Building - Tiling

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.

THE SECTOR AT A GLANCE

2.1 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

23,500
professional practices

450,000
number of people employed by professional practices

88,000
new recruits required every year for the next five 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, 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.

Building trades 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.

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.

Plastering
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.

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.

KEY CONTACTS

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

Plumbing, bricklaying, plastering, woodworking
ConstructionSkills, Bircham Newton, King’s Lynn, Norfolk PE31 6RH Tel: 01485 577577 Website: www.constructionskills.net

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