Building - Plumbing

Overview
Construction is the UK’s biggest industry, responsible for £81 billion of outputs (£203 billion turnover) every year and up to 8% of the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP), which is three times the contribution of agriculture and makes it larger than any single manufacturing industry. The sector accounts for half the UK’s total investment, and employs around 2.4 million people in over 700 types of job.

THE SECTOR AT A GLANCE

2.4 million
number of people employed in the UK construction industry

175,000
number of construction firms in the UK

100,000
target number of workers to be qualified to NVQ 2 standard each year

95%
percentage of construction firms employing fewer than ten people

50,000
average number of new recruits required every year over the next four years

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. According to ConstructionSkills (the Sector Skills Council for the construction industry) an average of 50,000 construction workers will be required a year over the next four years, allowing for replacement as well as new jobs, in line with workforce turnover (however, most of this increase will take place from 2011 onwards, as output begins to grow again). Construction growth is expected to shift from the north to the south and east.

Building trades skills gained in the Services

Apart from a handful of people employed in units to carry out minor carpentry and repair jobs, and Army pioneers who have basic building skills, all three Services rely on the Royal Engineers for construction. Non-commissioned ranks will have completed anything from NVQs at level 2 in basic training and level 3 after higher training, to an apprenticeship. Trades vary from surveyor to plant operator, and from draughtsman to bricklayer.

A brief overview of craft careers

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

electrical installation and maintenance
plumbing
bricklaying
plastering
carpentry and joinery (woodworking)
gas installation and maintenance.

We will look at each of these in turn.

Plumbing

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.
Most plumbers in the UK 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.

The Construction Skills Certification Scheme

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). Almost 1.6 million cards have been issued to date.

To find out more, visit: www.cscs.uk.com

Training

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’ 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.

KEY contacts

General
Find out more about the Building and Allied Trades Joint Industrial Council (BATJIC), via the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), Gordon Fisher House, 14–15 Great James Street, London WC1N 3DP Tel: 020 7242 7583 Website: www.fmb.org.uk

Plumbing, bricklaying, plastering, woodworking
ConstructionSkills, Bircham Newton, King’s Lynn, Norfolk PE31 6RH Tel: 0344 994 4400 Website: www.constructionskills.net

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