Building inspector vs resident inspector

The differences between building inspectors and resident inspectors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a building inspector and a resident inspector. Additionally, a resident inspector has an average salary of $55,886, which is higher than the $51,781 average annual salary of a building inspector.

The top three skills for a building inspector include plumbing, customer service and building construction. The most important skills for a resident inspector are rehabilitation, OSHA, and construction management.

Building inspector vs resident inspector overview

	Building Inspector	Resident Inspector
Yearly salary	$51,781	$55,886
Hourly rate	$24.89	$26.87
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	20,962	22,142
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	6	6

Building inspector vs resident inspector salary

Building inspectors and resident inspectors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Building Inspector	Resident Inspector
Average salary	$51,781	$55,886
Salary range	Between $31,000 And $84,000	Between $37,000 And $82,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	-
Highest paying state	California	-
Best paying company	Icma-rc	-
Best paying industry	Technology	-

Differences between building inspector and resident inspector education

There are a few differences between a building inspector and a resident inspector in terms of educational background:

	Building Inspector	Resident Inspector
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 44%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common major	Business	Civil Engineering
Most common college	San Diego State University	San Diego State University

Building inspector vs resident inspector demographics

Here are the differences between building inspectors' and resident inspectors' demographics:

	Building Inspector	Resident Inspector
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 88.9% Female, 11.1%	Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2%
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, 8.1% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.8% Asian, 3.4% White, 69.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between building inspector and resident inspector duties and responsibilities

Building inspector example responsibilities.

Lead site excavations, form structuring, and supervise concrete pours.
Manage high volume case assignments to a final disposition of abatement, civil summons, criminal arrests or referral.
Work from ladders, hanging scaffolding, boats, and from the bucket of snooper and bucket trucks.
Assist in roofing and carpentry.
Administer FEMA floodplain and mitigation efforts.
Work orders for HVAC and architectural contractors.

Resident inspector example responsibilities.

Manage and inspect fiber optic cable placement, fiber drop installations and associate construction activities for an assign OSP project.
Provide monthly PCOR/CO, Submittals, RFI s logs and status report.
Follow API and quality standard methods, techniques to detect defects, and assure quality of the product.
Prepare RFI's to the project designer for project changes and review contractor's materials and equipment submittals for approval.
Use a variety of conventional and advance inspection devices, CMM tools and instruments to verify dimension to drawing specifications.
Coordinate customer interaction, providing direction and oversight in regard to maintenance, safety, quality assurance and training.

Building inspector vs resident inspector skills

Common building inspector skills

Plumbing, 14%
Customer Service, 9%
Building Construction, 9%
Ladders, 8%
Construction Sites, 5%
Code Violations, 5%

Common resident inspector skills

Rehabilitation, 19%
OSHA, 15%
Construction Management, 10%
Safety Checks, 7%
Construction Projects, 4%
Construction Sites, 3%

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Building Inspector
Building Inspector vs Resident Inspector

Updated January 8, 2025

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