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Government Property Inspectors and Investigators

Investigate or inspect government property to ensure compliance with contract agreements and government regulations.
  • Summary

  • Details

  • Work Activities

    • Investigate applications for special licenses or permits.
    • Prepare correspondence, reports of inspections or investigations, or recommendations for action.
    • Inspect government property, such as construction sites or public housing, to ensure compliance with contract specifications or legal requirements.
    • Investigate alleged license or permit violations.
    • Collect, identify, evaluate, or preserve case evidence.
    • Inspect government-owned equipment or materials in the possession of private contractors to ensure compliance with contracts or regulations or to prevent misuse.
    • Coordinate with or assist law enforcement agencies in matters of mutual concern.
    • Inspect manufactured or processed products to ensure compliance with contract specifications or legal requirements.
    • Recommend legal or administrative action to protect government property.
    • Testify in court or at administrative proceedings concerning investigation findings.
    • Submit samples of products to government laboratories for testing, as required.
    • Investigate alleged license or permit violations.
    • Examine records, reports, or other documents to establish facts or detect discrepancies.

    Skills

    • Speaking
      • Talking to others.
    • Critical Thinking
      • Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
    • Management of Material Resources
      • Managing equipment and materials.
    • Technology Design
      • Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
    • Quality Control Analysis
      • Testing how well a product or service works.
    • Operation and Control
      • Using equipment or systems.
    • Time Management
      • Managing your time and the time of other people.
    • Service Orientation
      • Looking for ways to help people.
    • Persuasion
      • Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
    • Monitoring
      • Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
    • Negotiation
      • Bringing people together to solve differences.
    • Active Listening
      • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
    • Writing
      • Writing things for co-workers or customers.
    • Installation
      • Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
    • Complex Problem Solving
      • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
    • Operations Analysis
      • Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
    • Equipment Maintenance
      • Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
    • Equipment Selection
      • Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
    • Troubleshooting
      • Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
    • Judgment and Decision Making
      • Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
    • Management of Financial Resources
      • Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
    • Operations Monitoring
      • Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
    • Systems Analysis
      • Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
    • Management of Personnel Resources
      • Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
    • Systems Evaluation
      • Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
    • Repairing
      • Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
    • Active Learning
      • Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
    • Coordination
      • Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
    • Learning Strategies
      • Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
    • Reading Comprehension
      • Reading work-related information.
    • Mathematics
      • Using math to solve problems.
    • Science
      • Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
    • Social Perceptiveness
      • Understanding people's reactions.
    • Instructing
      • Teaching people how to do something.
    • Programming
      • Writing computer programs.

    Abilities

    • Category Flexibility
      • Grouping things in different ways.
    • Oral Comprehension
      • Listening and understanding what people say.
    • Flexibility of Closure
      • Seeing hidden patterns.
    • Rate Control
      • Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
    • Static Strength
      • Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
    • Hearing Sensitivity
      • Telling the difference between sounds.
    • Sound Localization
      • Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
    • Speech Clarity
      • Speaking clearly.
    • Fluency of Ideas
      • Coming up with lots of ideas.
    • Mathematical Reasoning
      • Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
    • Visualization
      • Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
    • Originality
      • Creating new and original ideas.
    • Dynamic Flexibility
      • Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
    • Arm-Hand Steadiness
      • Keeping your arm or hand steady.
    • Finger Dexterity
      • Putting together small parts with your fingers.
    • Speed of Limb Movement
      • Quickly moving your arms and legs.
    • Multilimb Coordination
      • Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
    • Response Orientation
      • Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
    • Dynamic Strength
      • Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
    • Gross Body Equilibrium
      • Keeping your balance or staying upright.
    • Glare Sensitivity
      • Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
    • Speech Recognition
      • Recognizing spoken words.
    • Peripheral Vision
      • Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
    • Far Vision
      • Seeing details that are far away.
    • Auditory Attention
      • Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
    • Oral Expression
      • Communicating by speaking.
    • Selective Attention
      • Paying attention to something without being distracted.
    • Gross Body Coordination
      • Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
    • Control Precision
      • Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
    • Inductive Reasoning
      • Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
    • Manual Dexterity
      • Holding or moving items with your hands.
    • Extent Flexibility
      • Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
    • Information Ordering
      • Ordering or arranging things.
    • Stamina
      • Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
    • Number Facility
      • Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
    • Time Sharing
      • Doing two or more things at the same time.
    • Speed of Closure
      • Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
    • Explosive Strength
      • Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
    • Wrist-Finger Speed
      • Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
    • Near Vision
      • Seeing details up close.
    • Depth Perception
      • Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
    • Visual Color Discrimination
      • Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
    • Night Vision
      • Seeing at night or under low light.
    • Written Expression
      • Communicating by writing.
    • Spatial Orientation
      • Knowing where things are around you.
    • Memorization
      • Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
    • Problem Sensitivity
      • Noticing when problems happen.
    • Deductive Reasoning
      • Using rules to solve problems.
    • Written Comprehension
      • Reading and understanding what is written.
    • Perceptual Speed
      • Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
    • Reaction Time
      • Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
    • Trunk Strength
      • Using your lower back and stomach.

    Knowledge

    • Engineering and Technology
      • Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
    • Computers and Electronics
      • Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
    • Biology
      • Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
    • Mathematics
      • Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
    • Food Production
      • Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
    • Geography
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
    • Mechanical
      • Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
    • Public Safety and Security
      • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
    • History and Archeology
      • Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
    • Telecommunications
      • Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
    • Law and Government
      • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
    • Fine Arts
      • Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
    • Physics
      • Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
    • Foreign Language
      • Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
    • Chemistry
      • Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
    • English Language
      • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
    • Customer and Personal Service
      • Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
    • Medicine and Dentistry
      • Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
    • Economics and Accounting
      • Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
    • Sociology and Anthropology
      • Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
    • Building and Construction
      • Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
    • Production and Processing
      • Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
    • Education and Training
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
    • Personnel and Human Resources
      • Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
    • Therapy and Counseling
      • Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
    • Sales and Marketing
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
    • Philosophy and Theology
      • Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
    • Transportation
      • Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
    • Communications and Media
      • Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
    • Administrative
      • Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
    • Psychology
      • Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
    • Administration and Management
      • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
    • Design
      • Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.

    Education

    Education
    Bachelor's degree
    Work Experience
    No work experience
    Training
    1 to 12 months on-the-job training

    Pay

    Washington Annual Salary
    86200/yr
    Washington Hourly Wage
    41.44/hr

    Washington Employment Trends

    Currently Employed
    11,640
    Yearly Projected Openings
    1090

    Personality

    Conventional: People interested in this work like activities that include data, detail, and regular routines. They do well at jobs that need:
    • Integrity
    • Cooperation
    • Dependability
    • Adaptability/Flexibility
    • Self Control
    • Attention to Detail

    Tools

    • Desktop calculator
    • Desktop computers
    • Notebook computers
    • Personal computers
    • Radio frequency scanners
    • Special purpose telephones
    • Tablet computers

    Technology

    • Accounting software
    • Computer aided design CAD software
    • Data base user interface and query software
    • Desktop publishing software
    • Document management software
    • Electronic mail software
    • Enterprise resource planning ERP software
    • Geographic information system
    • Graphics or photo imaging software
    • Inventory management software
    • Materials requirements planning logistics and supply chain software
    • Office suite software
    • Operating system software
    • Presentation software
    • Project management software
    • Spreadsheet software
    • Video conferencing software
    • Word processing software