Careers in the Construction Industry & Quantity Surveyor Courses

Construction continues to be one of the largest business sectors in the world today. Careers within construction can be very diverse. Some involve design, engineering and architecture, others actual building skills. With so much choice within the industry, the right qualifications are now very important.

Essentially there are three layers of profession within the industry. The 'Unskilled' and 'Semi Skilled' workforce are generally the on-site labour with little or no formal construction qualifications. Foremen and Site Managers are known as "Skilled", mainly due to the level of technical skills they're qualified and experienced in.

Then there remain those jobs relating to technical and management work. Due to the fact that these people hold the highest qualifications in this sector they are the ones who manage, plan, design and train the construction methods. When you want to consider your options you may want to refer to some of the training companies and links featured here, so make sure that you book-mark this page (Ctrl-D).

Construction Training within Great Britain

Skilled jobs demand some form of further education study - predominantly in subjects connected to the vocation itself. Students can go through a college or by on-the-job training to get their required qualifications.

Just over two years ago, over 8,500 construction training positions began in this country. In late 2009, approximately 613,000 people were employed within the construction industry as a whole, with some 18,000 people going through training programmes.

Within construction itself, there are three types of processes: Building Construction, Heavy/Civil Construction and Industrial Construction. One is in the domestic market, and the other two are in the commercial sector.

The first sector to look at is Building Construction. Essentially this is where extensions are built onto existing houses. A large number of these projects are comparatively small and are completed in under a month. Heavy/Civil Construction is essentially the domain of the medium-sized 'build-for-profit' companies. And lastly comes industrial construction which covers all the vast structures and developments in the country. Large scale profits encourage multi-national organisations to get involved in such builds.

A greater range of skills and professions are needed to complete the civil and industrial construction projects. 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.

So let's now go through a number of technical construction career paths:

Quantity Surveyor

To become a surveyor, you must first qualify in an appropriate QS degree. 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".

Structural Engineering

This type of work covers such areas as structural analysis, structural mechanics, foundation and structural design and material properties. As structures have to remain safe and serviceable for many years, the designs, materials and calculations all have to be expertly worked through.

Civil Engineering

It's usual for a civil engineer to have an appropriate university degree. Equally important is the Chartered Engineer qualification earned through the Institute of Civil Engineers. To become a Chartered Engineer, university graduates are likely to have a Masters Degree. To reach Incorporated Engineer level you should have attained a Bachelor's Degree (BEng) first.

Project Manager

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.

Building Services Engineer

These can also be referred to as 'M&E Engineers'. For this type of position it is customary for people to have a suitable degree e.g. in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering. Building Services Engineers can join the CIBSE in the UK. There are eight grades of membership, depending on experience and qualifications.

Architecture

Twelve months practical experience follows the first degree, then a further two years on a second degree or diploma, with more practical experience and exams following that. An architect is responsible for designing new buildings and the surrounding spaces. They have to work closely with their clients, fellow professionals, officials and users to ensure their work complies with everyone's needs.