Plans Examiner

City of Fort Worth; Fort Worth (TX); On-site; USD 51,000 - 64,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

11 Paid Holidays

Medical

Dental

Vision

Paid Time Off

Pension Plan

Professional Development Opportunities

Find Out More

Job summary

The City of Fort Worth is seeking a Plans Examiner through the Development Services Department to review and process building, zoning, electrical, plumbing and mechanical applications, ensuring conformance to codes while supporting safe growth in Fort Worth.

This role offers a structured work week, with occasional evening or weekend work, and a benefits package including holidays, insurance, PTO and pension. Employment is contingent on post‑hiring checks and equal opportunity employment.

Qualifications

• Associate’s degree required.
• Two years of city building inspection or plans examination experience.
• Certificate from a national model code organization in the relevant examination area.

Responsibilities

• Interpreting regulations, laws and ordinances for plans examination within established guidelines.
• Assist with drawings, applications, calculations and codes to contractors, architects, engineers and the public.
• Assist to solve plan issues with innovative ideas.
• Revise or amend original plans and provide follow-up with owner or contact.
• Enter plans examination data into computer system and track status of applications and permits.

Education

Associate’s degree

Two years of city building inspection, plans examination, construction field experience

Tools

National model code organization certificate

Job description

Pay Range: $24.67 – $30.83/hr. | $51,308 - $64,135 annual compensation

Job Posting Closing on: Monday, September 28, 2026

Workdays & Hours: Monday – Friday 8am – 5pm; Some evening/weekend work required.

Benefits for this position include: 11 Paid Holidays, Medical, Dental, Vision, Paid Time Off, Pension Plan, Professional Development Opportunities, and Find Out More!

The City of Fort Worth is one of the fastest growing large cities in the U.S. Our employees serve the needs of over 1,000,000 residents, promoting our values of exceptional customer experience, mutual respect, embracing our diversity, continuous improvement, ethical behavior, and accountability.

Duties

A Plans Examiner job is available with the City of Fort Worth Development Services Department. The Development Services Department seeks to make Fort Worth the most livable city in Texas by promoting orderly growth and development, safe construction and neighborhood vitality. The plans exam division helps complete this mission by performing a variety of technical duties in reviewing, approving and processing building applications in assigned areas, including building, zoning, electrical, plumbing and mechanical. With a staff of eight employees, the plans exam division reviews commercial and residential projects for conformance to building codes and laws, which includes:

• Large multi-family developments
• Single family homes
• High rise buildings
• Mix use development buildings

Minimum Qualifications

• Associate’s degree
• Two (2) years of city building inspection, plans examination, construction field, landscape architecture, forestry experience or related field
• Possession of, or ability to obtain, a certificate from a national model code organization showing satisfactory competence in code knowledge in assigned examination area of the disciplines covered by this classification, i.e., electrical, building, mechanical, or plumbing

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with reviewing residential/commercial building permits for compliance with national model code and zoning ordinance
• A combination of education and experience sufficient to perform the essential duties of the position

The Plans Examiner Job Responsibilities Include

• Interpreting regulations, laws and ordinances for purposes of plans examination within established departmental guidelines
• Providing assistance with drawings, applications, calculations and codes to the general and building contractors, architects, engineers and the general public
• Assistance to solve issues on set of plans for permits with innovative ideas
• Revises or amends original plans as necessary and provides follow up correspondence with the owner or contact person
• Enters all plans examination and application data into computer system. Updates and retrieves data to determine status of application and issues permits

Working Conditions and Physical Demands Depending on assignment, positions in this class typically require touching, talking, hearing, seeing, grasping, standing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, reaching, walking, repetitive motions, climbing, balancing, pushing, pulling and lifting. greater than that for the Sedentary Work category and the worker sits most of the time, the job is rated Light Work Light Work – Depending on assignment, positions in this class typically exert up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly having to move objects. If the use of arm and/or leg controls requires exertion of forces greater than that for the Sedentary Work category and the worker sits most of the time, the job is rated Light Work

Conditions of Employment

The City of Fort Worth is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. It is the policy and practice of the City to recruit, hire, train and promote a diverse workforce without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy and gender identity), national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, parental status, military service, or another non-merit factor.

The City of Fort Worth is committed to full compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to participate in the job application or interview process and to perform essential job functions.

Candidates who do not meet the Education requirement, may be considered if they have more relevant work experience than the position requires. Those selected for employment will be required to pass Pre-Employment checks depending on the position requirements. Those could include, but are not limited to: criminal background check, drug screen, education verification, etc. criminal convictions will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Employees are paid by direct deposit only.