Construction and Building Inspectors

Low Risk
Low High

Explore safer careers (3)

Lower estimated automation risk

Construction Managers
11% automation risk | Minimal Risk
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Why it fits

Fits experienced inspectors using plans, contractors, schedules, codes, budgets, quality checks, and site coordination.

Occupational Health and Safety Specialists
19% automation risk | Minimal Risk
Pays better Higher growth
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Why it fits

Uses site hazards, regulations, inspections, incident records, corrective actions, training, and safety documentation.

Fire Inspectors and Investigators
14% automation risk | Minimal Risk
Higher growth
10.8 pts lower View career
Why it fits

Transfers code inspection, hazards, building systems, permits, evidence notes, reports, and enforcement communication.

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Occupation snapshot

What does this snowflake show?
The Snowflake is a visual summary of the five badges: Automation Risk (calculated), Risk (polled), Growth, Wages and Volume. It gives you an instant snapshot of an occupations profile. The colour of the Snowflake relates to its size. The better the occupation scores in relation to others, the larger and greener the Snowflake becomes.
JOB SCORE
5.5/10
What's this?
Job Score (higher is better):

We rate jobs using four factors. These are:

- Chance of being automated
- Job growth
- Wages
- Volume of available positions

These are some key things to think about when job hunting.

Risk & user votes

Calculated automation risk

25% (Low Risk)

Low Risk (21-40%): This occupation has a lower risk of full replacement by AI, software, or robotic systems. Some tasks may be automated or assisted, but the role usually still relies on human judgement, communication, responsibility, physical adaptability, or practical decision-making.

More information on what this score is, and how it is calculated is available here.

Human strengths important in this job

These are human abilities and work contexts that are important in this occupation. They may help explain why parts of the role are harder to replace end-to-end, but they are not the only inputs into the automation score.

Communicating with people outside the organization

Very important
Why this matters
Represents the organization to customers, the public, or government—handling questions, concerns, and relationship-building through conversations, writing, calls, or email.
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Persuasion

Quite important
Why this matters
Influencing people to change their minds or behavior through conversation, trust, and negotiation.
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Social perceptiveness

Quite important
Why this matters
Noticing others’ emotions and reactions in the moment and adjusting what you say or do based on why they’re responding that way.
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Decision-making and problem solving

Quite important
Why this matters
Analyze information, weigh tradeoffs, and choose the best solution—especially when situations are ambiguous, high-stakes, or have real-world consequences.
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Coordinating others’ work

Quite important
Why this matters
Bringing people together, assigning tasks, and keeping a group aligned so work gets done.
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Show 3 more strengths

Consulting and advising others

Quite important
Why this matters
Provide guidance and expert advice to managers or teams on technical, system, or process decisions—explaining options, tradeoffs, and recommended actions.
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Active learning

Quite important
Why this matters
Keeps learning from new information and applying it to make better decisions now and in the future, especially when situations change.
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Education and training expertise

Quite important
Why this matters
Designing and delivering instruction—adapting lessons to different learners and measuring whether training actually works.
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What users think

Based on 67 votes

38% chance of full automation within the next two decades

Our visitors have voted there's a low chance this occupation will be automated. This assessment is further supported by the calculated automation risk level, which estimates 25% chance of automation.

What do you think the risk of automation is?

What is the likelihood that Construction and Building Inspectors will be replaced by robots or artificial intelligence within the next 20 years?

Sentiment

Based on user votes over time

View sentiment trend

How opinions have changed over time

Pay & outlook

Wages

High paid relative to other professions

In 2024, the median annual wage for Construction and Building Inspectors was $72,120 ($35 per hour).

The median annual wage for Construction and Building Inspectors was 45.7% higher than the national median annual wage, which stood at $49,500.

View wage trend

Wages over time

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Growth

Slow growth relative to other professions.

The number of 'Construction and Building Inspectors' job openings is expected to decline 0.8% by 2034

View employment trend

Total employment, and estimated job openings

* Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the period between 2023 and 2033
Updated projections are due 09-2025.

Volume

Greater range of job opportunities compared to other professions

As of 2024 there were 137,210 people employed as 'Construction and Building Inspectors' within the United States.

This represents around 0.09% of the employed workforce across the country

Put another way, around 1 in 1 thousand people are employed as 'Construction and Building Inspectors'.

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What people are saying (4)

George Hauser
29 Jan 2025 01:52
I work as a civil construction inspector dealing with roadways. I can see how robots could be used to carry out various field tests of soils, concrete, asphalt etc. I can also foresee robots aiding in conducting various kinds of field measurements as well. Artificial Intelligence could be capable of noticing various potential issues quicker than human vision could do. AI could also help search for various building codes, standards and procedures faster and more effectively out in the field.

With all of this said, I believe the human element is still going to be needed in terms of engineering judgment, intuition, decision making and interpersonal communication with contractors and the in addressing the public as well.

A future civil construction inspector, will probably evolve into sort of an assistant field project manager or an assistant project engineer. They might be managing perhaps 2 to 4 field robots or AI oriented project systems.

So, this type of job won't disappear anytime soon, but it will evolve and change in its overall nature somewhat.

AI and robotics will basically increase overall worker productivity and accuracy in the inspection field. Future Inspectors will be able to handle more tasks simultaneously and more accurately. AI will help us identify potential problems faster and find relevant project information faster, but engineering judgment, intuition, decision making and communication skills are still going to require that human element involved.
Howard Grisham (No chance)
30 Aug 2022 21:10
Assuring that "as built" construction is actually in compliance with what engineers and architects set out in blueprints is crucial to safety in public and private sectors. Construction inspectors assure that contractors comply with building and safety standards by doing testing and visual confirmation.
J. Pantoja (Low)
24 Mar 2021 12:50
In inspection, criteria, perceptions, objectivity are applied. I doubt the machines will have it anytime soon.
Someone
03 Dec 2020 16:55
No because the robots will most likely miss what your trying to do or it might say it will not work when it does.
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Job description

Inspect structures using engineering skills to determine structural soundness and compliance with specifications, building codes, and other regulations. Inspections may be general in nature or may be limited to a specific area, such as electrical systems or plumbing.

O*NET-SOC code: 47-4011.00