Building official vs chief inspector

The differences between building officials and chief 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 official and a chief inspector. Additionally, a chief inspector has an average salary of $59,832, which is higher than the $46,398 average annual salary of a building official.

The top three skills for a building official include community development, code compliance and plumbing. The most important skills for a chief inspector are repair station, pipeline construction, and API.

Building official vs chief inspector overview

	Building Official	Chief Inspector
Yearly salary	$46,398	$59,832
Hourly rate	$22.31	$28.77
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	4,912	29,278
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	6	6

Building official vs chief inspector salary

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

	Building Official	Chief Inspector
Average salary	$46,398	$59,832
Salary range	Between $24,000 And $89,000	Between $39,000 And $91,000
Highest paying City	Riverside, CA	-
Highest paying state	New Jersey	-
Best paying company	University of California	-
Best paying industry	Government	-

Differences between building official and chief inspector education

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

	Building Official	Chief Inspector
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 51%	Bachelor's Degree, 39%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	San Diego State University	San Diego State University

Building official vs chief inspector demographics

Here are the differences between building officials' and chief inspectors' demographics:

	Building Official	Chief Inspector
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 90.2% Female, 9.8%	Male, 92.7% Female, 7.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.1% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.8% Asian, 3.4% White, 69.2% 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, 69.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9%
LGBT Percentage	5%	5%

Differences between building official and chief inspector duties and responsibilities

Building official example responsibilities.

Lead site excavations, form structuring, and supervise concrete pours.
Modernize department by directing adoption and implementation of current editions of building, electric, fire, plumbing and mechanical codes.
Participate in networking and collaboration with other regional CBA providers.
Conduct investigation inspection on HUD construct manufactured homes.

Chief inspector example responsibilities.

Manage NDT crew and survey crew.
Perform oversight of customer aircraft to ensure work is accomplished in accordance with company and customer procedures.
Inspect plumbing and gas work install in town
Develop CMM programs to validate parts that cannot be measure using standard layout inspection techniques.
Ensure all appropriate PPE are worn and jobs are done safely and in a timely manner.
Qualify all welders, direct other inspectors, coordinate all NDE, and visually inspect all welds.

Building official vs chief inspector skills

Common building official skills

Community Development, 18%
Code Compliance, 16%
Plumbing, 16%
Public Works, 6%
Code Enforcement, 6%
State Building, 5%

Common chief inspector skills

Repair Station, 10%
Pipeline Construction, 10%
API, 5%
Inspection Procedures, 5%
Test Equipment, 5%
Management System, 5%