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Only 30% of your 30 hours may be self-paced. The other 21 must be classroom instruction — which includes live, interactive online sessions. Our quarterly three-day blocks cover all of it. See the schedule →
One three-day block, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday. Live and interactive — real instructor, cameras on, questions answered in the room. Never pre-recorded, because pre-recorded would not count. Includes both topics Maryland now requires at renewal: 2 hours of minimum standards of practice and 2 hours of report writing. Offered every January, April, August, and December.
The maximum Maryland permits outside a classroom. Choose any three of the six courses listed below — take them any time, before or after your block, with no overlap with the live topics.
Load paths and framing defects, foundation movement and elevation documentation, cladding systems, grading and drainage, and the moisture intrusion patterns behind most post-inspection claims.
Service entrance and panel evaluation, aluminum branch wiring and Federal Pacific panels. Then combustion safety, heat exchanger limits, venting and draft on gas-fired furnaces — and chimney liners, flue clearances, creosote accumulation, firebox and damper condition on solid fuel appliances.
Radon, mold, lead and asbestos — taught by an inspector Maryland-licensed for asbestos, Maryland-accredited for lead, and IAC2-certified in radon and mold. Then both topics Maryland now requires at renewal — 2 hours of minimum standards of practice and 2 hours of report writing — closing with a live field walkthrough.
Covering material identification and failure modes, roof structure and drainage, flashing and penetration detailing, and the documentation of roofing defects. Built on field photography from Maryland inspections.
Split system and packaged equipment, refrigerant line and coil evaluation, condensate handling, temperature differential measurement, and heat pump operation including defrost cycle and auxiliary heat.
Well construction and components, flow and yield evaluation, water quality parameters and contaminants, septic tanks and drainfields, and county health department requirements across Maryland.
Walls, ceilings and floors, stairs and guards, doors and windows from the interior, garage separation and fire-rated assemblies, and smoke and carbon monoxide alarm placement.
Insulation types and R-value, vapor retarders, attic and crawl space ventilation, net free area calculation, exhaust termination defects, and the moisture conditions inadequate ventilation produces.
Supply piping materials by era including polybutylene and galvanized, drain waste and vent configurations, fixtures and functional evaluation, and water heating equipment — TPR discharge, combustion venting and thermal expansion control.
Individually $45 each. The 9-hour bundle is $119, and it is included at no additional cost with the Maryland Complete Renewal package below. Courses can be taken in any order, before or after your live block, certificates are issued on completion, and course materials stay in your account permanently.
| Block | Dates | Format | Hours | Seats | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2026 Off-season block |
Tue–Thu, Dec 15–17 9am–5pm ET |
Live virtual | 21 | Open | Reserve |
| January 2027 New cycle block |
Tue–Thu, Jan 12–14 9am–5pm ET |
Live virtual | 21 | Open | Reserve |
| April 2027 Spring block |
Tue–Thu, Apr 13–15 9am–5pm ET |
Live virtual | 21 | Open | Reserve |
| August 2027 Summer block |
Tue–Thu, Aug 10–12 9am–5pm ET |
Live virtual | 21 | Opens soon | Reserve |
Fill a specific gap
All 30 hours, one provider
Already have your online hours
Four blocks a year, 21 hours each. The blocks closest to common renewal dates fill first, and once a block is full the next one is a quarter away. Register now and your seat is held.
Taking a single day instead? Choose it at checkout — seats in each block are allocated in the order they're reserved.
Covering materials and failure modes, structure and drainage, flashing and penetrations — plus a full module on low-slope membranes, internal drains and scuppers, parapet flashing and pitch pans.
Refrigeration cycle, condensing unit and coil evaluation, condensate management, temperature differential, heat pump defrost and auxiliary heat — plus duct systems, leakage and return-path problems.
Supply piping by era including polybutylene, drain waste and vent, fixtures, and water heating — TPR discharge, combustion venting and expansion control — plus sump and ejector pumps and fuel gas distribution.
Walls, ceilings and floors, stairs and guards, egress openings, garage separation, smoke and CO alarms — plus kitchens, built-in appliances, anti-tip provisions and dishwasher drainage.
Insulation materials and R-value, air sealing, attic and crawl space ventilation with net free area calculation, exhaust termination — plus HRV and ERV systems, humidity control and combustion depressurization.
Well construction, yield and water quality, septic tanks and drainfields — plus mound, aerobic and nitrogen-reducing systems, site evaluation and the health department records that reveal permitted capacity.
Fill a specific gap
All 16 CPE hours, accepted now
Top up a partial cycle
Based on notice given before the first day of your block.
One transfer per registration at no charge. Additional transfers are $45. Your seat moves to any block you choose within twelve months, subject to availability.
Attend two of three days and you are credited for the 14 hours you completed. The remaining day transfers free to any future block, and hours combine across blocks as long as they fall inside the same renewal cycle.
Hours are credited for full sessions only. Arriving late or leaving early means that session is not credited, because attendance is verified against the full session. The session transfers to a future block at no charge.
If a block is cancelled or rescheduled for any reason, you choose: a full refund or a transfer to another block. Registration fees are never forfeited because of a change on our end.
Refundable within 7 days of purchase provided no more than one module has been completed. Once a course is finished and a certificate issued, the purchase is final.
Once you buy a self-paced course it stays in your account permanently. No 30-day window, no expiring link. Inspectors use these as field reference long after the exam, and we'd rather you did.
Your certificate is issued the moment you pass and stays in your account. Download a copy and keep it — you submit certificates yourself at renewal, and either board may ask you to document what you certified.
Maryland credits virtual instruction as classroom time only where the delivery is live and interactive. A recorded session is distance education, which counts against your 9-hour self-paced cap rather than your 21 classroom hours. That means we cannot send you a recording of a day you missed, and no provider who follows the rule can. Transferring the day to a later block is the route that actually protects your hours.
Neither Maryland nor Virginia permits continuing education hours to roll into a later renewal cycle. A course completed in your current cycle counts toward that renewal and cannot be applied to the next one, so finishing a course a few weeks after you renew means those hours are spent on a cycle that is already closed. The certificate itself does not expire and remains valid proof of completion — but plan your hours against your renewal date. Keep certificates at least through the following cycle, since audits happen after the fact.
Where a course has not yet received Commission approval at the time of your registration, and approval is not in place before your block, you may take a full refund or transfer to a later block at your election. You will never be charged for hours Maryland does not credit.
You shouldn't take a provider's word for its own approval. The Commission publishes the list, it's public, and we'd rather you checked it than trusted a badge on a website.
DS Home Inspection Academy appears on the Maryland Commission's published list of approved home inspector continuing professional competency education providers, where our 80-hour Home Inspection Training Course is currently listed.
Maryland approves education course by course, not provider by provider. Our continuing education courses are working through that process now, and each will appear on this same list under our name as approval is granted — which is exactly where you should look to confirm it before you spend money on hours.
View the Commission's approved provider listThe Commission's list is the authoritative record and is updated as approvals are granted. Where anything on this page differs from the Commission's published list, the Commission's list governs.
The industry's top designation, requiring documented inspection volume and continuing education well past any state minimum.
Approved to deliver InterNACHI curriculum, with direct familiarity in how association coursework maps to state requirements.
Maryland asbestos license, Maryland lead accreditation, and IAC2 certification in radon and mold. The environmental courses are taught by someone who does the work.
Dual master's degrees in education and public administration. These courses are built by someone who knows how adults actually learn.
Sixteen hours is one weekend if you start now, or a panicked scramble in month twenty-three. Virginia inspectors can begin today.
Start the Virginia packageThe 72-hour classroom course, including live field inspections with real students.
Focused preparation for the National Home Inspector Examination.
For inspectors who can find the defects but can't fill the calendar.
Our inspection practice across Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia.
