Construction / Building Inspector
Career Area: Construction, Extraction, and Architecture
Occupation Group: Skilled Construction and Building Trades
Salary
Percentile wages tell how much a certain percentage of an overall population in a geographic area or within a given industry or field makes. The percentile wage estimate is the value of a wage below which a certain percent of workers fall.
An example would be the 25th percentile, 25 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 75 percent earn more than the estimated wage value. At the 75th percentile, 75 percent of workers employed in that occupation earn less and 25 percent earn more than the estimated wage value.
A typical Construction / Building Inspector earns the following wages (national and state):
State
The average salary in North Carolina for those pursuing this career is $43,445
National
The average salary in the United States for those pursuing this career is $51,625
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Inspects new construction or renovated buildings to check for compliance with government safety codes and zoning requirements. Checks building structures and foundations, or provides inspections of electrical systems, plumbing or heating and cooling systems, or building elevators.
Employment Trends
The job demand and job growth statistics shown here were derived from job posts over the past year. Expected job growth projections are extrapolated from year-over-year job post listing history.
Job demand and job growth is expected at the following rates:
| Location | Growth | |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 778 | +8.9% |
| Nationwide | 22384 | +6.6% |
Skills
A professional in this position typically utilizes the following skills in the course of everyday work in this exciting and challenging field:
Baseline Skills
The following are baseline skills every Construction / Building Inspector is expected to have in order to experience success in this field:
- Communication Skills: The ability to convey information to another effectively and efficiently.
- Physical Abilities: Physical Abilities, which refers to the ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with the body, arms, and/or legs. These abilities often require strength, endurance, flexibility, balance and coordination.
- Computer Literacy: The ability to use computers and related technology efficiently for work tasks.
- Writing: Experience expressing business messages effectively in written form. This may include planning drafting and revising as necessary.
- Microsoft Excel: Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet developed by Microsoft for Windows, macOS, Android and iOS. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications.
Specialized Skills
These skills are specific to working in this career:
- Construction Inspection: A construction inspection is a review and examination of a commercial structure, residence, or municipal project.
- Scheduling: Working experience making schedules, which are basic time-management tools, consisting of a list of times at which possible tasks, events, or actions are intended to take place withing an organization.
- Plumbing: Plumbing is any system that conveys fluids for a wide range of applications.
- Repair: Restoration of a broken, damaged, or failed device, equipment, part, or property to an acceptable operating or usable condition or state.
- Materials Testing: Materials testing is themeasurement of the characteristics and behaviour of such substances as metals,ceramics, or plastics under various conditions.
Distinguishing Skills
Any Construction / Building Inspector that possesses the following skills will stand out against the competition:
- Building Inspection: A building inspection is an inspection performed by a building inspector, a person who is employed by either a city, township or county and is usually certified in one or more disciplines qualifying them to make professional judgment about whether a building meets building code requirements.
- Technical Inspections: Working experience of Technical Inspections, which consist of visual and/or instrumental verification of compliance with technical specifications.
- Field Inspection: It is a key method in the whole process of certification for the verification of the seed quality when the crop is standing in the field and is subjected to the vagaries of weather and exposed to other known and unknown factors affecting its quality.
- Masonry: Masonry is the building of structures from individual units, which are often laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves.
- Bridge Construction:
Experience
This position typically requires the following level of experience. The numbers presented in the pie charts below were derived from actual job posts over the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Experience Required | % |
| 0 to 2 years | 44% |
| 3 to 5 years | 42% |
| 6 to 8 years | 7% |
Many of the programs offered through NC State are designed for working professionals who need additional credentials to enhance existing work experience.
Students who do not have the expected level of experience may wish to look into internship and employment opportunities.
Common Job Titles
It is possible to find work in this field in positions commonly listed as the following job titles:
- Inspector
- Construction Inspector
- Home Inspector
- Building Inspector
- Construction Materials Testing Technician
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring similar occupations, you may want to research the following job titles: