Prospects & Careers In The Construction Industry

There's no doubt that construction is one of the most embracing of today's business sectors. The industry encompasses disciplines such as design, architecture, engineering, management and building skills. With so much choice within the industry, the right qualifications are now very important.

Choices for careers within Construction fundamentally span 3 skill levels. The main on-site labour is often referred to as un-skilled or semi-skilled, primarily due to the lack of formal industry qualifications. Foremen and Site Managers are known as "Skilled", mainly due to the level of technical skills they're qualified and experienced in.

Finally, there are Technical and Management workers. Individuals in this category will have trained and qualified at a more advanced level, and will take on greater responsibilities. By typing CTRL-D and book-marking this page you will be able to come back later on and check out the links and adverts to some of the training companies featured here.

The Basis for Training in the Construction Sector

Further Education credentials (often involving vocational elements) are essential for skilled positions. There are a number of ways for people to get their qualifications, whether this is by work-related training or through an FE college. During 2007, some eight thousand five hundred construction based scholarships were pursued in the Britain. By 2009 over 600,000 workers were involved in the construction industry with 10,000 more people going through training than two years previously.

Within construction itself, there are three types of processes: Building Construction, Heavy/Civil Construction and Industrial Construction. They're very different in nature and scope, and require distinctive skill-sets.

Building Construction is the initial area to check off. Generally this is where a new structure is attached to a building. Most of these renovations are relatively modest and fairly low key. Next come those construction companies that get involved in heavy (civil) commercial building projects. And lastly comes industrial construction which covers all the vast structures and developments in the country. Often the people behind these industrial construction projects are huge profit based companies.

The scale of building work undertaken from Building to Industrial Construction is very extensive. It's fair to say that as you go down from the large scale projects to the smaller one's the size of the budget involved also goes down from sometimes many millions of pounds to just a few hundred. Below you'll find a list of professional construction related careers and training requirements.

Project Managers

Often it's by being qualified in either quantity surveying or civil engineering, along with a professional certification such as PRINCE 2 that these positions become available.

Civil Engineering

It's usual for a civil engineer to have an appropriate university degree. A respected accreditation is that of the Chartered Engineer status as offered through the Institute of Civil Engineers. To qualify as a Chartered Engineer, a graduate must hold a Masters in Engineering. With a three year BEng under your belt you could consider becoming an Incorporated Engineer.

Building Services Engineers

Building Services Engineers can equally be listed as 'M&E' Engineers. Building Services Engineers typically graduate with a Mechanical or Electrical Engineering degree. Those looking for accredited status as a competent and professional building services engineer should consider membership of the CIBSE.

Structural Engineering

This type of work covers such areas as structural analysis, structural mechanics, foundation and structural design and material properties. New university graduates must hold a Masters Degree to gain Chartered status from the Institute of Structural Engineers.

Quantity Surveyor

To qualify for construction work in quantity surveying, candidates must initially graduate at degree level or above. Further training and accreditations can be accessed from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, "the pre-eminent organisation for professionals working in the land, property and construction sectors in the UK and around the world".

Architect

Anyone who wishes to become an architect should allow for seven or more years of study and work experience to become fully qualified. To use the title of Architect, the individual must hold Chartered Status with the Royal Institute of British Architects, and be on the Architects Registration Board.