Code official vs home inspector

The differences between code officials and home 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 code official and a home inspector. Additionally, a code official has an average salary of $54,026, which is higher than the $51,264 average annual salary of a home inspector.

The top three skills for a code official include plumbing, construction projects and code compliance. The most important skills for a home inspector are crawl spaces, pest control, and plumbing.

Code official vs home inspector overview

	Code Official	Home Inspector
Yearly salary	$54,026	$51,264
Hourly rate	$25.97	$24.65
Growth rate	-4%	-4%
Number of jobs	324	55,491
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Average age	50	50
Years of experience	6	6

Code official vs home inspector salary

Code officials and home inspectors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Code Official	Home Inspector
Average salary	$54,026	$51,264
Salary range	Between $34,000 And $83,000	Between $32,000 And $82,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between code official and home inspector education

There are a few differences between a code official and a home inspector in terms of educational background:

	Code Official	Home Inspector
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 45%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	San Diego State University	San Diego State University

Code official vs home inspector demographics

Here are the differences between code officials' and home inspectors' demographics:

	Code Official	Home Inspector
Average age	50	50
Gender ratio	Male, 73.6% Female, 26.4%	Male, 85.7% Female, 14.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 8.4% Unknown, 5.7% Hispanic or Latino, 13.1% Asian, 3.4% White, 68.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	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 code official and home inspector duties and responsibilities

Code official example responsibilities.

Manage high volume case assignments to a final disposition of abatement, civil summons, criminal arrests or referral.
Perform plumbing, electric, building, and HVAC inspections for residential and commercial projects.
Retrieve patients' information from internal system, distribute proper reports to physicians and other materials to corresponding departments.
Conduct investigation inspection on HUD construct manufactured homes.

Home inspector example responsibilities.

Lead site excavations, form structuring, and supervise concrete pours.
Perform weekly boiler inspections at several APS schools
Perform NDT MPI/ LPI inspections on MWD and LWD tools used in the oil and gas industry.
Drive company vehicle to preset locations to meet with roofing contractors for final inspections for issuance of final warranties.
Test materials to make sure they are in conformance with ASHTO and ASTM and the Maryland book of standards.
Read structural blueprints to verify pile placement, inspect piles according to ASTM standards and record the driving depth.

Code official vs home inspector skills

Common code official skills

Plumbing, 18%
Construction Projects, 12%
Code Compliance, 12%
Plan Review, 10%
Fire Protection, 8%
Building Codes, 8%

Common home inspector skills

Crawl Spaces, 17%
Pest Control, 14%
Plumbing, 12%
Inspection Reports, 8%
Inspection Services, 7%
Safety Issues, 6%