Missouri does not license home inspectors. Illinois does. Here is how to check, on either side of the river.
Missouri does not license home inspectors. Illinois does. In a metro that straddles the state line, that one difference changes what you should be checking before you hire anyone.
No state board, no required exam, no required training, no minimum experience. Anyone in Missouri can print a business card that says home inspector and start charging for inspections tomorrow.
So what do you check? A voluntary credential is the only consistent signal you have. That is why ASHI matters more here than it would in a licensing state.
Home inspectors are licensed by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation under the Home Inspector License Act. Inspecting a home in Illinois without that license is not permitted.
So what do you check? The license first, on the state's own lookup, then the credential on top of it.
ASHI, the American Society of Home Inspectors, is the oldest and most widely recognized voluntary credential, and its top tier is the one worth asking about by name. It is useful in both states, but it carries the most weight in Missouri, where nothing else is required of anyone.
If the house is in Madison, St. Clair, Monroe, Clinton, Jersey or Macoupin County, your inspector needs an Illinois license. To hold one, they must have:
| 60 hours of pre-license education | From a provider the state itself has approved, not an in-house course. |
| 5 supervised field inspections | Performed under an already licensed Illinois inspector before they can work alone. |
| The Illinois examination | Four hours: the National Home Inspector Examination plus a section on Illinois statutes. |
| Continuing education | 12 hours per renewal period, from a state-approved provider. |
| A current renewal | Illinois home inspector licenses expire November 30 of even numbered years. A license that looked fine last season can be lapsed. |
Verify it yourself on the state's own system: IDFPR License Lookup. Search the inspector's name and confirm both the license status and the expiration date.
One caution from experience with that portal: a search that returns nothing looks exactly the same whether the name is misspelled, the license genuinely does not exist, or the system is simply having a bad day. An empty result is a reason to ask the inspector for their license number and search again, not a verdict on its own.
ASHI has membership tiers, and they are not equivalent. The one that carries real weight is ASHI Certified Inspector (ACI), a credential accredited by the National Commission of Certifying Agencies. To hold it, an inspector must have:
The National Home Inspector Examination, the same exam licensing states rely on.
A minimum of 250 fee-paid inspections performed to ASHI's Standard of Practice. Not 250 practice walkthroughs.
Five complete inspection reports submitted and approved against the Standard of Practice and the Code of Ethics.
Ongoing continuing education every year to keep the credential, not a one-time test.
A newer ASHI member who has not yet met those thresholds may be listed as an Associate or Inspector rather than ACI. That is not a red flag on its own, but it is a different thing, and it is a fair question to ask.
The Scott Frederick Team, the local Pillar To Post Home Inspectors franchise, staff ASHI Certified Home Inspectors and are a long-standing inspection partner of MORE, REALTORS®. They inspect on the Missouri side of the metro: St. Louis City and County, St. Charles, Jefferson, Franklin, Lincoln and Warren Counties.
Alongside the inspection they handle radon, termite, septic and mold testing, and sewer lateral scoping is done in house by Superior Sewer, their own division. On older St. Louis housing stock that matters: the scope and the inspection come back from one company, on one schedule, inside your inspection period.
Buying in Illinois? They are not licensed as home inspectors in Illinois, so for a Metro East property you will need an IDFPR licensed inspector instead. Use the ASHI directory to shortlist, then confirm the license on the IDFPR lookup. We would rather tell you that than send you to the wrong person.
You are free to use any inspector you choose. We list them because we work with them, not because you are required to.
| "What is your ASHI membership level?" | ACI is the certified tier. Associate and Inspector are earlier stages. |
| "How many inspections have you done?" | In a state with no licensing, volume and tenure are most of what you have to go on. |
| "Can I walk the house with you?" | The answer should be yes. An hour on site with the inspector is worth more than the report alone. |
| "When do I get the report?" | Inspection periods are short. Same day or next day is what you need to build a request in time. |
| "Do you do sewer scoping and radon?" | On older St. Louis housing stock these are the two add-ons that most often change the deal. |
No. Missouri has no statewide licensing or regulation of home inspectors. Credentials such as ASHI are voluntary, which is exactly why they are worth checking.
Yes. Illinois licenses home inspectors through IDFPR under the Home Inspector License Act, with required pre-license education, supervised field inspections, a state examination and continuing education. Verify any Metro East inspector on the IDFPR License Lookup.
Only if they also hold an Illinois license. Missouri imposes no licensing requirement, so a perfectly good Missouri inspector may simply never have obtained one. Ask before you book an inspection across the river.
No, they are two separate national associations and plenty of good inspectors belong to one, the other, or both. ASHI's certified tier is accredited by the National Commission of Certifying Agencies, which is the distinction worth knowing.
No. They are separate, and many St. Louis area municipalities require their own occupancy permit inspection before you can move in. See St. Louis occupancy permit inspection requirements.
Usually not. Lenders require an appraisal, which is a valuation, not a condition report. The inspection is for you, and skipping it to save a few hundred dollars is how people inherit a five figure repair.
ASHI and ASHI Certified Inspector are marks of the American Society of Home Inspectors, Inc. MORE, REALTORS® is not affiliated with ASHI or with the St. Louis ASHI chapter, and this page is informational only. Membership levels, licensing requirements and state regulations are set by ASHI and by the respective states and can change. Verify any inspector's current standing directly with ASHI, and any Illinois license with IDFPR, before you hire them.