How To Become A Chief Building Engineer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a chief building engineer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Libby Toping

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a chief building engineer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $40.5 an hour? That's $84,249 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 2% and produce 6,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a chief building engineer?

Libby Toping

Engineer intern, Crafton Tull

It has definitely been a unique time to start my first job. COVID-19 has caused many of my peers to struggle to find a job, so I think it has caused me to recognize how thankful I am to have a job that I enjoy working and that allows me to improve my community, even in the midst of a pandemic. There are certainly struggles with virtual meetings and mask-wearing, but learning to be flexible and adaptable are skills that I think will make me a better engineer in the long run!

ScoreChief Building EngineerUS Average

Salary

6.6

Avg. Salary $84,249

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.3

Growth rate 2%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.24%

Asian 2.10%

Black or African American 8.22%

Hispanic or Latino 15.71%

Unknown 4.50%

White 68.22%

Gender

female 3.31%

male 96.69%

Age - 50

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 50

Stress level

9.3

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.4

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a chief building engineer

Explore chief building engineer education requirements

Most common chief building engineer degrees

Bachelor's

33.0 %

Associate

30.0 %

High School Diploma

14.5 %

Start to develop specific chief building engineer skills

Skills	Percentages
HVAC	13.39%
Plumbing	12.56%
Emergency Situations	11.15%
EMS	10.69%
CMMS	9.91%

Complete relevant chief building engineer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New chief building engineers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a chief building engineer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real chief building engineer resumes.

Gain additional chief building engineer certifications

Chief building engineer certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific chief building engineer certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for chief building engineers include EPA Amusement Operators Safety Certification (EPA) and OSHA Safety Certificate .

More About Certifications

Research chief building engineer duties and responsibilities

Respond quickly and appropriately to emergency situations; manage electrical and plumbing troubleshooting and repair, recommending equipment/service upgrades as needed.
Design and implement improved data mining and report handling programs, thereby improving logistics and maintenance material analysis.
Maintain existing programs/scripts and extend Linux system functionality as needed.
Configure RunDeck jobs for various application deployments of Java applications.

Prepare your chief building engineer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your chief building engineer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a chief building engineer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable chief building engineer resume templates

Build a professional chief building engineer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your chief building engineer resume.