Yes. Your background check is a two-step process that includes pre-screening through WSP's third-party vendor before being submitted to FEMA for adjudication.

Before you can perform damage assessments, you must successfully pass a Moderate Risk Background Investigation (MBI) and obtain a FEMA contractor badge. FEMA and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) will process your background check.

FEMA has advised they will initially be processing background checks under a streamlined 120 EOD (Entry-On-Duty) waiver during the 2023 Hurricane Season. This means FEMA will expedite your background check so you can be eligible to work for 120 days. At the end of the 120 days, you will then need to complete the full background check.

The security requirements on this contract have changed. If FEMA finds that you have a current investigation on file, they will let us know. Otherwise, you would need to complete the process again. However, your old information will populate in the e-QIP system and you will just need to update it.

When we submit your information to FEMA, they will let us know if they are able to utilize a current background check.

Yes. A credit check will be conducted as part of the initial prescreening and during the FEMA background check.

Potential disqualifiers include:

• Any significantly delinquent Federal loans (educational, mortgage, etc.)
• Delinquent Federal or State taxes, including failure to file
• Delinquent child support payments
• Excessive or significantly past due/delinquent personal debt
• Open Bankruptcy

Yes, usually fingerprints are required when completing the e-QIP background investigation. Your case manager will communicate what is required.

Your FEMA case manager will send you the instructions via email. Be sure to look for a “.gov” email address.

Once you have been set up in the e-QIP system, your FEMA case manager will email you with instructions on how to complete the background check process. Their name and contact information will be included in the email, so it is important that you retain that information.

Typically, you will not hear back from them unless there is a problem or more information is required.  Once FEMA notifies WSP USA Inspection Services that you have been approved, we will contact you. 

Disaster activity, or lack thereof, will always be the number one factor to determine this.  As with all inspectors, there is never any guarantee of deployment.

There are several factors that determine selection for deployment. Location, size and scope of the disaster, and experience level of inspectors are just some of the criteria we use.

Many times the scope of the disaster requires us to deploy a large number of inspectors. During these events, we deploy large groups with a lesser experience level. Disasters of this type will allow you to gain experience.

Only inspectors who have marked themselves as available for deployment are considered for deployment. If you receive a call from us to confirm your availability, chances are you may be deployed. Remember, having your availability marked as yes tells us you are available for immediate deployment should the need arise.

• Authorized travel expenditures will be reimbursed by WSP USA Services Inc. in accordance with the Inspector Travel policy. An expense report must be submitted for payment consideration. Approved airfare is provided by WSP USA Services Inc. through a designated travel agency. Mileage reimbursement for privately owned vehicles is compensated at the current IRS mileage rate. Lodging reimbursement must not exceed the GSA lodging per diem rate. Meals are compensated through Meal Per Diem and Incidental GSA set rates (M&IE).
• Rental cars obtained through our company travel agency include insurance coverage.
• You must have a valid major credit card in your name, with sufficient funds credit available to cover hotel expenses, rent a vehicle, and sustain yourself in the field for up to 21 days before expense report reimbursements begin. Note: A debit card that can be used as a credit card is NOT a credit card. Typically, incurred charges can range from $3,000-$6,000 before initial reimbursement. The card must physically be with you when deployed for validation by the rental car vendor.

Good performance in the field is the top priority. Inspectors who produce top-quality damage assessments in a timely manner present themselves as a good value to the company. Those who perform at a higher level will enhance their opportunities for further deployments.

Our training is continual throughout the year in the form of online courses and webinars. We are frequently in contact with inspectors regarding participation for both. Much of this training is required, and inspectors cannot be deployed unless the training has been completed. 

Inspectors are required to be at the disaster site and working within 24 hours of the deployment call.

The Task Order Coordinator is the person in charge while you are in the field. There may also be additional supervisors to assist. You will be notified as to the person you will report to.

Inspectors are paid by the hour and are also eligible to earn significant performance incentives while performing damage assessments. Authorized time for training and travel is also paid by the hour.

Housing Inspector Rate of Pay:

$31.02 Regular Hourly Rate
$46.53 Overtime Hourly Rate

Additional compensation:

$4.57 Health & Welfare benefit (up to 40 hours per week)
$1.19 vacation pay (up to 40 hours per week)

Yes! Inspectors typically work 7 days a week while deployed and often from sunup to sundown.

$46.53 per hour (base rate x 1.5)

Simply stated, incentives are based on your performance (compliance with company policies, number of completed damage assessments, and the overall quality of your work).

When you complete an average of more than six (6) compliant damage assessments per day, you are eligible to receive incentives that grow as you learn how to develop a routine and increase your average completion rate.

No. Hours worked on a daily/weekly basis will be based on the volume of damage assessments issued by FEMA to WSP, your performance, and the geographic distribution of the issued work.

If you work 70 hours in a week, and average 10 completed damage assessments a day during that same period, your combined wage plus incentive would be over $3,000 for that week!

(Note: Depending on the volume of work available, it is not uncommon for some of our better inspectors to earn considerably more each week.)

Time is recorded in a web-based payroll application called ADP. Employees receive instructional material on how to enter hours worked.

Compensation is weekly. Timecards are due on Friday. Paychecks are issued the following Friday.

Yes. Inspectors have an opportunity to enroll in Direct Deposit and are strongly encouraged to do so.

• Authorized travel expenditures will be reimbursed by WSP USA Services Inc. in accordance with the Inspector Travel Policy. An expense report must be submitted for payment consideration. Approved airfare is provided by WSP USA Services Inc. through a designated travel agency. Mileage reimbursement for privately owned vehicles is compensated at the current IRS mileage rate.  Lodging reimbursement must not exceed the GSA lodging per diem rate. Meals are compensated through Meal Per Diem and Incidental GSA set rates (M&IE). 
• Rental cars obtained through our company travel agency provide insurance coverage.
• Expense reports are processed weekly in the order they are received. Expense report reimbursement takes two pay cycles on average if properly submitted.

WSP USA Inspection Services has a project-specific accounting department that is available to assist and support inspectors when needed.

• As a part-time temporary employee, there will be compensation for health & welfare and vacation based on hours worked.
• Holiday pay is available to eligible employees.
• A company retirement savings plan is available to employees that meet qualification thresholds.
• Other applicable benefits include worker’s compensation and unemployment insurance.

If you have knowledge of employee corruption, fraud, waste, abuse or allegation of mismanagement involving FEMA disaster relief operations, please report it to the DHS OIG Hotline.  You can file a report online by accessing the DHS OIG Online Allegation Form. Automated filing of the DHS OIG Online Allegation form will ensure that your allegation is expeditiously received by the OIG.

If you wish to receive an electronic “Complaint Number Notification” alert message via email, you must provide a point of contact email address.  Failure to provide a point of contact email address precludes the OIG from notifying you of the assignment of a Complaint Number to your allegation.

Your allegation will be reviewed and processed in the order it was received.  Assignment of a Complaint Number, and notification of such assignment, is not an indication your complaint will be investigated by the DHS OIG or any other applicable investigative body. 

If you cannot use the DHS OIG Online Allegation Form, please file your allegation by:

U.S. Mail:
DHS Office of Inspector General/MAIL STOP 0305
Attention: Hotline
245 Murray Lane SW
Washington, DC 20528-0305

Phone: 1-800-323-8603

Fax: 202-254-4297

Visit the Join Us page to learn more about the inspector position and complete the registration. WSP anticipates new candidates will be onboarded through our conventional hiring process throughout the summer of 2023.

If warranted by substantial disaster activity, FEMA may authorize a “Just-In-Time” (JIT) hiring event which expedites the standard hiring process.

After you’ve completed the two-part, mandatory background check and received a favorable adjudication, WSP will schedule an onboarding appointment at a WSP location near you. A separate badging appointment will be coordinated, and you will be assigned preliminary training to complete from home.

You will need to bring appropriate identification with you, including a valid driver’s license. Please click HERE to view a list of acceptable forms of identification (in addition to a driver’s license).

Note: If you are choosing to bring a social security card with you as a form of identification, it cannot be laminated. All forms of ID must match your current legal name and contain the same name on each. Example: Jones and Jones-Smith will not be accepted.

Deployment opportunities depend on Individual Assistance disaster declarations being declared. Inspectors will have paid training to complete immediately following hire. Those who complete all training requirements first will be eligible for immediate field deployment to any open disasters WSP is deployed to. 

WSP and FEMA expect that new inspectors will be readily available to physically deploy to disaster sites this hurricane season.

Yes. Once hired, inspectors are paid for reasonable time spent completing any required training.

A JIT opportunity is tied to a specific disaster declaration: candidates who complete all required steps of the JIT process are expected to deploy directly to the field to begin working with a mentor and completing damage assessments.  

Our conventional hiring process is not tied to a specific disaster and allows for new inspectors to finish their paid training from home, after being hired, badged by FEMA, and introduced to the fundamentals of the disaster housing inspector position.

Hurricane disasters are often severe, impact multiple states, and require many inspectors. According to NOAA forecasters, the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season is anticipated to be near-normal. Their outlook predicts 12 to 17 named storms. Of those, 5 to 9 could become hurricanes, including 1 to 4 major hurricanes rated a category 3 or higher. The opportunity for you to be deployed is extremely high.

An EOD 120 (Entry-on-Duty) waiver can be processed much quicker than a conventional background check. An EOD 120 waiver is an expedited background check that is initially valid for 120 days. After the 120 days, you will then need to complete the conventional, full background check, which when approved, is valid for five years.

Once WSP receives your EOD 120 Approved results from FEMA, we will contact you to arrange for onboarding with us. Once you complete onboarding and are hired, you will be eligible to complete training, obtain a FEMA ID badge, and be deployed if needed.

When contacted by a FEMA Case Specialist, if you neglect to complete the full background check at the end of your 120-day period, your initial background check and badge will no longer be valid, and you will be asked to return your FEMA-issued contractor badge.