Construction is the UK's biggest employer and exporter, responsible for £81 billion of outputs (£203 billion turnover) every year, more than 8% of the UK's gross domestic product (GDP), which is three times that of agriculture and larger than any single manufacturing industry. The sector accounts for half the UK's total investment, and employs more than 2.1 million people (more than one in four of the total UK workforce) in over 700 types of job. Despite the current recession, construction output is set to rise, and in order to achieve its target of a fully qualified workforce this year, ConstructionSkills (the Sector Skills Council for the construction industry) has said that it needs to qualify 100,000 workers annually to NVQ 2 standard.

 

 

Skills analysis reveals a significant shortage in managerial positions. Although the highest skills requirement is currently for workers with wood trade skills, there is also demand for managers, clerical staff, architects, engineers, and other design and technical professionals. A major concern is the lack of young entrants into an ageing workforce, with numbers of older workers (aged 60 and over) in the industry having doubled in recent years, while the number of those aged 24 and under has fallen by 27%.

 

Construction growth is expected to shift from the north to the south and east, driven by new builds that include the King's Cross redevelopment, ports projects at Shellhaven, Felixstowe and Harwich, the East London Line extension, Victoria Station redevelopment, and the Olympics and Thames Gateway construction programmes.

 

Craftsmen and women are the people who actually make things. Some major skills in which they are trained include:

We will look at each of these in turn.

 

Electrical engineers deal with power generation and power supply. Modern manufacturing techniques tend to make replacement of a faulty component more cost-effective for the consumer than mending it in situ. Much of the traditional role of the maintenance engineer has therefore changed, with removal and reinstallation the norm.

 

For electrical engineering, the basic requirement is 17th Edition Wiring Regulations, which shows that the individual knows the necessary regulations and how to use them - it is virtually impossible to start in the industry without it. The next step may be the Inspection and Testing of Electrical Installation award and, after that, further qualifications to level 4 and beyond through Energy & Utility Skills - the Sector Skills Council for electricity, gas, waste management and water - and other bodies. ConstructionSkills estimates that there will be a need for an extra 14,000 qualified electricians over the next two years, so the prospects are good.

 

Plumbers install central heating systems, controls and pipework; sanitary systems; drainage systems; guttering and rainwater systems. Heating systems may be powered using electricity, gas, oil or solid fuel. Sometimes refrigeration and water purification systems are also fitted. Maintenance work includes routine servicing and emergency repairs. Repair work involves finding faults, replacing or repairing damaged parts, carrying out tests and making sure everything works properly. A range of hand and power tools are used to cut, bend and join metal and plastic pipes.

 

There are approximately 28,000 plumbers in the UK. Most work directly for a plumbing or maintenance firm, while some, particularly in the domestic sector, are self-employed. Plumbers work in a team or alone, and, on domestic repair and maintenance, they tend to deal directly with clients. SummitSkills is the Sector Skills Council for the building services engineering sector.

 

This is probably the job that most people think of in connection with building trades. However, bricklayers use many different types of material to create different effects (such as ornamental walls and vaulted archways). Bricklayers also use a variety of specialist tools to spread mortar, cut bricks or blocks to size, and to check that walls are perfect. They should enjoy working outdoors and not mind working at heights. They must also be physically fit, careful, accurate and able to follow detailed instructions from architects. Bricklayers often travel around the country, and sometimes abroad.

 

Wage rates are set annually by the Building and Allied Trades Joint Industrial Council (BATJIC). Overtime and incentives are often available, and bricklayers often progress to technical, supervisory and managerial roles.

 

Most people know about plasterers applying wet finishes to walls, ceilings and floors; this is known as solid plastering. Fibrous plastering involves making ornamental plasterwork in a workshop - the kind you might see on the decorative ceilings of buildings. Plasterers have to be prepared to work at heights, and will spend most of their time indoors. Again, wage rates are set annually by BATJIC.

 

Currently, demand for skilled labour outstrips supply so overtime and incentives are often available. Payment to subcontract labour tends to be on an agreed price per linear metre of partition installed, so speed and accuracy can be important. The work provides a high level of job satisfaction, with plasterers often progressing to higher roles or even owning their own companies.

 

Carpenters and joiners prepare and put in place most of the wooden parts of buildings - from floorboards and roof trusses to expertly crafted windows and doors. They use very specialised woodworking tools and work with many different kinds of wood. They often work in teams and have to be able to calculate angles and dimensions to make sure everything fits. They need mathematical aptitude and generally have to be just as good with their heads as their hands.

 

Wage rates are set annually by BATJIC, with overtime and incentives often available. Carpenters and joiners sometimes move into other allied occupations, including formworking, shopfitting, bench joinery, maintenance work and interior systems installation; some move into management or run their own businesses.

 

Energy & Utility Skills has developed a set of occupational standards and qualifications at levels 1 to 4. The objective is that the resulting qualifications will be as common as possible across industries to enable workers freedom of employment in the entire sector.

 

Anyone working on gas appliances or fittings as a business must be competent and registered with the Gas Safe Register (GSR), which has replaced the old CORGI Register. Competency can continue to be proven under the accredited certification scheme (ACS) through a distance learning programme. ACS has a two-day core domestic gas safety assessment and a number of appliance assessments that take half a day each. A competent student should take five days to pass the full domestic suite of qualifications.

 

Many of the trades discussed above are learned on the job, but the construction industry has training schemes that combine working and education to produce qualifications that the individual can build up over time to develop expertise in a particular area. While one person might start by learning the basics of a trade, and go on to become an expert in a particular part of it, another might build a portfolio in a number of skills to qualify them for supervisory and then general management.

 

ConstructionSkills, as mentioned above, is the Sector Skills Council for many of the building trades. Its National Construction College is a network of colleges training and assessing construction skills throughout the UK. It is increasingly becoming necessary to hold registration or certification of competence and/or training in particular aspects of building skills to obtain employment in the industry.

 

The industry has its own vocational qualifications, apprenticeships and advanced apprenticeships, and a construction apprentice scheme for the younger entrant. Ambitious people can start by gaining vocational qualifications in any of these trades while working as a craftsman or woman, develop their skills through technical training, perhaps gaining certificates or diplomas, eventually becoming fully professionally qualified, with a degree.

 

The CSCS was set up to help the construction industry improve quality and reduce accidents. CSCS cards are increasingly demanded as proof of occupational competence by contractors, public and private clients and others. They cover hundreds of construction-related occupations so there is a card suitable for all roles (for example, 'Craft and Operative' cards include those for bricklayers, carpenters and joiners, formworkers and plasterers. More than 1.5 million cards have been issued to date. To find out more, visit: www.cscs.uk.com

 

SEMTA (Sector Skills Council for Science Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies), 14 Upton Road, Watford, Herts WD18 0JT Tel: 01923 238441 Website: www.semta.org.uk

 

Joint Industry Board, Kingswood House, 47/51 Sidcup Hill, Sidcup, Kent DA14 6HP Tel: 020 8302 0031 Website: www.jib.org.uk

 

ConstructionSkills, Bircham Newton, King's Lynn, Norfolk PE31 6RH Tel: 01485 577577 Website: www.constructionskills.net

 

SummitSkills, Vega House, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes MK15 0DF Tel: 01908 303960 Website: www.summitskills.org.uk

 

Energy & Utility Skills Limited, Friars Gate, 1011 Stratford Road, Shirley, Solihull B90 4BN Tel: 0845 077 9922 Website: www.euskills.co.uk

 

Gas Safe Register, PO Box 6804, Basingstoke, Hants RG24 4NB Tel: 0800 408 5500 Website: www.gassaferegister.co.uk