09/08/2026
An experienced inspector can look at a jobsite for 30 seconds and see 20 things a new inspector never noticed.
That’s what experience does.
It compresses information.
The problem starts when we assume everyone else sees what the experienced person sees.
They don’t.
An inspector, superintendent, project manager, and construction manager can stand in the exact same place and have completely different responsibilities.
Each role should be looking for different things, making different decisions, and knowing where their authority stops.
I’ve seen what happens when that isn’t defined.
Some people overstep because they think everything is their responsibility.
Others don’t do enough because nobody ever showed them what their responsibility actually is.
Then we judge their performance against expectations we never clearly defined.
That’s a system problem.
This is the thinking behind our Inspector Development System.
The field manual has to be simple enough that a new inspector can open it, go to LOCATES, and immediately understand:
Observe: What am I looking for?
Verify: What am I confirming?
Record: What evidence do I need?
Communicate: Who needs to know?
Then:
What are the risks?
Where is the hold point?
Can work proceed?
Experience should make an inspector better.
It should never be required just to understand the job.
Give inspectors simple tools, clear responsibilities, defined authority, and a repeatable process.
Now you have something that can be taught, measured, repeated, and scaled across the company.
That’s the difference between having inspectors and having an inspection system.
If your inspectors are learning the job differently depending on who they ride with, we should talk.
If your inspectors are learning the job differently depending on who they ride with, schedule a call with me: https://lnkd.in/gyaKJKVm
We’ll look at how inspection is being handled today, where the gaps are, and what it would take to build a simple, repeatable Inspector Development System your company can actually use.
