Positions / Certifications that earn the money

[twoply]

Hey everybody! I posted this in the employment section, but thought it might be better suited here.

We were having a healthy discussion about our pay scales and the topic came up on which certifications earn the higher pay scales.

I work for a large municipality, but cross referencing/ comparing with other cities/ suburbs, it seems the Building Official earns the most, followed by the inspector with a Building, Plumbing and ESI certification. Safebuilt advertises a pretty good package including a vehicle.

At this point of my life, I am happy with my position, but I'm always on the lookout for better paying opportunities.

I'd like some feedback from some of you other guys on here.

What are your pay scale experiences when considering counties, municipalities, Home rule municipalities, suburbs,...

Thanks in advance!

 

[cda]

Seems like it is almost city by city

How many people are in a bldg department

How much can the city afford to pay its employees, and that is all city wide.

What level of work/ building types are there coming into the city.

Sometimes hard to compare halibut and red snapper

 

[JCraver]

^^^ That's it exactly, IMO.

I work in a little bitty town, and make little bitty town wages. Bigger towns around me offer bigger town wages.

If a guy is free of ties to his location and has a handful of certs. (CBO, Comm. Bldg. and Plan Review, etc.), any decent-sized metro area is going to pay better than any random small town. The big city B.O.'s make the most money, but the certification/education/experience requirements go up too.

 

[ICE]

^^^ That's it exactly, IMO.

I work in a little bitty town, and make little bitty town wages. Bigger towns around me offer bigger town wages.

If a guy is free of ties to his location and has a handful of certs. (CBO, Comm. Bldg. and Plan Review, etc.), any decent-sized metro area is going to pay better than any random small town. The big city B.O.'s make the most money, but the certification/education/experience requirements go up too.

I agree with the premise that a large AHJ can and will pay more.....but the certification/education/experience requirements don't necessarily go up. If you are in a small town you better know what you are doing or you will be found out fast. A good friend that works for the largest AHJ in the country told me of a phone call from a new inspector. That new inspector was inspecting an electrical service upgrade and noticed a circuit breaker with AFCI on the label.....he wanted to know what AFCI stood for. That is not unusual.

 

[cda]

Even big cities do not pay well.

Kind of stated in a different way

A binder full of certs does not equal knowledge in plan review or field work.

 

[mtlogcabin]

The BO is the highest
Plan reviewer is next
Then inspectors

Some jurisdictions have inspector I, II or III levels depending on certifications and multi discipline inspections.

The union is what hold my guys back from earning more. They used to get raises based on related certs but that went away under the last contract.

 

[tmurray]

I agree with the premise that a large AHJ can and will pay more.....but the certification/education/experience requirements don't necessarily go up. If you are in a small town you better know what you are doing or you will be found out fast. A good friend that works for the largest AHJ in the country told me of a phone call from a new inspector. That new inspector was inspecting an electrical service upgrade and noticed a circuit breaker with AFCI on the label.....he wanted to know what AFCI stood for. That is not unusual.

Agreed. I have answered code questions for some of the largest municipalities in Canada. I'm an itty bitty town person (<20000). I get payed less, but the lifestyle is what I'm after.

Also, in towns, you usually end up with more than just building inspection as duties, so you end up with other qualifications. In my experience, building inspection is the "I don't know who this person needs to talk to" department.

 

[JCraver]

I agree with the premise that a large AHJ can and will pay more.....but the certification/education/experience requirements don't necessarily go up. If you are in a small town you better know what you are doing or you will be found out fast. A good friend that works for the largest AHJ in the country told me of a phone call from a new inspector. That new inspector was inspecting an electrical service upgrade and noticed a circuit breaker with AFCI on the label.....he wanted to know what AFCI stood for. That is not unusual.

I'd agree with all of that. I'm just saying that in a little bitty town like mine (pop. ~7000), there's only so much money you're going to make - my City Manager makes less $$ than some B.O positions I've seen advertised...

I do kind of think that at least the education req's. go up in the "big cities". Every BO job I've seen advertised in almost every metro area is looking for a bachelor's degree at minimum - you can definitely get hired on in a smaller town without one of those.