Architecture & Construction
Building Control Inspector
Sort it, under pressure · 5 decisions
Clocking on…
Ready?
Building Control Inspector — your shift
Inspect what is about to be hidden. The answer is the regulation, not the programme. Look at who is in front of you, then tap the box they belong in.
Full screen — no distractions
What does a building control inspector do?
You inspect work at the stages where it can still be seen, and you are the person who fails a pour nobody wants failed.
Also called: building control surveyor, building inspector, approved inspector.
A day looks like
- 1Six or seven sites in a day, each at a different stage, and each one hoping you will say yes.
- 2You look at what is about to be covered up, because after today nobody can.
- 3You refuse something, and the whole site's programme moves because of it.
- 4You write the notice, in terms that quote the actual regulation rather than your opinion.
Hardest part
Everybody on site wants the same answer and you are the only person who does not owe them anything. You will be liked less for doing the job properly, every time.
Best part
Catching the thing that would have been hidden forever, on the one day it was visible.
How you actually become a building control inspector
- At schoolA trade or a building surveying degree — both routes exist.
- TrainingBuilding control qualifications and registration; continuing competence is now formally assessed.
- How longSeveral years of site or surveying experience, then two or three to be registered.
- Your first jobTrainee building control surveyor, shadowing inspections.
Frequently asked questions
- What does building control actually check?
- Compliance with building regulations — structure, fire safety, means of escape, insulation, ventilation, drainage and accessibility — at defined stages, chosen because those are the moments the work is still visible.
- Why are inspections at particular stages?
- Because most of the important work gets covered up. Foundations, reinforcement, damp-proofing and drainage can only be seen once, so inspections are timed to those windows.
- Is the inspector on the builder's side or the buyer's?
- Neither — they enforce the regulations, which exist for whoever ends up living in the building. That independence is the whole value of the role, and it is why it is a registered function.
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