Thinking about a career change? How about building control?

02.07.2019

Blog Post

A career in construction can be a rewarding one but what about when the physicality of the job gets too much, or you feel you need a new challenge to keep you motivated?

Many of our 3,700 network of local authority building control professionals started out in non-building control careers. A selection of the good people we've had are:

Plumbers who went on to become building control managers
A ground manager who went on to inspect foundations and drainage inspections
An ex heating engineer who was the go-to person for inspecting boiler installations - particularly oil
A carpenter who is now LABC's Head of Network Change and Transformation after having a career in local authority building control

Also joiners, carpenters, bricklayers, site managers and engineers.

Find a job in building control

Career switcher stories

Here are a couple of examples of tradespeople who went on to make a success of it in local authority building control, and never looked back:

Mark’s story

Mark Kelly at apT has had a varied career, to say the least.

He worked as a bricklayer from 1978 for 15 years then moved to site management before he got his role in apT's building control team in Telford. He has also been a site engineer, quantity surveyor, designer and plant operator!

With this wealth of experience and daily contact with architects and engineers on site he built up a high level of transferable skills which he was able to use in building control, after taking a two year HNC course two nights a week and making use of LABC's extensive training courses.

Mark loves the knowledge he’s gained since the move to apT and the fact that he can share this with others. He greatly appreciates being seen as a professional.

Jonathan’s story

Jonathan Robb was involved in construction right from the beginning of his career and was a self-employed builder before he got his job in Camden Council's building control team.

In the course of his building career he built up a store of technical knowledge and an understanding of the practical application of requirements to achieve compliance, although he admits there was a steep learning curve to become fully conversant with building control.

He feels the insight he gained on the other side of the fence as a client has been extremely important in his current job.

For Jonathan the main benefit of taking on a role with local authority building control was the release from the stress of running his own business and the challenges the job offered.

Benefits of being in local authority building control

Local authorities offer:

Opportunities for personal development
A flexible work/life balance and the chance to progress and specialise
Job opportunities throughout the UK
A focus on public service rather than pure profit

Find out how you can make the switch

If you have an appreciation of building control and would like to explore the benefits available to you in working for a local authority building control team, have a look through our current vacancies - you may be surprised at how well you'll fit the job, even if the description doesn't immediately suggest that you would. Many councils are more flexible than you would think!