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.
Building Inspector Overview
Working as a Building Inspector
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.
What Does a Building Inspector Do
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.
How To Become a Building Inspector
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.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
Building Inspector Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of project manager you might progress to a role such as general manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title regional property manager.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Building Inspector
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
City of Aurora Building Inspector I Building Inspector I | City of Aurora City of Aurora | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $56,53801/30/2021 $56,538 |
City of Greenville, Nc Building Inspector Building Inspector | City of Greenville, Nc City of Greenville, Nc | 01/29/2021 01/29/2021 | $48,71401/29/2021 $48,714 |
City of Greenville Nc Building Inspector Building Inspector | City of Greenville Nc City of Greenville Nc | 01/28/2021 01/28/2021 | $100,17601/28/2021 $100,176 |
Shasta County Building Inspector I/II Building Inspector I/II | Shasta County Shasta County | 01/27/2021 01/27/2021 | $47,20801/27/2021 $47,208 |
City of Rancho Cucamonga, Ca Building Inspector I/II Building Inspector I/II | City of Rancho Cucamonga, Ca City of Rancho Cucamonga, Ca | 01/27/2021 01/27/2021 | $104,35001/27/2021 $104,350 |
Calculate your salary
Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to see how your pay matches up.
Top Colleges for Building Inspectors
1. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Public
2. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Public
3. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Public
4. University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA • Public
5. Vermont Technical College
Randolph, VT • Public
6. Dunwoody College of Technology
Minneapolis, MN • Private
7. Wentworth Institute of Technology
Boston, MA • Private
8. SUNY College of Technology at Alfred
Alfred, NY • Public
9. Bemidji State University
Bemidji, MN • Public
Top Skills For a Building Inspector
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 12.4% of building inspectors listed construction projects on their resume, but soft skills such as communication skills and craft experience are important as well.
- Construction Projects, 12.4%
- Customer Service, 8.8%
- General Public, 6.0%
- Construction Sites, 4.9%
- Code Violations, 4.8%
- Other Skills, 63.1% See All Building Inspector Skills
Best States For a Building Inspector
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a building inspector. The best states for people in this position are Alaska, California, Washington, and Utah. Building inspectors make the most in Alaska with an average salary of $91,154. Whereas in California and Washington, they would average $81,414 and $80,976, respectively. While building inspectors would only make an average of $74,870 in Utah, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Idaho
$74,466
Avg. Salary
2. North Dakota
$70,975
Avg. Salary
3. Alaska
$91,155
Avg. Salary