South Dakota Home Inspector Licensing Law

South Dakota Code · 9 sections

The following is the full text of South Dakota’s home inspector licensing law statutes as published in the South Dakota Code. For the official version, see the South Dakota Legislature.

SDCL 36-18A-9

This chapter does not apply to:

(1)    Any person engaged in military engineering while rendering service exclusively for any of the armed forces of the United States or this state;

(2)    Any person engaged in the practice of engineering, architecture, landscape architecture, or land surveying in the employ of the United States government but only while exclusively engaged as a United States government employee on such government project or projects which lie within federally-owned land;

(3)    Any person engaged in the practice of engineering, architecture, landscape architecture, or land surveying in the employ of the state and any of its political subdivisions but only while rendering service exclusively to such employer. Any building project resulting from the practice of engineering, architecture, landscape architecture, or land surveying under this subdivision is subject to the size limitation imposed under the exemptions in subdivision (8) of this section;

(4)    Any employee who prepares technical submissions or administers construction contracts for a person or organization lawfully engaged in the practice of engineering, architecture, landscape architecture, or land surveying, if the employee is under the direct supervision of a registered professional engineer, architect, landscape architect, or land surveyor;

(5)    Any full-time employee of a corporation, partnership, firm, business entity, or public utility while exclusively doing work for the corporation, partnership, firm, business entity, or public utility, if the work performed is in connection with the property, products, and services utilized by the employer and not for any corporation, partnership, firm, or business entity practicing or offering to practice architectural, engineering, landscape architecture, or land surveying services to the public. The provisions of this subdivision do not apply to any building or structure if the primary use is occupancy by the public;

(6)    Any person engaged in the preparation of plans and specifications for the erection, enlargement, or alteration of any of the following buildings:

(a)    Any dwelling for a single family, and any outbuilding in connection therewith, such as a barn or private garage;

(b)    Any two, three, or four family dwelling;

(c)    Any five to sixteen family dwelling, inclusive, located in a governmental subdivision of this state which provides a detailed building code review of building projects by a building inspection department which is a governmental member of the International Code Council (ICC) or an ICC certified plans examiner;

(d)    Any farm or ranch building or accessory thereto except any building regularly used for public purposes; or

(e)    Any temporary building or shed used exclusively for construction purposes, not exceeding two stories in height, and not used for living quarters;

(7)    Any person who prepares detailed or shop plans required to be furnished by a contractor to a registered professional engineer or architect, and any construction superintendent supervising the execution of work designed by an architect or professional engineer registered in accordance with this chapter;

(8)    Any person engaged in the preparation of plans and specifications for the new construction, the enlargement or the alteration of any of the following buildings:

(a)    Any building occupied as a hospital, hotel, motel, restaurant, library, medical office, nursing facility, assisted living facility, jail, retirement home, or mortuary, if the gross square footage of the new construction, the enlargement, or the alteration is four thousand square feet or less;

(b)    Any building occupied as an auditorium, church, school, or theater if the gross square footage of the new construction, the enlargement, or the alteration is five thousand square feet or less;

(c)    Any building occupied as a bowling alley, office, shopping center, bank, fire station, service station, or store if the gross square footage of the new construction, the enlargement, or the alteration is seven thousand square feet or less;

(d)    Any building occupied as an industrial plant or public garage if the gross square footage of the new construction, the enlargement, or the alteration is eleven thousand square feet or less;

(e)    Any building occupied as a warehouse if the gross square footage of the new construction, the enlargement, or the alteration is twenty thousand square feet or less;

(f)    Any building with an occupancy other than those listed in subsections (a) to (e), inclusive, of this subdivision if the gross square footage of the new construction, the enlargement, or the alteration is four thousand square feet of less; or

(g)    Any preengineered or predesigned building, or any preengineered or predesigned building with a predesigned system, designed for the intended use of that building, including building structure, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical systems, if the buildings and systems are supplied directly, or indirectly, by a company engaged in the business of designing and supply such buildings and systems and if the company has in its employ one or more engineers or architects licensed in South Dakota, who prepare all designs for such buildings and systems.

No person exempted may use the title of professional engineer, architect, landscape architect, or land surveyor, or any other word, words, letters, or signs in connection with the person's name that may falsely convey the impression that the person is a licensed professional engineer, architect, landscape architect, or land surveyor.

SDCL 36-21C-1

Terms used in this chapter mean:

(1)    "Client," any person who engages, or seeks to engage, the services of a home inspector for the purpose of obtaining inspection of and written report upon the condition of a residential building;

(2)    "Commission," the South Dakota Real Estate Commission;

(3)    "Home inspector," any person registered or licensed as a home inspector pursuant to the provisions of this chapter;

(4)    "Home inspection," an inspection and written evaluation of all the following components of a residential building: heating system, cooling system, plumbing system, electrical system, structural components, foundation, roof, masonry structure, and exterior and interior components;

(5)    "Residential building," a structure consisting of not more than four family dwelling units.

SDCL 36-21C-13

The commission may refuse to grant or may suspend or revoke a home inspector license or registration upon proof, to the satisfaction of the commission, that the holder has:

(1)    Disclosed any information concerning the results of the home inspection without the approval of a client or the client's representative;

(2)    Accepted compensation from more than one interested party for the same service without the written consent of all interested parties;

(3)    Accepted commissions or allowances, directly or indirectly, from other parties dealing with the holder's client in connection with work for which the holder is responsible;

(4)    Failed to disclose promptly to a client information about any business interest of the holder which may affect the client in connection with the home inspection; or

(5)    Been convicted, or pled guilty or nolo contendere before a court of competent jurisdiction in this or any other state, or before any federal court, of a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or a felony arising under the laws of this state or under the laws of the United States or any other state that would be a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude or a felony under the laws of this state.

SDCL 36-21C-14

Each applicant for licensure and registration as a home inspector in this state shall submit to a state and federal criminal background investigation by means of fingerprint checks by the Division of Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Upon application, the commission shall submit completed fingerprint cards to the Division of Criminal Investigation. Upon completion of the criminal background check, the Division of Criminal Investigation shall forward to the commission all information obtained as a result of the criminal background check. This information shall be obtained prior to licensure of the applicant. The commission may require a state and federal criminal background check for any licensee who is the subject of a disciplinary investigation by the commission. Failure to submit or cooperate with the criminal background investigation is grounds for denial of an application or may result in revocation of a license. The applicant shall pay for any fees charged for the cost of fingerprinting or the criminal background investigation.

SDCL 36-21C-4

An applicant for a license as a home inspector shall file a written application provided by the commission showing that the applicant meets the following requirements:

(1)    Good moral character;

(2)    Successful completion of high school or high school equivalency;

(3)    Employment as a registered home inspector for no less than one year and performance of not less than one hundred home inspections for compensation; and

(4)    Successful completion of a licensing examination approved by the commission.

SDCL 36-21C-5

An applicant for registration as a home inspector shall file a written application provided by the commission showing that the applicant meets the following requirements:

(1)    Good moral character;

(2)    Successful completion of high school or high school equivalency;

(3)    Successful completion of an approved course of study of not less than forty hours, as prescribed by the commission in rules promulgated pursuant to chapter 1-26; and

(4)    Successful completion of a registration examination approved by the commission.

SDCL 36-21C-6

The commission shall promulgate rules pursuant to chapter 1-26 for licensed and registered home inspectors in the following areas:

(1)    Standards and requirements for prelicense and continuing education, including qualifications of instructors, procedures for granting a certificate of accreditation, notification of a material change in an approved course offering, suspension, revocation, and denial of course approval, certification of attendance, preregistration, and hours required to renew a license or registration;

(2)    A code of ethics and standards of practice;

(3)    Fees for applications, examinations, registration, licensure, and renewals, not to exceed two hundred dollars for application and one hundred dollars for renewal; and

(4)    Procedures and qualifications for application, minimum requirements for examination, procedures for the examination and the administration of the examination, the required score for passing the examination, and procedures for replacement of a license.

SDCL 36-21C-8

Upon payment to the commission of a fee and the submission of a written application provided by the commission, the commission may issue a home inspector license to any person who holds a valid license issued by another state or possession of the United States or the District of Columbia which has standards substantially equivalent to those of this state, as determined by the commission.

SDCL 36-21C-9

During the first three hundred sixty-five days after January 1, 2001, the commission shall issue to any person, upon application, a home inspector license, if the applicant meets the requirements of subdivisions 36-21C-4(1), (2), and (4) and has been engaged in the practice of home inspections for compensation for not less than one year prior to January 1, 2001, and has performed not less than one hundred home inspections for compensation.

The law belongs to the people. Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 590 U.S. (2020)