The District of Columbia runs its own vehicle inspection program, and it works differently from any state's. Every registered vehicle gets inspected at the DC DMV inspection station rather than at private shops, so there is no shopping around for price or appointment times - you go where the District sends you. The inspection covers safety equipment, and the program has historically included an emissions check as part of the same visit.
Because inspection is tied to registration in the District, a lapsed inspection eventually blocks your renewal. Residents learn the rhythm quickly: show up with your registration paperwork, wait in the line that forms at the facility, and leave with either a passing sticker or a list of what needs fixing.
What About Cost?
DC charges a fixed inspection fee set by the DMV rather than a market price, so the comparison shopping that drivers in other jurisdictions do does not apply here. If your car fails, repairs happen at whatever shop you choose in DC or the surrounding Maryland and Virginia suburbs, and then the vehicle returns to the inspection lane for its recheck.
Working in DC, Living Elsewhere
Plenty of people who drive into the District every day register their cars in Maryland or Virginia instead, and those vehicles follow their home states' inspection rules. Maryland runs biennial emissions tests through its VEIP program, and Virginia's safety inspection is annual - so the commuter crowd crossing the District's borders deals with three different inspection calendars depending on where the registration lives.
For the current fee, hours, and requirements, the DC DMV's own site is the authoritative source - program details change more often in a single district than they do across some entire states.