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- Make sure building regulations are followed by builders and developers
- With experience, option to move into technical and planning roles in other departments, like town planning
- You'll spend time on building sites in all weather conditions
As a building control officer, you'll work on the planning and construction phases of building projects to make sure they meet accessibility, conservation, energy, fire safety, and public health regulations. If a building looks like it won't meet the requirements of the building regulations, you'll advise on finding a solution.
DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES
- Working closely with architects, designers, builders and engineers
- Suggesting ways to make building projects more cost effective
- Carrying out site inspections
- Writing inspection reports and issuing completion certificates
- Surveying unsafe buildings and giving advice or approving their demolition
- Authorising entertainment licenses and checking safety at public venues and events
DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT
You could work in an office or on a construction site. Your working environment may be outdoors in all weathers and at height. There may be considerable travel within a working day, although absence from home overnight is uncommon.
A reasonable level of fitness and mobility is required as the work can be physically demanding. Site inspections may involve climbing ladders and scaffolding to examine roofs, and climbing down into excavated areas to check foundations and drains.
Building Control Officers in local authorities normally work a 35 to 37-hour week, Monday to Friday. Working hours in the private sector may vary. You may work some weekends, or be on 24 hour on-call cover to deal with emergencies.
You'll need
To become a building control officer, you can do a foundation degree, higher national diploma or degree in a relevant subject like building studies, civil engineering, structural engineering, building control or building surveying.
You could also do a college course, which could help when you apply for trainee jobs in building control. Courses include Level 3 Certificate in Construction and the Built Environment, Level 4 Diploma in Building Control Surveying and Level 4 Diploma in Civil Engineering. You'll usually need 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) for a level 3 course and 1 or 2 A levels, a level 3 diploma or relevant experience for a level 4 or level 5 course.
You could also take a T level at college in Design, Surveying and Planning.
Another route is by doing a building control surveyor degree apprenticeship.
You can move into building control from another job in construction, like quantity surveying or site management.
You'll also usually need to be an accredited member of a professional body, like the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE), or the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB). Experience of working in building and construction can give you an advantage.
CAREER PROSPECTS
With experience, you could specialise in a particular field, like fire safety, or move into technical and planning roles in other departments, like town planning. You could also work as a consultant.