Construction Careers & Quantity Surveyor Courses

In today's global market construction still sits as one of the leaders in industry. It is far bigger than many people think, and includes careers for architects, designers, engineers, project managers and even health & safety officials within its remit. Many qualifications are globally recognised, but if you plan to work overseas, check before you spend time studying.

Work covers three broad skill ranks, which each have a number of roles. The 'Unskilled' and 'Semi Skilled' workforce are generally the on-site labour with little or no formal construction qualifications. Following this are the skilled workers, who've trained and built up their abilities. Many take on lower management positions.

Last of all come the Management and Technical Professionals. 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. There are plenty of resources to look at here, especially if want jobs or to train within this industry. Why not add this page to your Favourites by keying in CTRL-D for when you want to come back to them?

Training in Construction in the UK

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.

Overall work ranges from building construction, through heavy or civil construction to industrial construction. Each has a fairly unique team to plan, design, construct and maintain the relative project.

Building Construction is the initial area to check off. Generally this is where a new structure is attached to a building. A large number of these projects are comparatively small and are completed in under a month. Profit centred organisations that work on medium sized projects come under the heavy construction category. Sitting at the top in terms of scale is industrial construction. 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. The range of plans also raises the costs, with large industrial projects sometimes costing up to a billion pounds or more. Next we'll cover a range of technical and specialised occupations in construction today -

Quantity Surveyor

To qualify for construction work in quantity surveying, candidates must initially graduate at degree level or above. For professional Chartered status, you should refer to www.rics.org - 'the world's leading professional body for qualifications and standards in land, property and construction'.

Structural Engineering

Senior structural engineers generally hold a Bachelors or Masters Degree in structural engineering. The ISE (Institute of Structural Engineers) is the professional body that works to maintain professional standards in the industry.

Civil Engineer

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. New university graduates are usually expected to hold a Master's Degree to become Chartered. 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. For this type of position it is customary for people to have a suitable degree e.g. in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering. Those looking for accredited status as a competent and professional building services engineer should consider membership of the CIBSE.

Project Manager

Project Managers have often worked in construction in various roles before specialising and training in specific PM disciplines (such as PMBOK). Engineers and surveyors often make good project managers.

Architects

Entry in architecture is unlikely without a degree, and indeed practical supervised experience along with university studies will take approximately 7 years. Architects work closely with other construction professionals, such as engineers, quantity surveyors and the other specialists referred to above.