Anybody out there a building inspector for the city, county or state? Is it a good job? Ups? Downs? How did you get the job? What does it take?
Dave
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I think Chicago is looking for a few new people in their building department.
Ups - There are many creative ways to supplement your income.
Downs - Getting walked out of your office in handcuffs by the FBI.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-federal-zoning-probe-webmay23,0,850028.story
Tim Mooney can answer your questions - he did a stint a couple of years ago. He'll be around.
Greg
It takes a decent knowledge of codes and construction.
It takes an attitude of fortitude and ability to live life while some people hate your guts.
A carreer counselor could help you know if you have the right psychological makeup to handle the stress.
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A significant amount of courage is also helpful. When I worked for an underground construction company (pipelines, communications infrastructure, etc) there was an ongoing debate about whether we could use inspectors as backfill.
Some of the inspectors seemed pretty nervous while inspecting our jobs. I assumed that they had no sense of humor, but wasn't sure if our superintendents were actually joking.
A couple of the inspectors must have been really good, though. They could verify trench depth, shoring, and compaction while driving at 25 mph down the other side of the street. - lol
Being politically related helps a lot also. Most of the inspectors around here got their jobs by "knowing someone". The one in the Town next over was a former selectman, and 2 years later, still doesn't have
State Certification or his MA Construction Super's license.
Building departments and inspectors are only as good as the government that backs them up. I do understand there may be some back water towns where the mayor's idiot son in law is the inspector but I think that the the exception. The other places that have problems are where the unions run the trades and control the building departments.
Enlightened states will have a uniform building code across the state (no local rules or lack of them) and the state licenses the inspectors. That is how it works in Florida. Certainly I have seen "drive by" inspections and I assume some guys still take bribes but there is a state agency that will bust them if they get caught.
At the end of the day it still gets back to the local building department to monitor the "day to day". The state still has ultimate oversight over the operation from the AHJ down. They still have to enforce the same code.
My post was meant to be a bit of humor. Yes, we joked with one another and the inspectors, but it was all in fun. One even gave me a five minute lecture about inspectors being poor fill because their high moisture content made compaction too difficult. For the most part, we had a very good working relationship with them. The drive-by inspections reflected their trust in our work, but we ragged them unmercifully about being afraid to stop.
One exception involved a brand new inspector who demanded that we remove all of the locate marks on several blocks of city streets. Our job had only required one mark (which I had personally made) and it was cleaned up the day we finished.
That fight went all the way to the Public Works Director's office. Some of the old markings were several years old and had been placed by who knows who and there was no way we were going to accept the cost of removing the old markings. The Director agreed with me ................reluctantly, and I had to walk on eggs for a while when I took a new job in for permitting.
It all depends on where you live. In Florida you need to be licensed
in alabama you got to be turn down by wally world
Just a bump so you would see the thread.
Q: What do you get if you cross a dog and a cheetah?
A: A dog that chases cars - and catches them.
Do you have a relative who can get you the job? That's what it usually takes around here.
Thats a lot of questions .
It takes what Piffin said and they will hate your guts . No one wants to hear what youve got to say. Imagine a basketball referee. However your job is more important because it deals with peoples lifes. Its your responseblity. You make one mistake and someone could burn. If that rewards you then its a good job. If you want power its a sick place to find it . It doesnt pay very well for whats at stake.
I got the job comming off open heart surgery . The mayor came to my house and asked me . Its a job that draws a lot of retired builders and disabled ones becasue they have the construction knowledge they really cant teach. Then that person has to learn the codes and be sent to classes . You get a knowledgable inspector going that route. But basically it takes both experience and gained knowledge to be a good one . It helps being a contractor to talk to contractors but the close peer relationship is not a good one . The second hardest part is busting a friend and you have to be prepared for that to happen.
Edit . Its later and I have some more time .
Its a wonderful training experience. I thought about that when I left the keyboard. I should have said it . Some of the best free education Ive ever recieved. It is the best in a short time . They paid me to go to schools all over everyting and I did just that . Anytime they would let me go I was gone . They paid for the schools and my time while I was there . Pretty sweet if you like knowledge.
Tim
Edited 7/17/2008 12:45 pm by Mooney