidavit;
2) one form of proof of your business standing (see #2);
3) a check or money order made payable to “Master Inspector Certification Board"; and
4) a copy of your driver's license to:
Master Inspector Certification Board
1750 30th Street, Suite 300
Boulder, CO, 80301
NOTE: Applications submitted online, by phone or by fax will not be considered.
Payment of the one-time application fee by cash or credit card will not be accepted.