How Does Someone Become a Building Official?

Becoming a Building Official takes a fair bit more than putting on a hard hat, and picking up a copy of the Code; it requires experience, training, and a solid understanding of both the Codes themselves, and the construction process in general. This happens through a combination of background knowledge or training, custom Building Code Courses, and mentorship – by other seasoned Building Officials. Obviously – this doesn’t all happen overnight – and Building Officials don’t just dive immediately into complex buildings; there are a number of stages between the first time they crack open a Code book – and inspecting a High-Rise.

In Nova Scotia, the process typically begins at the Intern level – in some cases referred to as an Assistant Building Official (depending on what area you’re working in). Consider this as a foot in the door to the role as a Building Official – very much a Junior or “in training” position; members at this stage would be examining Single-Storey Accessory Buildings (think garages or sheds), and simple decks, and likely involved in a limited amount of plans review or enforcement. This provides the Building Official in Training an opportunity to apply some basic skills in Code use, at structures that are lower-stakes (by comparison to larger buildings).

At the next stage – called the Residential Qualification Level – Officials in training add to their experience in the previous role, taking on further responsibility by adding Single Family Homes (or dwellings), Duplexes, and Houses with Secondary Suites. This requires a deeper understanding of Code requirements, where buildings will now be regularly occupied, and introduces them more complex concepts like Spatial Separations (the requirements for distances between buildings), Egress (the path of getting out of a building), and even Fire Separations (how to slow the spread of fire from one part, to another, within a building).

Building (and yes, that’s a pun) on this experience, Officials work towards Qualification Level 1, allowing them to review and inspect all “Small Buildings” as defined by the Code. This introduces them to Occupancy Groups (or, the way a building is used by the people in it). In Nova Scotia, this includes a wide range of uses for the building – whether it be retail, restaurant or food service, offices, residential, or even some types of industrial – like warehouses (if they’re small enough). We’ll talk more about Occupancy groups later on – but the key takeaway is learning that different uses come with different Code requirements.

Finally, Officials can work towards their Qualification Level 2, which brings all buildings under their scope – whether we’re looking at Single-Storey Starbucks, or a Seventeen Storey-Skyscraper. Naturally, this level requires the most amount of training and experience, as it covers the most complicated buildings able to be constructed, but at this level – the Building Official can DeCode just about anything!