Building official qualifications

The Building Act requires building and plumbing officials to meet certain qualifications. This helps ensure officials have up-to-date knowledge and skills to understand and apply construction codes in a consistent way everywhere.

On this page

Building official qualification requirements

Qualification requirements for building officials are in Part 3 of the Building Act. Building and plumbing officials who work for a local government must: 

• Be a member in good standing of the Building Officials’ Association of BC
• Pass exams according to their class and scope of practice
• Complete annual continuing professional development (CPD)
• Be entered in the register as a qualified building official
• Pay an annual administrative fee 
• Submit an annual report  

Learn more about the requirements:

• Building Act Guide B2: What Building and Plumbing Officials Need to Know about the Building Act (PDF, 1.5MB)
• Technical Bulletin B21-01 Building Officials Qualifications (PDF, 327.KB)
• Trainee classes (PDF, 660KB)
• 2021 webinar about the requirements (PDF, 3MB) and webinar questions (PDF, 152KB)

Exemptions from qualification requirements

You are exempt from qualification requirements if you are:

• An architect, in good standing, registered with the Architectural Institute of British Columbia
• A professional engineer, in good standing, registered and licensed with Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia
• A member of Engineers and Geoscientists British Columbia with a limited licence that includes consulting on building regulations

Other individuals who are exempt include those who:  

• Hold designated qualifications under the Safety Standards Act
• Are listed in the Building Act General Regulation and make decisions on behalf of a local government regarding fire prevention, suppression and response matters within their regulated practice area

Administration of qualification requirements

The Building Officials' Association of BC administers the qualification requirements on behalf of the Province of British Columbia. A registrar is responsible for keeping a list of every qualified building official and may issue penalties if unqualified building officials exceed their qualifications.