(1) Prerequisites to taking examination. Any person desiring to take the accreditation examination must complete a "Request for Administration of Appraiser Examination" form and submit it to the property tax division of the department. As a prerequisite to taking the examination for accreditation an applicant shall submit evidence to the department that he or she has successfully completed at least thirty classroom hours of courses approved by the department in the basic principles of real property appraising. These courses must have been completed within two years of the date the evidence is submitted to the department. Course content required prior to taking the accreditation examination must include coverage of basic principles of real property appraisal or related topics such as, but not limited to:

(a) Influences on real property value;

(b) Legal considerations in appraisal;

(c) Types of value;

(d) Economic principles;

(e) Real estate markets and analysis;

(f) Valuation process;

(g) Property description;

(h) Highest and best use analysis;

(i) Appraisal math and statistics;

(j) Sales comparison approach;

(k) Site value;

(l) Cost approach;

(m) Income approach, including:

(i) Gross rent multiplier analysis;

(ii) Estimation of income and expenses;

(iii) Operating expense ratios; and

(iv) Direct capitalization;

(n) Valuation of partial interests; and

(o) Washington state property tax law.

(2) Examination required unless waived—Passing score. No person shall assess real property for purposes of taxation without passing the accreditation examination or without receiving an examination waiver under subsection (4) of this section or without meeting the requirements set out in subsection (6) of this section. A minimum score of seventy is required to pass the accreditation examination.

(3) Accreditation examination—Fee. The accreditation examination shall be prepared and administered by the department on subjects related to the valuation of real property. In preparing the examination, the department may request assistance from an advisory committee made up of assessors, assessor's appraisal staff, other qualified appraisers, or persons from the department of personnel. In administering the test, the department may contract with others to supervise the examination of applicants. An appropriate fee to cover the costs of such supervision must be paid by the applicant at the time of application.

(4) Waiver of examination requirement. The department shall waive the accreditation examination requirement for those persons who provide adequate evidence of any one of the following:

(a) The person has either attended a presentation of IAAO Course 1, or its equivalent, and successfully passed the course examination or successfully passed the course examination without having attended the presentation of the course;

(b) The person is currently certified or licensed as a real estate appraiser under chapter 18.140 RCW, the Certified Real Estate Appraiser Act; or

(c) The person has sufficient education and experience that is the equivalent of passing the accreditation examination. For purposes of this section, sufficient education means successfully completing a minimum of seventy-five classroom hours of courses approved by the department in the basic principles of real property appraising, and sufficient experience means a minimum of two years (twenty-four months), and not less than two thousand hours, of experience appraising real property.

(5) Procedure for requesting a waiver. An applicant may request a waiver of the accreditation examination requirement by completing an "Application for Accreditation" form and submitting it to the property tax division of the department. The department shall determine if the applicant has shown the necessary qualifications that are the equivalent of passing the examination. The department may require additional documentation or verification from the applicant's employer(s) or others in making this determination.

(6) Exemption from examination requirement. Accreditation examination requirements shall not apply to persons who have either:

(a) Been certified as a real property appraiser by the department of personnel prior to July 1, 1992; or

(b) Attended and satisfactorily completed the assessor's school operated jointly by the department and the Washington state assessors association prior to August 9, 1971.

(7) Reexamination. An applicant who has failed the accreditation examination, or failed to appear for a scheduled examination, may apply for reexamination or examination by submitting a new "Request for Administration of Appraiser Examination" form not less than sixty days from the date the examination was administered. No additional fee is required for one reexamination or one rescheduled examination.