Building Plans Examiner (Engineering Specialist II) Inspections, Licenses & Permits

Howard County:
Conveniently located in the heart of central Maryland between Baltimore and Washington Howard County offers the charm of a historic past mixed with the excitement of a cosmopolitan community.

Howard County Government:
Howard County Government is a leader in innovation sustainability and consistently ranked as one of the best places to live and work in the 2025 Howard County Government received a record-breaking 83 Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties (NACo) the highest number of annual NACo awards achieved in the history of the State of Maryland and the highest number of awards out of any county in the State of Maryland which received a collective 136 awards. NACo is the leading organization representing county-level government operations. These awards recognize innovative and transformative programs that provide new services for county residents improve existing programs upgrade working conditions and enhance citizen participation and public policymaking.

What are we looking for
We are looking for outstanding individuals to join our team and contribute to excellence in Howard County operations.

What youll like most about working at Howard County Government:

• We are committed to workplace excellence in every area of County government.
• We have a highly talented diverse and inclusive workplace. Your input will not only be heard but it will be encouraged!
• We offer competitive compensation and great benefits including medical retirement and wellness programs.
• As a member of the Howard County Government team youll be helping drive our culture and directly impact what makes us an amazing place to work.

Plan Review and Code Compliance:

• Reviews preliminary and final plans and drawings to ensure conformance with engineering practices and applicable codes regulations and specifications;
• Presents recommendations and comments to internal review board; writes letters with composite recommendations and comments to developer; meets with architects engineers and developers to discuss recommendations and solutions to problems; approves amended plans.
• Evaluates adequacy of laws ordinances and regulations affecting fire prevention or fire safety; prepares reports evaluations and comments on impact of legislation development plans and on the actions of the department; carries out special engineering projects and submits recommendations for alternative courses and solutions to problems.

• Conducts studies of industrial mercantile and public buildings homes and other property before and after construction considering factors such as fire resistance of construction usage or contents of buildings and egress facilities.
• Designs or recommends materials or equipment such as protection of structural components fire detection equipment alarm systems fire extinguishing devices and systems and advises on location handling installation and maintenance.
• Recommends materials equipment or methods to mitigate fire hazards and contributing conditions
• Advises and plans for prevention of destruction by fire wind water or other causes of damage.

• Develops fire protection programs; organizes and trains personnel to carry out such programs.
• Conducts research and testing on fire retardants safety of materials and devices and fire cause analysis.

• Represents department at public hearings meetings and conferences as assigned
• Maintains liaison with contractors consultants and representatives of county state regional and federal agencies;
• Responds to public inquiries receives and acts on citizen complaints and suggestions.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Bachelors degree in Engineering or Architectureand two (2) years of related experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.

PREFERRED EDUCATION KNOWLEDGE SKILLS AND ABILITIES:
Bachelor of Science degree in Fire Protection Engineering.
Evidence of successful prior experience as a fire protection engineer (e.g. published articles or papers in the field awards of merit or similar citations from former employers etc.)

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job the employee is regularly required to talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to stand; walk; and use hands to finger handle or feel. The employee is occasionally required to sit; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; and stoop kneel crouch or crawl. The employee must frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision distance vision color vision peripheral vision depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The noise level in the work environment is typical of a busy office work environment. Some field inspection may be required at construction sites.

LANGUAGE SKILLS MATHEMATICAL SKILLS AND REASONING ABILITY:
Ability to read analyze and interpret common scientific and technical journals. Ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from customers regulatory agencies or members of the business community. Ability to write articles for publication that conform to prescribed style and format. Ability to effectively present information to top management and public groups.

Ability to apply advanced mathematical concepts such as exponents logarithms quadratic equations and permutations. Ability to apply mathematical operations to such tasks as determination of test reliability and validity analysis of variance correlation techniques sampling theory and factor analysis.

Ability to define problems collect data establish facts and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

TO APPLY:You must complete an employment application online to be considered for this recruitment. Resumes cannot be substituted for completion of the job application work history. No paper applications will be accepted.

Selected candidates may be subject to drug screening background screening and reference checks.

At time of application please submit a copy of any college degree coursework licenses or certifications that you have referenced on your who have education obtained outside of the U.S. may need to provide proof of the equivalent U.S. education as determined by a foreign credential evaluation service such as the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services () or World Education Services: International Credential Evaluation ( County Government is not sponsoring employees in application of the H-1B Visa or providing an extension of an existing H-1B Visa. All applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States under the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.

Howard Countyis an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and we are committed to a workplace that values diversity equity and inclusion. The County prohibits discrimination on the basis of race color religion age sex ancestry creed national origin disability status genetics marital statusmilitary service sexual orientation gender identity/expression or any other characteristic protected by federal state or local laws. Applicants requiring accommodations during the hiring process should contact the Office of Human Resources directly at .Requests for accommodations should not be attached to the application.