Building Inspector

Administrative Duties

Actively supports and upholds the City’s stated mission and values. Under general supervision of the Building Inspection Manager, employees of this class are expected to perform highly skilled technical duties associated with residential, commercial, and industrial building construction.

Examples of the Work Performed

• Provides excellent customer service to both internal and external customers.
• Inspects buildings including major structures in the process of construction, alteration, or repair for compliance with the building, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing codes and takes appropriate action for correction of violations.
• Inspects existing buildings for change of use or occupancy for compliance with applicable codes and ordinances.
• Takes appropriate action for correction of violations.
• Reviews commercial and residential plans for compliance with code requirements and requires corrections where necessary.
• Ensures construction projects create no hazards or avoidable nuisances to the general public.
• Maintains good working relationships with contractors, owner/builders, and others involved in building projects.
• Inspects damaged or dilapidated buildings for safety and make recommendations for repairs where required.
• Inspects buildings being demolished to assure that proper safety methods are being employed and to protect adjacent property and the public.
• Inspects buildings being moved within or into the city for compliance with applicable codes and ordinances.
• Checks locations of lots where construction is planned for adherence to requirements, including conformance to approved on-site grading and drainage plans.
• Provides information related to construction codes and ordinances to designer, builders, and the public concerning proposed projects or projects under construction.
• Makes reports on violations in preparation for legal action and keeps records regarding inspections.
• Inspects mobile home installations for compliance with applicable city and state requirements.
• Inspects existing structures, when requested, for any life threatening hazards or code deficiency of any kind.
• Keeps inspection records up-to-date and in good order.
• Inspects various appliance installations for compliance.
• Attends staff meetings regularly to maintain consistent enforcement of procedures and policy updates.
• Maintains continuing education to keep abreast of new code changes, materials, and methods of construction by attending seminars and training events pertinent to responsibilities both in and out of Flagstaff, as directed by the Inspection Supervisor.
• Attends and gives witness testimony at State of Arizona Registrar of Contractors hearings as directed by the Inspection Manager.
• Coordinates with various sections and divisions throughout the course of projects to maintain approval sequence and conformance to regulations.
• Provides support of engineering, planning, stormwater, and fire department inspection duties as required in the field during inspection of projects.
• Reports to the Inspection Manager on a regular basis regarding status, irregularities, and other concerns associated with responsibilities.
• Inspects buildings damaged by fire, vehicles, or other forces for structural integrity, or unsanitary conditions, using safe practices.
• Maintains an assigned geographical area to identify illegal, dangerous, unsafe, and unpermitted conditions along with issuing violation notices and performing follow-up inspections to ensure corrections are made.
• Performs related duties, as assigned.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS

• Associates Degree or two years of construction related college coursework.
• Five years of experience in building construction utilizing a number of the building trades, i.e., framing, electric, plumbing, and HVAC.
• One certification (preferably as Building Inspector) issued by International Code Council or ability to obtain within 6 months of hire.
• Or any combination of education, experience, and training equivalent to the above minimum requirements.

DESIRED EXPERIENCE AND TRAINING

• One year of experience in building inspection for a governmental organization.
• Two ICC Certifications (building, plumbing, mechanical, or electrical inspector) or any other related certifications.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

• Must possess, or obtain upon employment, a valid Arizona driver’s license.
• Regular attendance is an essential function of this job to ensure continuity.
• Must obtain one additional certification issued by International Code Council within one year of employment. All certifications must be maintained as active certifications.
• All Emergency Service Employees shall maintain their principal residence within the state boundaries of Arizona. All Emergency Service Employees, except those holding a position in Fire, will arrive at the assigned or emergency work location within one (1) hour from notification to report to duty.
• Employees may be designated a take home City vehicle.
• Employees who are designated to take home a City vehicle per the Vehicle Take Home Administrative Policy must live within the prescribed area. The defined as a 12-mile radius from City Hall or 35 miles eastbound, westbound, and southbound from the I-17 and I-40 exchanges, or 10 miles from City Hall along Highway 180 North with a five-mile-wide corridor (2 ½ miles on each side).
• Ability and willingness to be available for on-call weekend, holiday, and evening work as dictated by work projects and manning requirements.

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES (ILLUSTRATIVE ONLY)

• Under direct supervision of the Building Inspection Manager, employees of this class are expected to exercise considerable judgement, initiative, and professional skills and knowledge in the inspection of buildings to ensure compliance with building, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical codes, and accessibility standards and regulations.
• Considerable knowledge of all major types of building construction materials, methods, and the stages of construction, when possible, violations and defects may be easily observed and corrected.
• Considerable knowledge of the various municipal codes relating to all phases of construction.
• Demonstrated ability to read and interpret plans, specifications, and blueprints and to correlate them to construction in process.
• Ability to consistently interpret and explain gray areas of the code to citizens in an attempt to reach consensus and a common solution acceptable to all concerned parties.
• Ability to work with contractors and building owners in a tactful and professional, but firm manner, in situations that sometimes can be delicate, difficult, and stressful during building code enforcement.
• Demonstrated ability to detect poor workmanship, inferior materials, and hazards of fire or collapse within buildings and structures.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with contractors, building owners, other employees and the general public, including the ability to impart consistency, professionalism, and customer service in all areas of responsibility.
• Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in written form.
• Some computer literacy, including typing, email, file management, and internet browser based applications.
• Ability to organize time, schedules, documentation, and daily workload accordingly.
• Ability to maintain inspection records for jobs assigned, including inspection types, dates, and actions taken along with daily inspection records inclusive of accurate data documentation for all inspections.
• Ability to perform technical calculations associated with sizes, lengths, and installation requirements of various building components.
• Ability to sort, file, and distribute material such as site plans, permit files, ordinance violation notices, reports, and related documents in an effective manner.
• Ability to ascend and descend ladders, unfinished stairs without handrails, scaffolding, and sloped roofs.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORKING ENVIRONMENT

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to walk/stand, and talk or hear, regularly required to stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl, use hands or fingers to handle or feel and reach with hands and arms and occasionally required to sit, climb or balance and taste or smell.
• The employee must regularly lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.
• Vision requirements for this position include close vision, distance vision (clear vision at 20 feet or more), Peripheral vision (ability to see up, down, left, and right while eyes fixed on a given point) and Depth perception (three-dimensional vision, ability to judge distances and spatial relationships), Color vision (ability to identify and distinguish colors) and Ability to adjust focus (ability to adjust the eye to bring an object into sharp focus).
• Working conditions include frequent exposure to outdoor weather conditions. Conditions regularly include work in high precarious places, work near moving mechanical parts and vibration Conditions occasionally include exposure to fumes or airborne particles, extreme cold (non-weather) and risk of electrical shock
• The noise level in the work environment is usually Loud noise (examples: metal can manufacture department, large earth-moving equipment).