The paper addresses the quality of the continuing training and vocational education for the construction inspector job and the harmonized European recognition of this qualification. It is the result of a survey realized in 5 EU countries (Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Romania) within the fame of the project entitled “Analysis and Comparative Study on construction inspection job performance regulations. European comparative study – KNOWLEDGE”. The general objective was to give recommendations for improving the qualification of civil construction inspectors by identifying the gap between the existing vocational education / training systems, and people/companies’ expectations and needs, as resulted from current literature, in-depth interviews and questionnaire surveys. The conclusions are related to the necessity of developing a training/certification program for the construction inspector, the magnitude and European dimension of such training and certification program, and the thematic areas that the program will cover to meet the construction industry requirements. Courses approaching New Construction Materials, Quality Control Procedures, Legislation on Town Planning, Private Constructions and Public Works, Legislation on Safety Issues in the Construction Industry, and the EU directives were identified as being necessary for updating the knowledge of the construction inspectors. Relevant graphs presenting the continuing training needs of the construction inspectors resulted from the in-depth interviews are presented. It results as a LLL European policy requisite the development of a European Certification for construction inspector

Iordachescu, Danut

Iordachescu, Gabriela

Iordachescu, Mihaela

Scutelnicu, Elena

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Quality Of The Vocational Training For Construction Inspectors

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QUALITY OF THE VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR CONSTRUCTION 
INSPECTORS  
M. IORDACHESCU 1, 2, G. IORDACHESCU 2, E. SCUTELNICU2, D. IORDACHESCU3 
1 ETSI Caminos, Canales y Puertos, Dep. Ciencia de Materiales, Universidad Politécnica de 
Madrid, España, miordachescu@mater.ump.es 
2 Dunarea de Jos University of Galaţi, Romania, gabriela.iordachescu@ugal.ro  
elena.scutelnicu@ugal.ro 
3 Centro Láser, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, España, danut.iordachescu@ump.es 
 
The paper addresses the quality of the continuing training and vocational education for the 
construction inspector job and the harmonized European recognition of this qualification. It is the 
result of a survey realized in 5 EU countries (Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Romania) 
within the fame of the project entitled “Analysis and Comparative Study on construction 
inspection job performance regulations. European comparative study – KNOWLEDGE”. The 
general objective was to give recommendations for improving the qualification of civil 
construction inspectors by identifying the gap between the existing vocational education / training 
systems, and people/companies’ expectations and needs, as resulted from current literature, in-
depth interviews and questionnaire surveys. The conclusions are related to the necessity of 
developing a training/certification program for the construction inspector, the magnitude and 
European dimension of such training and certification program, and the thematic areas that the 
program will cover to meet the construction industry requirements. Courses approaching New 
Construction Materials, Quality Control Procedures, Legislation on Town Planning, Private 
Constructions and Public Works, Legislation on Safety Issues in the Construction Industry, and 
the EU directives were identified as being necessary for updating the knowledge of the 
construction inspectors. Relevant graphs presenting the continuing training needs of the 
construction inspectors resulted from the in-depth interviews are presented. It results as a LLL 
European policy requisite the development of a European Certification for construction inspector.  
 
INTRODUCTION  
The paper addresses the quality of the continuing training and vocational education 
for the construction inspector job and the harmonized European recognition of this 
qualification. It is the result of a survey realized in 5 EU countries (Greece, Hungary, 
Poland, Portugal and Romania) within the project entitled “Analysis and Comparative 
Study on construction inspection job performance regulations. European comparative 
study - KNOWLEDGE”. Computer-aided (e-mail) and face to face interviews were used 
for acquiring the Questionnaire and In-depth interviews based survey. The average 
interview length per respondent varied between 30 and 60 minutes. Table 1 presents the 
number of respondents per country and survey type. The questionnaire respondents 
were persons working as construction inspectors, aged 25 and over, speaking the 
respective national language. Teachers-trainers working in vocational learning and 
construction managers expressed (through in-depth interviews) their opinion regarding 
the construction inspectors’ authorization process and their specific training needs.  
Some of the survey results [1-3] are further presented, analyzing the quality of the 
engineers/inspectors’ vocational training versus people/companies’ expectations and 
needs. The necessity of a real change in training construction inspectors is imposed by 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The 5th International Seminar on Quality  Management in Higher Education 2 
the new technologies involved in the construction process and the regulations changes 
according to the EU main standards and rules.   
Table 1: Number of respondents per country and survey type [3] 
Country Questionnaire survey In-depth interviews 
Greece 50 16 
Hungary 50 15 
Poland 93 15 
Portugal 50 15 
Romania 80 15 
ENGINEERS/INSPECTORS VOCATIONAL TRAINING ANALISYS   
As Figure 1 presents, the survey revealed the strong will of the people involved in 
construction inspections to receive appropriate vocational training on a long term basis. 
More than 60% of the respondents in each country replied that constant life-long 
learning is indispensable in order to maintain a high level of knowledge. Other answers 
quite popular among the respondents revealed that knowledge update is useful to 
improve the inspectors’ status in the construction industry. Assuming that the 
respondents form a representative sample of the construction inspectors in each country, 
their openness to vocational training and new knowledge, as indicated by the survey 
results, sets a solid ground for the development of training programmes aiming to 
satisfy their professional knowledge needs.  
 
Figure 1: Need for vocational skills improvement in each participant country 
Based on the proved strong interest of the construction inspection practitioners to 
attend vocational training, it was of extreme importance to examine what kind of 
vocational training these people have received in the past and what type of training they 
would be willing to take in the future, on the basis of what they consider the most 
effective. It should be underlined that not all types of vocational training were equally 
available in all participant countries, and it is normal to notice that one type was more 
preferred than another in a particular country. 
It was revealed that, in several of the countries involved in the project, special 
compulsory exams must be passed by the engineers to obtaining an official 
authorization for designing, building, supervising and inspecting a construction. In 
several of the analyzed countries, e.g. Poland, the exams are both written and oral, and 
organizations delivering preparatory courses exist. In Greece, where the exams for 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Quality of the vocational training for construction inspectors 3 
 
obtaining a building authorization were only oral in the last two decades, the majority of 
the construction inspectors never attended a preparatory course. Finally, in countries 
were the formal recognition of the profession exists, as Romania and Hungary, courses 
for construction inspectors are officially organized. Moreover, in Hungary is obligatory 
to attend the preparatory courses. Figure 2 presents the results of the survey on the 
existence of the preparatory courses in the analyzed 5 EU countries.  
 
Figure 2: Preparatory courses for construction inspection authorization 
Apart from mandatory courses for inspection, which are not available in all 
countries, there is a variety of types of vocational training that are preferred by 
practitioners. Figure 3 presents the most common types of vocational training 
undertaken by the inspectors, namely attending conferences, workshops and occasional 
courses/trainings, participating in fairs, using Internet, reading magazines, and 
participating in post-graduate higher education. Notable is that the Internet usage in 
acquiring knowledge competes with the traditional training methods. For example, in 
Romania, 50% of the respondents recognized Internet as the main source of 
information. Participation in fairs and workshops are seen as up-dating activities, due to 
the opportunity of gathering material/equipment manufacturers, experts, and direct 
users. 
 
Figure 3: Types of vocational training received 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The 5th International Seminar on Quality  Management in Higher Education 4 
Figure 4 shows the survey results with respect to the most effective type of training 
from construction inspectors’ point of view. The training courses are preferred, in all 
countries, due to reasons as personal interaction with the expert delivering the course, 
opportunity to obtaining immediate answers on practical every day problems, 
interaction with other classmates, CV improvement, or future career development.  
 
Figure 4: The most effective types of vocational training according to the respondents 
It is widely accepted that vocational training complements basic university education. In 
Europe, the university degree in construction related subjects has a duration varying 
from three to five years, allowing to providing the necessary background for inspection 
activities. As Figure 5 shows, the majority of the respondents positively evaluated the 
knowledge they gained in university, within the context of the construction inspector 
profession. This supports the opinion that the existing university degrees cover 
adequately the market requirements for inspection in construction, and the vocational 
training strengthens and enriches the previously acquired knowledge.  
 
Figure 5: Adequacy of academic education (degree) for inspection jobs 
VOCATIONAL TRAINING NEEDS OF THE ROMANIAN INSPECTORS AND 
INTERNATIONAL CERTIFICATION 
As resulted from the in-depth interviews, the Romanian managers’ opinion about 
their employees’ (field inspector and quality assurance responsible) participation in 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Quality of the vocational training for construction inspectors 5 
 
different training courses is positive. Figure 6 presents the main requirements of the 
management, which the construction inspectors must comply with: good knowledge in 
legislation and technical field (98.8%), communication/interpersonal skills (96.3%), 
good adaptability (88.8%, computer knowledge (80%) and foreign languages 
knowledge (6.3%).  
Figure 7 shows the well balanced response on the question about the most needed 
courses by the Romanian inspectors: Law, Regulations and Standards in Construction 
(35%), Information Technologies/Computer Science usage (33.8%) and New Materials 
and Technologies in Construction (30%). Therefore, the training courses offer in 
Romania must address new technologies implementation, computer usage, and/or 
management and quality assurance.  
  
      Figure 6: Romanian managers’        Figure 7: Needs of the Romanian construction               
                      requirements                        inspectors for training courses (by content) 
The Romanian respondents have heard about the existence of different forms of 
European harmonized certification, but no one of them is having such authorization. 
Their opinion is that the European certification should be a voluntary one, due to the 
fact that this authorization can’t have a significant influence at national level. 
Furthermore, the construction inspector profession must be firstly recognized at 
European level and after that, the debate on its certification could be open.  
The only known European harmonized certification is provided by the European 
Welding Federation, which is a professional association. EWF is having its own training 
and certification system, implemented in the member states, and fits with the 
construction-related activities as far as the activity deals with welding. On the other 
hand, this model can be adapted for construction inspectors, but the specificities of each 
country generate important issues. 
Moreover, the Romanian respondents’ opinion about the development of a European 
system of construction inspector authorization showed that:  
- only 4.5% found it as crucial for the future development of the European 
construction sector, in terms of constructions quality assurance and safety; some 
specific rules must co-exist with the general ones, due to the countries natural factors of 
high-level risk as floods, hail storms, drought, landslides, soil erosion, earthquakes, etc; 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The 5th International Seminar on Quality  Management in Higher Education 6 
- 47.5% think that it would ensure the main bases of a good development of the 
European construction sector; 
- the rest of the respondents stated that it may not influence the countries 
construction sectors specificity in terms of high-risk regulations.  
CONCLUSIONS   
The survey main conclusions are:  
- The respondents’ general opinion on the knowledge gained during the university 
graduation in terms of quality is quite good, but several changes regarding the basic 
training are necessary. On the other hand, new teaching methods including multimedia 
techniques must be introduced as training methods.   
- The easiest way of up-dating the knowledge in the construction field is the classical 
participation in training courses; reading of branches magazines or Internet usage and 
workshop participation follow in the preference scale. 
- Although specialized training programs for construction inspectors doesn’t exist in 
Romania, organized training at post-university level in construction sector exists; the 
following training needs have been identified: Laws, Regulations and Standards in 
Construction, Total Quality Management; Quality Assurance in Construction, New 
Materials and Technologies and Information Technologies/Computer usage. 
- The ideal construction inspector definition is related to good communication and 
attitude towards the constructors, good qualification, skills and knowledge, including 
computer usage and the knowledge of the professional issues. 
- The Romanian respondents’ opinion is that the European harmonized certification 
in construction should be implemented voluntarily, because this authorization can’t 
have a significant influence at national level, due to each country specificities. On the 
other hand, the development of a European system of construction inspectors’ 
authorization seams to be crucial for the future development of the European 
construction sector, in terms of quality assurance and safety; some specific rules must 
co-exist with the general ones, due to the countries natural factors of high-level risk as 
floods, hail storms, drought, landslides, soil erosion, and earthquakes. 
 
 
REFERENCES  
[1]. *** Synthesis Report (Greece, Hungary, Poland, Portugal and Romania) Analysis and Comparative Study 
on construction inspection job performance regulations. European comparative study “KNOWLEDGE”, 
2006, 48 pages. 
[2]. Iordachescu, M., Stan, C., Ilie, I., National State of the Art for Construction Inspector job, 
KNOWLEDGE Romania Report, PL/04/F/RF-84152, 2243/001-001 LE2-51OREF, ASM, CE-Poland, 
http://www.construct.ugal.ro/documente/NationalStateoftheArtforConstructionInspectorJob_ro.pdf, 2005, 20 
pages. 
[3]. Iordachescu, M., Stan, C., Iordachescu, D., Report on fieldwork survey - Vocational training of 
construction inspectors, KNOWLEDGE Romania Report, PL/04/F/RF-84152, 2243/001-001 LE2-51OREF, 
ASM, CE-Poland, http://www.construct.ugal.ro/documente/06_ReportonFieldworkSurveyFinal_en.pdf, 2006, 
37 pages. 
 
 


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Quality Of The Vocational Training For Construction Inspectors

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