Building inspectors are responsible for examining residential and commercial buildings. They also review plans to ensure they meet building codes, local ordinances, zoning regulations and approve buildings that are satisfactory and meet all the criteria. They also monitor construction sites periodically to ensure overall compliance.
As a building inspector, your tasks will include inspecting the structural quality of the building. This includes checking the soil and other conditions of the construction site the building will be standing on. Furthermore, checking fire safety and making sure the people working on or living in the building can escape quickly if needed. In addition, you will also inspect all electrical systems to prevent any short-circuiting or electrical fires.
Lastly, you will be required to issue violation notices if a building is in violation of any codes or regulations. Although applicants with a high school diploma may be hired, employers prefer individuals with a bachelor's degree or who have completed classes on building inspection, home inspections, or construction science.
The average hourly salary for the position is $23.70, which amounts to $49,293 annually. Furthermore, the career is projected to grow 7% and create more job opportunities across the United States.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a building inspector. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.7 an hour? That's $49,293 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 7% and produce 7,700 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many building inspectors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed communication skills, craft experience and detail oriented.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a building inspector, we found that a lot of resumes listed 12.4% of building inspectors included construction projects, while 8.8% of resumes included customer service, and 6.0% of resumes included general public. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the building inspector job title. But what industry to start with? Most building inspectors actually find jobs in the government and health care industries.
If you're interested in becoming a building inspector, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 32.8% of building inspectors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 7.6% of building inspectors have master's degrees. Even though some building inspectors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a building inspector. When we researched the most common majors for a building inspector, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or associate degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on building inspector resumes include high school diploma degrees or master's degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a building inspector. In fact, many building inspector jobs require experience in a role such as owner. Meanwhile, many building inspectors also have previous career experience in roles such as project manager or carpenter.