Code Plan Reviewer (Plans Examiner): Vulcan

What you'll do

Mercor's Vulcan project is building a large set of evaluation tasks for construction and property. This listing is the plan-review seat. Each task starts from real drawings, documents and site photos and asks for the deliverable you would produce at the counter: a correction letter, a review decision or a marked-up set. You write both the task and the correct answer, and a second reviewer from your own discipline checks it before it is used.

Task types named in the ad cover most of a plans examiner's week:

• Building plans examiner and code consultant review, including third-party and private-provider review
• Accessibility and ICC A117.1 review, and energy code drawing checks
• Occupancy classification and storefront change of use
• Zoning site plan review and permit intake completeness screening
• As-built versus permit deviation
• Specialty occupancies: healthcare, schools, food service and public pools

The ad puts the hard part well: knowing exactly what a careless reviewer would miss. A good task here is one where the obvious answer is wrong.

Who fits

• You hold, or recently held, a permit-review seat: building department plans examiner, third-party or private-provider reviewer, or code consultant
• ICC Building Plans Examiner certification (B1, B2 or B3), or current or recent AHJ or third-party plan review employment
• 3+ years in the seat (8+ preferred), US based, working under US model codes (IBC, IEBC, IECC, ICC A117.1)
• You can mark up and measure a plan set in Bluebeam Revu or equivalent
• No degree required

Standouts have trained junior examiners, kept a comment library or correction template, done QA on other reviewers' work, or worked across several code editions and jurisdictions.

Not a fit, per the ad: general contractors and superintendents without review responsibility, estimators, CAD drafters, and permit expediters who file applications but do not review them.

What it pays

$45–60 per hour depending on experience, with a stated path to a higher rate as the project scales. That is in line with, or somewhat above, many municipal plans examiner wages on an hourly basis, and it is flexible side work rather than a second full-time job. Payments are weekly on Stripe or Wise.

Worth knowing

Good:

• No degree requirement; certification or seat experience is enough
• Peer review by someone in your discipline before tasks ship
• A stated path to a higher rate as the project grows
• Weekly payment on Stripe or Wise; remote and flexible

Less good:

• US residents only
• The rate is modest for examiners with 8+ years
• Weekly hours and project length are not published
• H-1B and STEM OPT holders are excluded
• Independent contractor: projects can be extended, shortened or ended early

About this listing

Posted by Mercor as an hourly remote contract for US-based reviewers, confirmed open on 24 September 2026. Pay, certifications and task types are the ad's own. See Mercor.