Definition
The construction industry is Britain’s largest industry, employing nearly 2 million people. The industry is responsible for every type of work involved with building things - everything from houses, offices, shopping centres and sports stadiums to roads, water and gas mains, pipelines, dams, tunnels, bridges, railways, canals and more.
There are jobs at every stage in the life of a building - from designing and planning projects, to building, altering, decorating, restoring and maintaining them. Construction even includes demolishing buildings!
Careers and studying construction
Information on working in the construction industry from the Construction Indusrty Training Board.
The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) resource for information on training and working in the construction industry.
Construction in London
The Construction industry employs around 200,000 people in London. The city is home to some very large and complex construction projects, like the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport or the new home of English football, Wembley Stadium. If you’re interested in what the impact would be of London winning the 2012 Olympics see the section at the bottom of this article.
London is home to a population of over 7 million people, all of whom rely on the construction industry for their houses, schools, hospitals and places to work. Almost half of all jobs in London are in the areas of repair and maintenance. In particular there are large numbers of carpenters, joiners (joining parts of wood together) and electricians (around 40,000) in London.
The construction industry is made up of many small companies (in London 96% of construction companies have less that 13 employees) and over a third of construction workers are self-employed.
Find out more about construction in London
A look at the construction industry in the UK by GLA Economics.
Jobs and careers
There is a big demand for construction employees in Britain – the industry needs almost 90,000 new workers every year. There are a many different careers to consider, depending on what you enjoy doing, what you're interested in, and the skills you have. All offer rewarding working experiences and the opportunity to make a lasting difference to the world around you.
A career as a tradesperson
Tradespeople are employed for their expert skills. They often work with their hands, using specialist tools and equipment. It is a predominantly male area of construction (1% of tradespeople are women) but women are increasingly being attracted to this area of work, for instance in plumbing, as you can see in the case study of Heathrow Terminal 5.
Examples of trades include working with wood, roofing, trowel trades, interiors and finishing, plant operation (using heavy equipment), demolition, scaffolding, plumbing, electrician, steel work, and heritage (traditional craft skills).
A career in the construction professions
These are areas of construction that often require high level skills in areas like science, technology, engineering and mathematics. They are likely to involve a greater level of responsibility, decision-making and management skills. Roughly twelve percent of those working in design and management occupations are women, and the number is increasing.
Examples of professions in the construction industry include being an Architect, a Building Engineer, a Building Services Engineer, a Building control surveyor, a Building surveyor, a Civil engineer, a Construction manager, a Facilities manager, a General practice surveyor, a Geospatial modeller, a Geotechnical engineer, a Hydrographic surveyor, a Landscape architect, a Land surveyor, a Project manager, a Quantity surveyor, a Structural engineer, or a Town planner. If you want to find out exactly what these job titles mean have a look at the CITB job profiles section.
For more information about all the different types of jobs in construction - professions, trades and more click here for a section on the CITB site.
Further information about careers in construction
The Construction Skills site is run by the construction industry trade body CITB.
For more help on choosing a career in construction – including a Virtual Careers Advisor who asks you multiple choice questions.
For further information about what different jobs and careers in the construction industry involve. Run by the construction trade body CITB.
Key employers
Arup are a large construction company responsible for planning and engineering on large scale projects.
Large multinational construction company with many smaller divisions. Responsible for construction on many large projects worldwide.
Balfour Beatty is a large construction company specialising in rail and road building as well as buildings and complex structures.
Bovis Lend Lease is one of the world's leading companies in the project management and construction services industry.
Responsible for some of the world's largest and most challenging construction projects, including the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, The Thames Barrier and the Tsing Ma Suspension bridge in Hong Kong - the world's longest combined road and rail bridge.
One of the largest building contractors in the UK with over 2,000 employees. They operate through regional offices on building works for both the public and private sector.
World famous London-based architects who also specialise in product and interior design. Their site features photos and information about many of their past and present projects.
The largest ready-mixed concrete supplier in the world, with extensive construction interests.
A large multinational construction company responsible for large projects like airports as well as smaller projects like building new homes.
Colleges
We've looked at what construction is, why it's so significant in London and what type of jobs and careers there are in the industry. But to go into construction you do need skills and qualifications.
It's possible to train for a large number of these jobs at a London college.
This is site can help you search for the subject area you’re interested in, or a college that specialises in construction.
CoVEs
There are several
colleges in London with CoVEs in construction. This means they have a proven level of excellence in teaching in this area. See the boxed list on the right.
Skills
With all these jobs, maths and design skills are very desirable to employers, and for higher level jobs and qualifications, they are often requirements. Good management skills, and the ability to work in a team, are also much sought after qualities.
Apprenticeships
If you are interested in a career in the trades you can train towards a qualification at a London college either full time, part time, or combine it with work on an Apprenticeship.
Studying to a higher level
For a career in the professions it will probably be necessary to study to a higher level. It’s possible to study for foundation degrees or at a CoVE at London colleges.
Further information
Official site on Apprenticeships.
More detailed information on NVQ qualifications.
Help, advice and guidance with everything to do with Higher Education.
Further information on Higher Education in London from the umbrella organisation for London universities.
London's 2012 Olympic bid
London's expertise in building projects was an important part of the city’s bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games. Some of the construction projects planned (and in some cases already underway) should the city win the bid:
Olympic Stadium
This has been designed to be able to reduce its capacity after use during the Games from 80,000 to 25,000.
Olympic Village
As well as providing views of the Olympic Stadium and Olympic flame from all parts of the village, the accommodation is being designed to be converted into much needed housing for London, including affordable housing.
Wembley Stadium
The new Wembley Stadium would be used for football and other events, if the London bid was successful. More information on Wembley Stadium here.
Multi-sports arenas
The venues for sports such as basketball, fencing and indoor volleyball would be specially built multi-sports arenas. Their intended design allows them to be dismantled and moved to other parts of the UK and rebuilt there.
For more details on London's Olympic bid see http://www.london2012.org
