The Datum Report

Occupation 3581 · Associate professional occupations

Inspectors of standards and regulations

Half of full-time inspectors of standards and regulations in the UK earn more than £38,963 a year, and half earn less.

Inspectors of standards and regulations undertake investigations and inspections to verify and ensure compliance with acts, regulations and other requirements in respect of: buildings, weights, measures and trade descriptions; the installation and safety of electrical, gas and water supplies and equipment; marine pollution, ships’ structures, equipment and accommodation; the treatment of animals; the operation of commercial vehicles; the welfare, health and safety in factories and all work sites subject to the provisions in the Factory Acts.

How people enter it

Entrants usually possess A levels/H grades, a degree or equivalent qualification, together with experience gained in employment. Professional qualifications, membership of professional bodies, postgraduate diplomas and NVQs/ SVQs at levels 3 and 4 are available and may be required in some occupations. On-the-job training is available in some areas.

What the work involves

• examines building plans to ensure compliance with local, statutory and other requirements
• inspects building structures, facilities and sites to determine suitability for habitation, compliance with regulations and for insurance purposes
• inspects measuring and similar equipment in factories and visits street traders, shops, garages and other premises to check scales, weights and measuring equipment
• inspects factories and other work sites to ensure adequate cleanliness, temperature, lighting and ventilation, checks for fire hazards and inspects storage and handling arrangements of dangerous materials
• visits sites during construction and inspects completed installations of electricity, gas or water supply
• draws attention to any irregularities or infringements of regulations and advises on ways of rectifying them
• investigates industrial accidents or any complaints made by the public
• verifies the weight of commercial vehicles, checks driver’s licence and hours worked
• samples and tests river water, checks and advises on premises discharging effluent to prevent pollution
• checks fishing licences and prevents illegal fishing
• visits premises where animals are kept, advises on animal care and investigates complaints
• undertakes other inspections including chemicals, drugs, flight operations, etc.
• prepares reports and recommendations on all inspections made and recommends legal action where necessary

Also called

Building inspector · Driving examiner · Housing inspector · Meat hygiene inspector · Trading standards officer

What it pays

How pay has changed

Median gross annual pay for inspectors of standards and regulations, full-time employees, 2023 to 2025. Each point is that year's ASHE April snapshot as published — revisions are not backfilled into earlier years, and a year ONS withheld is a gap rather than a joined line.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Year-on-year change

The change from each year to the next, in per cent, computed from the figures in the chart above — so the two cannot disagree.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Table

Pay by region

Median gross annual pay for full-time employees, ranked, against the UK figure. 8 of 11 regions are published: ONS withholds a cell where the survey sample cannot support it, and those are shown as gaps rather than dropped — an absent region is not a region without the work in it.

ONS, ASHE Table 14 - occupation by four-digit SOC (national). Period 2025. Table

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Common questions

Classified alongside this

Health and safety managers and officers