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Find out about changes to our services and Christmas opening times on our Festive information page. To find out when your bin will be collected over the festive period, visit Changes to County Durham bin collections at Christmas.

Due to maintenance, the following systems will be unavailable from 11.45am on Tuesday 24 December until 8.00am on Thursday 2 January: our online Council Tax, business rates and housing benefit services, and our welfare assistance form. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Developing your career in Building Control


Durham County Council is a great place to develop your career in Building Control. Our Building Control Officers come from a variety of career pathways, including apprenticeships and career changers!

The introduction of the Building Safety Act 2022 has resulted in Building Control becoming a regulated profession, so you will need a licence from the Building Safety Regulator to undertake the restricted duties of a building inspector.

Licences fall under three main categories:

  • Class 1 - Trainee Building Inspector - must work under the supervision of a registered building inspector with the appropriate scope of registration to supervise the allocated tasks.
  • Class 2A to F - General Building Inspector - depending upon the sub-category of their licence they can work on domestic dwellings (2A) to all building types less than 18 metres in height (2F).
  • Class 3G to H - Specialist Building Inspector - All building types (3G), including high-risk (3H).

We will support your journey throughout your career and help to achieve the level of classification suitable for you.

Continuous professional development

Continual professional development (CPD) is essential to learn new skills and specialisms, to enhance careers, stay proficient, competent and adjust to industry disruption and challenges.

As a Building Control professional working for the council, you will be granted access to the Local Authority Building Control's (LABC) Virtual Learning Environment giving them access to hundreds of hours of learning.

Individual learning needs can be highlighted during a personal development review (PDR) and support will be given to find suitable training.

Trainee Building Control Officer

LABC is the national organisation that represents building control departments in councils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In 2025 we are working in partnership with the LABC, hosting and supporting a trainee Building Control Surveyor on placement. Whilst employed by the LABC, all site-based training is carried out within the council, from plan vetting to site inspections, supported by our knowledgeable and experienced Building Control team. Future opportunities with the LABC and the council will be listed here when available.



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