Will AI replace Construction and Building Inspectors?
Estimated risk score: 43 out of 100
Lower replacement risk
Estimate from published task research, not reviewed by a person · how we estimate
Within about 19 points for 4 in 5 of the jobs we checked (24 to 62).
For the occupation as a whole, from ratings of its 19 O*NET tasks published in 2023 and calibrated to our hand scores. A specialty inside it can sit higher or lower.
O*NET-SOC 47-4011.00 · Construction and Extraction
Tasks rated in 2023 as ones AI could do or speed up
Tasks a GPT-4-class model could do, or do in half the time or less: 1 of its 19 rated tasks. In O*NET’s words.
- Maintain daily logs and supplement inspection records with photographs.
Tasks rated in 2023 as not sped up by AI
Tasks such a model was rated as not speeding up or taking over: 9 of its 19 rated tasks; the first 6 are shown. In O*NET’s words.
- Conduct inspections, using survey instruments, metering devices, tape measures, or test equipment.
- Confer with owners, violators, or authorities to explain regulations or recommend remedial actions.
- Inspect and monitor construction sites to ensure adherence to safety standards, building codes, or specifications.
- Inspect bridges, dams, highways, buildings, wiring, plumbing, electrical circuits, sewers, heating systems, or foundations during and after construction for structural quality, general safety, or conformance to specifications and codes.
- Monitor installation of plumbing, wiring, equipment, or appliances to ensure that installation is performed properly and is in compliance with applicable regulations.
- Train, direct, or supervise other construction inspectors.
What the job is
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.
Also called: Building Official, Construction Inspector, Building Code Administrator, Locator Tech, Plan Checker, Gas Inspector, Plan Examiner, Code Inspector.
Closest jobs we score by hand
In the same field (Construction and Extraction). Different jobs, each scored by a person.
Source. This site includes information from the O*NET 30.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. (O*NET, CC BY 4.0.) Task ratings: Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin and Rock (2023), “GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models”, data used under the MIT licence (licence texts). Our change: we averaged the ratings over this occupation’s tasks and calibrated them to our 0–100 scale. It is not a prediction about any one person and not career advice. Disagree? Write to hello@yourstopwashit.com. How we estimate