How To Become A Code Inspector: What It Is and Career Path

What is a code inspector and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a code inspector. For example, did you know that they make an average of $23.67 an hour? That's $49,224 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -4% and produce -5,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreCode InspectorUS Average

Salary

3.8

Avg. Salary $49,224

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.4

Growth rate -4%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.89%

Asian 3.38%

Black or African American 8.20%

Hispanic or Latino 12.91%

Unknown 5.74%

White 68.87%

Gender

female 30.71%

male 69.29%

Age - 52

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 - 52

Stress level

7.4

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.4

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a code inspector

Explore code inspector education requirements

Most common code inspector degrees

Bachelor's

51.3 %

Associate

19.1 %

High School Diploma

13.8 %

Start to develop specific code inspector skills

Skills	Percentages
Code Violations	11.64%
Plumbing	8.17%
Patrol	6.67%
Building Codes	6.56%
Life Safety	6.34%

Complete relevant code inspector training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New code inspectors 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 code inspector based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real code inspector resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed code inspector usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed code inspector in most of states. 12 states require code inspectors to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Colorado	-	State exam required	Asbestos Building Inspector
Florida	Specific course required	Third-party exam required	Building Code Administrator
Kentucky	Degree required	State exam required	Building Inspector, Level I
Maine	Specific course required	State exam required	Code Enforcement Officer
Michigan	-	-	Inspector, Building

Research code inspector duties and responsibilities

Manage high volume case assignments to a final disposition of abatement, civil summons, criminal arrests or referral.
Train newly hire plumbing inspectors with obtaining knowledge of WSSC policies and procedures.
Produce quality notifications on installation procedures and vendor products in order to meet engineering criteria and FAA guidelines.
Appear in court for subpoenas regarding citations issues.

Prepare your code inspector resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your code inspector 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 code inspector resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable code inspector resume templates

Build a professional code inspector 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 code inspector resume.