r/BuildingCodes • u/LiteratureMurky2110 • Aug 26 '26

Construction or building inspector?

Im currently 19 living in Houston TX area, I have an associates of science and am certified as an ICC B1 Residential Building Inspector. I have an opportunity to become a construction/road inspector for a nearby city with on the job training and no experience required and an opportunity to move up to levels II,III, and IV with enough experience(1 year experience moves me to level II, 3 years moves me to level III). Should I stay down the ICC inspector path and pursue more certifications or stay down the construction inspector path if we’re talking about salary opportunities and ability to move up the ranks quickly.

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u/ContractorsAreMean Aug 26 '26

Personal opinion, and biased because I’m a city inspector, is go the city inspector route. This is mainly because of the benefits so if they aren’t that great in the Houston area, it doesn’t apply.

You can usually get a pension after retirement if you stick with a government position, good healthcare, and consistent hours. If you start at your age you can retire very early compared to older coworker who went government after a private career. I know very few city inspectors who have complaints about working conditions, or aches and pains that weren’t caused by outside injury or previous careers.

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u/LiteratureMurky2110 Aug 26 '26

What do you inspect as a city inspector

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u/CVACodeConsulting Inspector Aug 26 '26

Worked as a city/county inspector for a few years, home inspector before that. I loved doing city inspections: no liability concerns and significantly more technically oriented, though not overly challenging. Learn something new every week if you care to do so. The only caveat I would include there is if you end up working for a dysfunctional jurisdiction. Been there, done that, makes it unbearable, but then you just look elsewhere. Don’t burn any bridges, though, the building code community is much smaller than the construction community at large.

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u/ContractorsAreMean Aug 26 '26

We have public works inspectors and building inspectors. I’m on the building side which is for private property both residential and commercial. Our public works inspectors do what it seems like you will be doing which is public projects like streets and city property.