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The differences between building inspectors and inspectors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a building inspector has an average salary of $51,781, which is higher than the $38,757 average annual salary of an inspector.
The top three skills for a building inspector include plumbing, customer service and building construction. The most important skills for an inspector are sketch, good communication, and magnetic particle.
| Building Inspector | Inspector | |
| Yearly salary | $51,781 | $38,757 |
| Hourly rate | $24.89 | $18.63 |
| Growth rate | -4% | -3% |
| Number of jobs | 20,962 | 17,670 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 4 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 44% | High School Diploma, 34% |
| Average age | 50 | 45 |
| Years of experience | 6 | - |
A building inspector is responsible for inspecting the safety and security of the building location, including its structural quality and construction documents. Building inspectors coordinate with landowners or institutions to verify code regulations compliance and submit work orders and permits. They also provide expense forecasting for development, identifying cost-reduction techniques by recommending trusted suppliers and third-party vendors on construction materials with the highest quality. A building inspector must have excellent communication and analytical skills, especially on negotiating contracts and processing occupation permits.
An inspector is responsible for overseeing the overall condition of the site, ensuring that it complies with the safety standards and regulations. Inspectors' duties include monitoring the quality of the materials used, inspecting any defects and discrepancies that might compromise the operations, generating reports to assess the product costing if it meets the budget goals, and utilizing available resources in the market for the highest quality project. An inspector must have excellent decision-making and critical-thinking skills to perform comprehensive actions on risk management and service delivery.
Building inspectors and inspectors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Building Inspector | Inspector | |
| Average salary | $51,781 | $38,757 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $84,000 | Between $27,000 And $54,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Vancouver, WA |
| Highest paying state | California | Louisiana |
| Best paying company | Icma-rc | Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a building inspector and an inspector in terms of educational background:
| Building Inspector | Inspector | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 44% | High School Diploma, 34% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | San Diego State University | - |
Here are the differences between building inspectors' and inspectors' demographics:
| Building Inspector | Inspector | |
| Average age | 50 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 88.9% Female, 11.1% | Male, 61.7% Female, 38.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Asian, 3.4% White, 68.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% | Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 18.2% Asian, 8.1% White, 56.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% |
| LGBT Percentage | 5% | 4% |