Glossary
Construction and Building Inspector Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential construction and building inspector terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key construction and building inspector vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in construction and building inspector training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- Accessibility
- Requirements making buildings usable by people with disabilities.
- Building permit
- Official approval to begin construction work.
- Certificate of occupancy (CO)
- Approval that a building is safe to occupy.
- Correction notice
- A written list of items that must be fixed before approval.
- Egress
- A safe way out of a building, such as required exits and emergency escape windows.
- Fire blocking
- Materials installed to slow the spread of fire through concealed spaces.
- Footing
- The base of a foundation that spreads loads to the soil.
- IBC
- International Building Code: the model code for most commercial buildings.
- IRC
- International Residential Code: the model code for one- and two-family homes.
- Load path
- The route loads take from the roof to the foundation.
- Occupancy classification
- The code category describing how a building is used.
- Plan review
- Checking construction documents for code compliance before work begins.
- Setback
- The required distance between a structure and property lines.
- Special inspection
- Additional inspections by qualified specialists for critical work such as structural steel or concrete.
- Stop-work order
- An order halting construction due to violations or safety concerns.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Construction and Building Inspector practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Construction and Building Inspector training.
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