Can a home inspector recommend a contractor? What Texas allows

Yes. In Texas, the one state checked for this post, nothing stops a home inspector from naming a contractor. The Texas Real Estate Commission limits the money and the repairs: a contractor’s fee needs the client’s written consent, fees to or from agents for referrals or list spots are banned, and repairs are barred by statute when tied to the inspection and by rule for 12 months. ASHI’s code bars pay for recommendations entirely.

What the Texas rule actually says

Reviewed on 2026-10-21. The rule is 22 TAC §535.220, Professional Conduct and Ethics, last amended in June 2023. Its opening line explains the tone: inspecting in a real estate deal “imposes integrity beyond that of a person involved in ordinary commerce.” The working parts sit in subsection (e):

The rule says nothing against recommending a contractor for free. It goes the other way: subsection (f) asks you to “cooperate with other professionals and related tradespersons.”

Other states were not checked. If you inspect outside Texas, read your own board’s rule before you copy anything below.

Who counts as a settlement service provider?

The fee rules split on one definition. Subsection (e)(2) lists who is a settlement service provider, including:

• real estate agents and brokers
• lenders, mortgage brokers and loan originators
• title providers, settlement agents and attorneys
• appraisers and other inspectors
• providers of hazard, flood or casualty insurance, “homeowner’s warranties, or residential service contract”

Roofers, plumbers, electricians and foundation companies are not named on it. The list ends with a catch-all, though: “a person who provides any other services for which a settlement service provider requires a borrower or seller to pay.” A repair the lender requires before closing could fall there. Outside that case, a contractor’s fee falls under (e)(4), where written consent opens the door. A fee from anyone on the list falls under (e)(3), where it doesn’t.

A “trusted pros” page on your website

An unpaid list of contractors you trust is allowed under the Texas rule as written. Reuben Saltzman of Structure Tech Home Inspections in Minnesota describes the case for it: “When I give referrals to people I know and trust, these referrals don’t come with any strings attached.” In our view the page earns its place when it reads like that sentence. A short line per company, the trade, the reason you trust them, and nothing that looks like a sponsored slot.

Three things belong on the page:

1. A statement that nobody paid to be there, if that is true. It is the one claim that makes the list worth reading.
2. The trades, not a ranking. “Roofing”, “Foundation”, “Electrical” as plain headings. A “best roofer in town” badge is advertising for someone else and says more than you know.
3. A line that the choice is the client’s. Subsection (b)(3) asks you to run the business so the client is assured of your “independence from outside influence and interests.”

If a contractor on the list later starts paying you, the page has to change the same day.

When a contractor pays for the listing

Some contractor-partner tools pay the inspector. Spectora’s help page on partnering with local contractors, for example, says contractors may be asked for a share of revenue from booked jobs. In our reading, that revenue share is “valuable consideration, directly or indirectly” under (e)(4), so it needs the same written consent as a cash referral fee.

The rule asks for the client’s consent, not a disclaimer on your website. The practical place to get it is the inspection agreement the client signs before the inspection, with a plain sentence naming the arrangement. Then the website says the same thing:

ASHI members have a stricter line. Item 1.E of the ASHI Code of Ethics says inspectors “shall not accept compensation, directly or indirectly, for recommending contractors, services, or products to inspection clients.” There is no consent exception, so a paid listing breaks the code even where Texas would allow it.

Agent programs and preferred lists

The other side of the money runs toward agents. Under (e)(3) you can’t pay an agent or broker for referrals or for a spot on their list of preferred providers, and you can’t take money from one either. ASHI’s item 1.C bars members from compensating agents for referrals or list spots. InterNACHI’s code bars both directions, any “disclosed or undisclosed commissions, rebates, profits, or other benefit from or to real estate agents,” and payments to agents for “inclusion on lists of preferred and/or affiliated inspectors.”

On your website, that rules out an “agent partner program” built on payments or rebates to agents. Subsection (e)(8)(A) does allow “normal promotional or educational activity that is not conditioned on the referral of business.” A page of free resources for agents, such as a sample report or an explainer on what you inspect, fits that wording. A page promising agents a reward per booking does not.

The stakes are set in §535.219: violations of (e)(1) and (e)(3) through (e)(7) carry an administrative penalty of $1,000 to $5,000 per violation per day, and TREC may suspend or revoke the license instead of or as well as the penalty.

Can you offer repairs too?

Not on a house you just inspected. Texas has it twice. The statute, Occupations Code §1102.304, says an inspector “may not perform or agree to perform repairs or maintenance in connection with a real estate inspection under an earnest money contract, lease, or exchange of real property.” The rule adds the clock: no accepting work to repair, replace, maintain or upgrade covered components “within 12 months of the date of the inspection.”

The association codes match. ASHI’s item 1.F says one year. InterNACHI’s says 12 months and covers offering as well as doing: a member “shall not perform or offer to perform, for an additional fee, any repairs.” Its rule excludes components outside its Standards of Practice.

For the website, that means:

• No “we can fix it too” line on inspection pages, and no repair quote button on a report page.
• If your company also runs a handyman or repair service, give it its own pages and keep it out of the inspection flow. How to split services into pages is covered in how many service pages your website should have.
• Say the 12-month rule out loud on your FAQ page. It tells a buyer you have no reason to find more wrong with the house.

Before a contractor sees the report

A contractor page often comes with a “send my report for quotes” button. Subsection (e)(7) says inspectors “shall not disclose inspection results or client information without prior approval from the client.” ASHI’s item 2.C says the same. InterNACHI asks for more: the client is told what will be released, to whom and why, and gives “explicit, prior written consent.”

So the report goes to a contractor only when the client asks for it, never automatically from a form on your site.

A page-by-page check

Two Texas items apply to every inspector’s site whether you refer anyone or not. Under §535.221 your license number must appear, and on your own website “it is sufficient for the license number(s) to appear on a single prominent page,” such as the home or about page. Under §535.220(g) and §531.18, the home page links to TREC’s Consumer Protection Notice, labeled as the rule says; the label wording is covered in what realtors’ websites must include, since agents carry the same link.

Then open each of these:

1. Contractor or trusted-pros page. Who pays you, if anyone, and does the page say so?
2. Inspection agreement. If any fee comes in from a contractor or platform, is the client’s written consent in it?
3. Agent pages. Any rebate, reward or paid list spot? Remove it.
4. Service pages. Any repair, maintenance or upgrade offer tied to an inspection?
5. Report delivery. Does anything send the report to a third party without the client asking?
6. Google Business Profile. The description and services should match the website, with repairs left off. Picking the right category is covered in choosing your Google Business Profile primary category.

Fix what turns up, then let LocalBiz build the pages around it.