Construction is a general term meaning the
art and
science of forming
objects
Object may refer to:
General meanings
* Object (philosophy), a thing, being, or concept
** Object (abstract), an object which does not exist at any particular time or place
** Physical object, an identifiable collection of matter
* Goal, an ...
,
systems
A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its environment, is described by its boundaries, structure and purpose and express ...
, or
organizations.
["Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009] It comes from the
Latin word ''constructio'' (from ''com-'' "together" and ''struere'' "to pile up") and
Old French ''construction''. To 'construct' is a
verb: the act of building, and the
noun is construction: how something is built or the nature of its structure.
In its most widely used context, construction covers the processes involved in delivering
buildings,
infrastructure
Infrastructure is the set of facilities and systems that serve a country, city, or other area, and encompasses the services and facilities necessary for its economy, households and firms to function. Infrastructure is composed of public and priv ...
, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with
planning
Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. The evolution of forethought, the capacity to think ahead, is consi ...
,
financing, and
design that continues until the asset is built and ready for use. Construction also covers repairs and maintenance work, any works to expand, extend and improve the asset, and its eventual
demolition
Demolition (also known as razing, cartage, and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down of buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction, which involves taking a ...
, dismantling or
decommissioning.
The construction industry contributes significantly to many countries' gross domestic products (
GDP). Global expenditure on construction activities was about $4 trillion in 2012. In 2022, expenditure on the construction industry exceeded $11 trillion a year, equivalent to about 13 percent of global
GDP. This spending was forecasted to rise to around $14.8 trillion in 2030.
The construction industry promotes economic development and brings many non-monetary benefits to many countries, but it is one of the most hazardous industries. For example, about 20% (1,061) of US industry fatalities in 2019 happened in construction.
History
The first
huts and shelters were constructed by hand or with simple tools. As
cities grew during the
Bronze Age, a class of professional
craftsmen
Craftsman may refer to:
A profession
*Artisan, a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative
* Master craftsman, an artisan who has achieved such a standard that he may establish his own workshop and take ...
, like
bricklayer
A bricklayer, which is related to but different from a mason, is a craftsman and tradesman who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The terms also refer to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of masonry. ...
s and
carpenters, appeared. Occasionally,
slaves
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
were used for construction work. In the
Middle Ages, the artisan craftsmen were organized into
guilds. In the 19th century, steam-powered machinery appeared, and later, diesel- and electric-powered vehicles such as
cranes
Crane or cranes may refer to:
Common meanings
* Crane (bird), a large, long-necked bird
* Crane (machine), industrial machinery for lifting
** Crane (rail), a crane suited for use on railroads
People and fictional characters
* Crane (surname), ...
,
excavator
Excavators are heavy construction equipment consisting of a boom, dipper (or stick), bucket and cab on a rotating platform known as the "house". The house sits atop an undercarriage with tracks or wheels. They are a natural progression fro ...
s and
bulldozer
A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous track ...
s.
Fast-track construction has been increasingly popular in the 21st century. Some estimates suggest that 40% of construction projects are now fast-track construction.
Construction industry sectors
![Industrial-installation](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Industrial-installation.jpg)
Broadly, there are three sectors of construction: buildings, infrastructure and industrial:
* Building construction is usually further divided into residential and non-residential.
* Infrastructure, also called '
heavy civil' or 'heavy engineering', includes large public works, dams, bridges, highways, railways, water or wastewater and utility distribution.
* Industrial construction includes
offshore construction (mainly of energy installations), mining and quarrying,
refineries
A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value.
Types of refineries
Different types of refineries ar ...
, chemical processing, mills and
manufacturing plants
A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...
.
The industry can also be classified into sectors or markets. For example, ''
Engineering News-Record'' (''ENR''), a US-based construction trade magazine, has compiled and reported data about the size of design and construction contractors. In 2014, it split the data into nine market segments: transportation,
petroleum, buildings, power, industrial, water, manufacturing, sewage/waste,
telecom,
hazardous waste
Hazardous waste is waste that has substantial or potential threats to public health or the environment. Hazardous waste is a type of dangerous goods. They usually have one or more of the following hazardous traits: ignitability, reactivity, co ...
, and a tenth category for other projects. ''ENR'' used data on transportation, sewage, hazardous waste and water to rank firms as heavy contractors.
The
Standard Industrial Classification and the newer
North American Industry Classification System classify companies that perform or engage in construction into three subsectors: building construction, heavy and civil engineering construction, and specialty trade contractors. There are also categories for professional services firms (e.g.,
engineering,
architecture,
surveying
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...
,
project management).
Building construction
Building construction is the process of adding structures to areas of land, also known as
real property
In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, is land which is the property of some person and all structures (also called improvements or fixtures) integrated with or affixe ...
sites. Typically, a project is instigated by or with the owner of the property (who may be an individual or an organisation); occasionally, land may be
compulsorily purchased from the owner for public use.
Residential construction
![Brighton development 2024 b](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/Brighton_development_2024_b.jpg)
Residential construction may be undertaken by individual land-owners (
self-built), by specialist
housebuilders, by
property developers, by
general contractor
A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...
s, or by providers of
public or social housing (e.g.: local authorities,
housing associations). Where local
zoning or
planning
Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. The evolution of forethought, the capacity to think ahead, is consi ...
policies allow,
mixed-use development
Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...
s may comprise both residential and non-residential construction (e.g.: retail, leisure, offices, public buildings, etc.).
Residential construction practices,
technologies, and resources must conform to local building
authority's regulations and
codes of practice
A code of practice can be a document that complements occupational health and safety laws and regulations to provide detailed practical guidance on how to comply with legal obligations, and should be followed unless another solution with the same ...
. Materials readily available in the area generally dictate the construction materials used (e.g.:
brick
A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...
versus stone versus
timber). Costs of construction on a per square meter (or per square foot) basis for
house
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
s can vary dramatically based on site conditions, access routes, local regulations,
economies of scale (custom-designed homes are often more expensive to build) and the availability of skilled tradespeople.
Non-residential construction
![Liberty Memorial 043](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Liberty_Memorial_043.jpg)
Depending upon the
type of building, non-residential building construction can be procured by a wide range of private and public organisations, including local authorities, educational and religious bodies, transport undertakings, retailers, hoteliers, property developers, financial institutions and other private companies. Most construction in these sectors is undertaken by general
contractors.
Infrastructure construction
![Shasta dam under construction new edit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Shasta_dam_under_construction_new_edit.jpg)
Civil engineering covers the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally
built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, tunnels, airports, water and sewerage systems, pipelines, and railways. Some general contractors have expertise in civil engineering; civil engineering contractors are firms dedicated to work in this sector, and may specialise in particular types of infrastructure.
Industrial construction
Industrial construction
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and co ...
includes offshore construction (mainly of energy installations:
oil and gas platforms,
wind power),
mining and
quarrying,
refineries
A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value.
Types of refineries
Different types of refineries ar ...
,
breweries
A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of bee ...
,
distilleries and other processing plants,
power stations,
steel mill
A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel. It may be an integrated steel works carrying out all steps of steelmaking from smelting iron ore to rolled product, but may also be a plant where steel semi-finish ...
s,
warehouses and
factories.
Construction processes
Some construction projects are small
renovations
Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, ...
or repair jobs, like repainting or fixing leaks, where the owner may act as designer, paymaster and laborer for the entire project. However, more complex or ambitious projects usually require additional multi-disciplinary expertise and manpower, so the owner may commission one or more specialist businesses to undertake detailed planning, design, construction and handover of the work. Often the owner will appoint one business to oversee the project (this may be a
designer, a
contractor
A contractor is a person or company that performs work on a contract basis. The term may refer to:
Business roles
* Defense contractor, arms industry which provides weapons or military goods to a government
* General contractor, an individual o ...
, a
construction manager, or other advisors); such specialists are normally appointed for their expertise in
project delivery and construction management and will help the owner define the project
brief, agree on a
budget
A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...
and
schedule
A schedule or a timetable, as a basic time-management tool, consists of a list of times at which possible tasks, events, or actions are intended to take place, or of a sequence of events in the chronological order in which such things are i ...
, liaise with relevant public authorities, and procure materials and the services of other specialists (the
supply chain
In commerce, a supply chain is a network of facilities that procure raw materials, transform them into intermediate goods and then final products to customers through a distribution system. It refers to the network of organizations, people, acti ...
, comprising
subcontractors and materials suppliers).
Contracts
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...
are agreed for the delivery of services by all businesses, alongside other detailed plans aimed at ensuring legal, timely, on-budget and safe delivery of the specified works.
Design, finance, and legal aspects overlap and interrelate. The design must be not only structurally sound and appropriate for the use and location, but must also be financially possible to build, and legal to use. The financial structure must be adequate to build the design provided and must pay amounts that are legally owed. Legal structures integrate design with other activities and enforce financial and other construction processes.
These processes also affect procurement strategies.
Clients may, for example, appoint a
business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...
to design the project, after which a competitive process is undertaken to appoint a lead contractor to construct the asset (
design–bid–build
Design–bid–build (or design/bid/build, and abbreviated D–B–B or D/B/B accordingly), also known as Design–tender (or "design/tender") traditional method or hardbid, is a project delivery method in which the agency or owner contracts with ...
); they may appoint a business to lead both design and construction (
design-build); or they may directly appoint a designer, contractor and specialist subcontractors (
construction management
Construction management (CM) is a professional service that uses specialized, project management techniques and software to oversee the planning, design, construction and closeout of a project. The purpose of Construction management is to control ...
). Some forms of procurement emphasize collaborative relationships (
partnering, alliancing) between the client, the contractor, and other stakeholders within a construction project, seeking to ameliorate often highly competitive and adversarial industry practices.
DfMA
DFMA stands for Design for Manufacture and Assembly. DFMA is the combination of two methodologies; Design for Manufacture, which means the design for ease of manufacture of the parts that will form a product, and Design for Assembly, which means t ...
(design for manufacture and assembly) approaches also emphasize early collaboration with manufacturers and suppliers regarding products and components.
Construction or refurbishment work in a "live" environment (where residents or businesses remain living in or operating on the site) requires particular care, planning and communication.
Planning
![Mall culture jakarta57](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Mall_culture_jakarta57.jpg)
When applicable, a proposed construction project must comply with local
land-use planning
Land use planning is the process of regulating the use of land by a central authority. Usually, this is done to promote more desirable social and environmental outcomes as well as a more efficient use of resources. More specifically, the goals ...
policies including
zoning and
building code requirements. A project will normally be assessed (by the 'authority having jurisdiction, AHJ, typically the
municipality where the project will be located) for its potential impacts on neighbouring properties, and upon existing infrastructure (transportation, social infrastructure, and utilities including water supply, sewerage, electricity, telecommunications, etc.). Data may be gathered through
site analysis
Site analysis is a preliminary phase of architectural and urban design processes dedicated to the study of the climatic, geographical, historical, legal, and infrastructural context of a specific site.
The result of this analytic process is a sum ...
,
site surveys and
geotechnical investigations. Construction normally cannot start until
planning permission has been granted, and may require preparatory work to ensure relevant infrastructure has been upgraded before building work can commence. Preparatory works will also include surveys of existing utility lines to avoid damage-causing outages and other hazardous situations.
Some legal requirements come from ''
malum in se
''Malum in se'' (plural ''mala in se'') is a Latin phrase meaning ''wrong'' or ''evil in itself''. The phrase is used to refer to conduct assessed as sinful or inherently wrong by nature, independent of regulations governing the conduct. It is di ...
'' considerations, or the desire to prevent indisputably bad phenomena, e.g. explosions or bridge collapses. Other legal requirements come from ''
malum prohibitum'' considerations, or factors that are a matter of custom or expectation, such as isolating businesses from a business district or residences from a residential district. An attorney may seek changes or exemptions in the law that governs the land where the building will be built, either by arguing that a rule is inapplicable (the bridge design will not cause a collapse), or that the custom is no longer needed (acceptance of live-work spaces has grown in the community).
During the construction of a building, a municipal building inspector usually inspects the ongoing work periodically to ensure that construction adheres to the approved plans and the local building code. Once construction is complete, any later changes made to a building or other asset that affect safety, including its use, expansion, structural integrity, and
fire protection, usually require municipality approval.
Finance
Depending on the type of project,
mortgage bankers,
accountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy.
Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certifi ...
s, and
cost engineers may participate in creating an overall plan for the financial management of a construction project. The presence of the mortgage banker is highly likely, even in relatively small projects since the owner's equity in the property is the most obvious source of funding for a building project. Accountants act to study the expected monetary flow over the life of the project and to monitor the payouts throughout the process. Professionals including cost engineers,
estimators and
quantity surveyors apply expertise to relate the work and materials involved to a proper valuation.
Financial planning ensures adequate safeguards and contingency plans are in place before the project is started, and ensures that the plan is properly executed over the life of the project. Construction projects can suffer from preventable financial problems. Underbids happen when builders ask for too little money to complete the project.
Cash flow
A cash flow is a real or virtual movement of money:
*a cash flow in its narrow sense is a payment (in a currency), especially from one central bank account to another; the term 'cash flow' is mostly used to describe payments that are expected ...
problems exist when the present amount of funding cannot cover the current costs for labour and materials; such problems may arise even when the overall budget is adequate, presenting a temporary issue. Cost overruns with government projects have occurred when the contractor identified change orders or project changes that increased costs, which are not subject to competition from other firms as they have already been eliminated from consideration after the initial bid.
Fraud
In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
is also an issue of growing significance within construction.
Large projects can involve highly complex financial plans and often start with a conceptual
cost estimate performed by a
building estimator
A building estimator or cost estimator is an individual that quantifies the materials, labor, and equipment needed to complete a construction project. Building cost estimating can concern diverse forms of construction from residential properties t ...
. As portions of a project are completed, they may be sold, supplanting one lender or owner for another, while the logistical requirements of having the right trades and materials available for each stage of the building construction project carry forward.
Public–private partnerships (PPPs) or
private finance initiative
The private finance initiative (PFI) was a United Kingdom government procurement policy aimed at creating "public–private partnerships" (PPPs) where private firms are contracted to complete and manage public projects. Initially launched in 199 ...
s (PFIs) may also be used to help deliver major projects. According to
McKinsey in 2019, the "vast majority of large construction projects go over budget and take 20% longer than expected".
Legal
![401-403-410 and Construction crop](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/401-403-410_and_Construction_crop.png)
A construction project is a complex net of
construction contract A construction contract is a mutual or legally binding agreement between two parties based on policies and conditions recorded in document form. The two parties involved are one or more property owners and one or more contractors. The owner, often ...
s and other legal obligations, each of which all parties must carefully consider. A contract is the exchange of a set of obligations between two or more parties, and provides structures to manage issues. For example, construction delays can be costly, so construction contracts set out clear expectations and clear paths to manage delays. Poorly drafted contracts can lead to confusion and costly disputes.
At the start of a project, legal advisors seek to identify ambiguities and other potential sources of trouble in the contract structures, and to present options for preventing problems. During projects, they work to avoid and resolve conflicts that arise. In each case, the lawyer facilitates an exchange of obligations that matches the reality of the project.
Procurement
Traditional or Design-bid-build
Design-bid-build is the most common and well-established method of construction procurement. In this arrangement, the
architect,
engineer or builder acts for the client as the project coordinator. They design the works, prepare specifications and design deliverables (models, drawings, etc.), administer the contract,
tender the works, and manage the works from inception to completion. In parallel, there are direct contractual links between the client and the main contractor, who, in turn, has direct contractual relationships with subcontractors. The arrangement continues until the project is ready for handover.
Design-build
Design-build became more common from the late 20th century, and involves the client contracting a single entity to provide design and construction. In some cases, the design-build package can also include finding the site, arranging funding and applying for all necessary statutory consents. Typically, the client invites several Design & Build (D&B) contractors to submit proposals to meet the project brief and then selects a preferred supplier. Often this will be a
consortium
A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for ...
involving a design firm and a contractor (sometimes more than one of each). In the United States,
departments of transportation usually use design-build contracts as a way of progressing projects where states lack the skills or resources, particularly for very large projects.
Construction management
In a construction management arrangement, the client enters into separate contracts with the designer (architect or engineer), a
construction manager, and individual
trade contractors. The client takes on the contractual role, while the construction or project manager provides the active role of managing the separate trade contracts, and ensuring that they complete all work smoothly and effectively together. This approach is often used to speed up
procurement processes, to allow the client greater flexibility in design variation throughout the contract, to enable the appointment of individual work contractors, to separate contractual responsibility on each individual throughout the contract, and to provide greater client control.
Design
In the industrialized world, construction usually involves the translation of designs into reality. Most commonly (i.e.: in a design-bid-build project), the design team is employed by (i.e. in contract with) the property owner. Depending upon the type of project, a design team may include
architects,
civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...
s,
mechanical engineers,
electrical engineers,
structural engineer
Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of safety, technical, economic ...
s,
fire protection engineers, planning
consultant
A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization.
Consulting servic ...
s, architectural consultants, and archaeological consultants. A 'lead designer' will normally be identified to help coordinate different disciplinary inputs to the overall design. This may be aided by integration of previously separate disciplines (often undertaken by separate firms) into multi-disciplinary firms with experts from all related fields, or by firms establishing relationships to support design-build processes.
The increasing complexity of construction projects creates the need for design professionals trained in all phases of a project's life-cycle and develop an appreciation of the asset as an advanced technological system requiring close integration of many sub-systems and their individual components, including sustainability. For buildings,
building engineering
Architectural engineers apply and theoretical knowledge to the engineering design of buildings and building systems. The goal is to engineer high performance buildings that are sustainable, economically viable and ensure the safety health.
Archi ...
is an emerging discipline that attempts to meet this new challenge.
Traditionally, design has involved the production of
sketches,
architectural
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings o ...
and
engineering drawing
An engineering drawing is a type of technical drawing that is used to convey information about an object. A common use is to specify the geometry necessary for the construction of a component and is called a detail drawing. Usually, a number of ...
s, and
specifications. Until the late 20th century, drawings were largely hand-
drafted; adoption of computer-aided design (CAD) technologies then improved design productivity, while the 21st-century introduction of building information modeling (BIM) processes has involved the use of computer-generated models that can be used in their own right or to generate drawings and other Visualization (graphics), visualisations as well as capturing non-geometric data about building components and systems.
On some projects, work on-site will not start until design work is largely complete; on others, some design work may be undertaken concurrently with the early stages of on-site activity (for example, work on a building's foundations may commence while designers are still working on the detailed designs of the building's internal spaces). Some projects may include elements that are designed for off-site construction (see also prefabrication and modular building) and are then delivered to the site ready for erection, installation or assembly.
On-site construction
![-37 Construction](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/-37_Construction.jpg)
Once contractors and other relevant professionals have been appointed and designs are sufficiently advanced, work may commence on the project site. Typically, a construction site will include a secure perimeter to restrict unauthorised access, site access control points, office and welfare accommodation for personnel from the main contractor and other firms involved in the project team, and storage areas for materials, machinery and equipment. According to the ''McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Architecture and Construction's'' definition, construction may be said to have ''started'' when the first feature of the permanent structure has been put in place, such as pile driving, or the pouring of slabs or footings.
Commissioning and handover
Commissioning is the process of verifying that all subsystems of a new building (or other assets) work as intended to achieve the owner's project requirements and as designed by the project's architects and engineers.
Defects liability period
A period after handover (or practical completion) during which the owner may identify any shortcomings in relation to the building specification ('defects'), with a view to the contractor correcting the defect.
Maintenance, repair and improvement
Maintenance involves functional checks, servicing, repairing or replacing of necessary devices, equipment, machinery, building infrastructure, and supporting utilities in industrial, business, governmental, and residential installations.
Demolition
Demolition is the discipline of safely and efficiently tearing down
buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which involves taking a building apart while carefully preserving valuable elements for reuse purposes (recycling – see also circular economy).
Industry scale and characteristics
Economic activity
![European Antennas Under Construction](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/European_Antennas_Under_Construction.jpg)
The output of the global construction industry was worth an estimated $10.8 trillion in 2017, and in 2018 was forecast to rise to $12.9 trillion by 2022,
and to around $14.8 trillion in 2030.
As a sector, construction accounts for more than 10% of global GDP (in Developed country, developed countries, construction comprises 6–9% of GDP), and employs around 7% of the total employed workforce around the globe
(accounting for over 273 million full- and part-time jobs in 2014).
Since 2010,
China has been the world's largest single construction market.
The United States is the second largest construction market with a 2018 output of $1.581 trillion.
* In the United States in February 2020, around $1.4 trillion worth of construction work was in progress, according to the United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau, of which just over $1.0 trillion was for the private sector (split roughly 55:45% between residential and nonresidential); the remainder was public sector, predominantly for state and local government.
* In Armenia, the construction sector experienced growth during the latter part of 2000s. Based on National Statistical Service, Armenia's construction sector generated approximately 20% of Armenia's GDP during the first and second quarters of 2007. In 2009, according to the World Bank, 30% of Armenia's economy was from construction sector.
["Armenian Growth Still In Double Digits"](_blank)
Armenia Liberty (RFE/RL), September 20, 2007.
* In Vietnam, the construction industry plays an important role in the Economy of Vietnam, national economy. The Vietnamese construction industry has been one of the fastest growing in the Asia–Pacific, Asia-Pacific region in recent years. The market was valued at nearly $60 billion in 2021.
In the first half of 2022, Vietnam's construction industry growth rate reached 5.59%.
In 2022, Vietnam's construction industry accounted for more than 6% of the country's GDP, equivalent to over 589.7 billion Vietnamese đồng, Vietnamese dong. The industry of industry and construction accounts for 38.26% of Vietnam's GDP. At the same time, the industry is one of the most attractive industries for foreign direct investment (FDI) in recent years.
Construction is a major source of employment in most countries; high reliance on small businesses, and under-representation of women are common traits. For example:
* In the US, construction employed around 11.4m people in 2020, with a further 1.8m employed in architectural, engineering, and related professional services – equivalent to just over 8% of the total US workforce.
The construction workers were employed in over 843,000 organisations, of which 838,000 were privately held businesses.
In March 2016, 60.4% of construction workers were employed by businesses with fewer than 50 staff.
Women are substantially underrepresented (relative to their share of total employment), comprising 10.3% of the US construction workforce, and 25.9% of professional services workers, in 2019.
* The Construction industry of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom construction sector contributed £117 billion (6%) to UK GDP in 2018, and in 2019 employed 2.4m workers (6.6% of all jobs). These worked either for 343,000 'registered' construction businesses, or for 'unregistered' businesses, typically self-employed contractors;
just over one million small/medium-sized businesses, mainly self-employed individuals, worked in the sector in 2019, comprising about 18% of all UK businesses.
Women comprised 12.5% of the UK construction workforce.
According to
McKinsey research, productivity growth per worker in construction has lagged behind many other industries across different countries including in the United States and in European countries. In the United States, construction productivity per worker has declined by half since the 1960s.
Construction GVA by country
Employment
![Algamildj](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Algamildj.jpeg)
Some workers may be engaged in manual labour as unskilled or semi-skilled workers; they may be skilled tradespeople; or they may be supervisory or managerial personnel. Under safety legislation in the United Kingdom, for example, construction workers are defined as people "who work for or under the control of a contractor on a construction site";
in Canada, this can include people whose work includes ensuring conformance with building codes and regulations, and those who supervise other workers.
Laborers comprise a large grouping in most national construction industries. In the United States, for example, in May 2021 the construction sector employed just over 7.5 million people, of whom just over 820,000 were laborers, while 573,000 were carpentry, carpenters, 508,000 were electricians, 258,000 were equipment operators and 230,000 were construction managers.
Like most business sectors, there is also substantial white-collar worker, white-collar employment in construction – 681,000 US workers were recorded by the United States Department of Labor as in 'office and administrative support occupations' in May 2021.
Large-scale construction requires collaboration across multiple disciplines. A project manager normally manages the budget on the job, and a Construction management, construction manager, design engineer, construction engineer or
architect supervises it. Those involved with the design and execution must consider zoning requirements and legal issues, Environmental impact assessment, environmental impact of the project, Scheduling (production processes), scheduling,
budget
A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...
ing and Construction bidding, bidding, construction site safety, availability and transportation of building materials, logistics, and inconvenience to the public, including those caused by construction delays.
Some models and policy-making organisations promote the engagement of local labour in construction projects as a means of tackling social exclusion and addressing skill shortages. In the UK, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation reported in 2000 on 25 projects which had aimed to offer training and employment opportunities for locally based school leavers and unemployed people. The Foundation published "a good practice resource book" in this regard at the same time. Use of local labour and local materials were specified for the construction of the Danish Storebaelt bridge, but there were legal issues which were challenged in court and addressed by the European Court of Justice in 1993. The court held that a contract condition requiring use of local labour and local materials was incompatible with Treaty on European Union, EU treaty principles. Later UK guidance noted that social and employment clauses, where used, must be compatible with relevant EU regulation. Employment of local labour was identified as one of several social issues which could potentially be incorporated in a sustainable procurement approach, although the interdepartmental ''Sustainable Procurement Group'' recognised that "there is far less scope to incorporate [such] social issues in public procurement than is the case with environmental issues".
There are many routes to the different careers within the construction industry. There are three main tiers of construction workers based on educational background and training, which vary by country:
Unskilled and semi-skilled workers
Unskilled and semi-skilled workers provide general site labor, often have few or no construction qualifications, and may receive basic site training.
Skilled tradespeople
Skilled tradesmen, tradespeople have typically served apprenticeships (sometimes in labor unions) or received technical training; this group also includes on-site managers who possess extensive knowledge and experience in their craft or profession. Skilled manual occupations include carpenters, electricians, plumbers, ironworkers, heavy equipment operators and Brick mason, masons, as well as those involved in project management. In the UK these require further education qualifications, often in vocational subject areas, undertaken either directly after completing Secondary education, compulsory education or through "on the job" apprenticeships.
Professional, technical or managerial personnel
Professional, technical and managerial personnel often have higher education qualifications, usually graduate degrees, and are trained to design and manage construction processes. These roles require more training as they demand greater technical knowledge, and involve more legal responsibility. Example roles (and qualification routes) include:
* Architect – Will usually have studied
architecture to degree level, and then undertaken further study and gained professional experience. In many countries, the title of "architect" is protected by law, strictly limiting its use to qualified people.
* Civil engineer – Typically holds a degree in a related subject and may only be eligible for membership of a professional institution (such as the UK's Institution of Civil Engineers, ICE) following completion of additional training and experience. In some jurisdictions, a new university graduate must hold a master's degree to become chartered, and persons with bachelor's degrees may become Engineering technologist, Incorporated Engineers.
* Building services engineering, Building services engineer – May also be referred to as an "M&E" or "mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) engineer" and typically holds a degree in mechanical or electrical engineering.
* Project manager – Typically holds a 4-year or greater higher education qualification, but are often also qualified in another field such as architecture, civil engineering or quantity surveying.
* Structural engineer – Typically holds a bachelor's or master's degree in structural engineering.
* Quantity surveyor – Typically holds a bachelor's degree in quantity surveying. UK chartered status is gained from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Safety
![Construction workers not wearing fall protection equipment](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Construction_workers_not_wearing_fall_protection_equipment.jpg)
Construction is one of the most dangerous occupations in the world, incurring more occupational fatalities than any other sector in both the United States and in the European Union.
In the US in 2019, 1,061, or about 20%, of worker fatalities in private industry occurred in construction.
In 2017, more than a third of US construction fatalities (366 out of 971 total fatalities) were the result of falls;
in the UK, half of the average 36 fatalities per annum over a five-year period to 2021 were attributed to falls from height.
Proper safety equipment such as harnesses, hard hats and guardrails and procedures such as securing ladders and inspecting scaffolding can curtail the risk of occupational injuries in the construction industry.
Other major causes of fatalities in the construction industry include electrocution, transportation accidents, and trench cave-ins.
Other safety risks for workers in construction include hearing loss due to high noise exposure, musculoskeletal injury, chemical exposure, and high levels of stress.
Besides that, the high turnover of workers in construction industry imposes a huge challenge of accomplishing the restructuring of work practices in individual workplaces or with individual workers. Construction has been identified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) as a priority industry sector in the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) to identify and provide intervention strategies regarding occupational health and safety issues. A study conducted in 2022 found “significant effect of air pollution exposure on construction-related injuries and fatalities”, especially with the exposure of nitrogen dioxide.
Sustainability
Sustainability is an aspect of "green building", defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as "the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction."
Decarbonising construction
The construction industry may require transformation at pace and at scale if it is to successfully contribute to achieving the target set out in The Paris Agreement of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C above industrial levels. The World Green Building Council has stated the buildings and infrastructure around the world can reach 40% less embodied carbon emissions but that this can only be achieved through urgent transformation.
Conclusions from industry leaders have suggested that the net zero transformation is likely to be challenging for the construction industry, but it does present an opportunity. Action is demanded from governments, standards bodies, the construction sector, and the
engineering profession to meet the decarbonising targets.
In 2021, the Royal Academy of Engineering, National Engineering Policy Centre published its report ''Decarbonising Construction: Building a new net zero industry,''
which outlined key areas to decarbonise the construction sector and the wider
built environment. This report set out around 20 different recommendations to transform and decarbonise the construction sector, including recommendations for
engineers, the construction industry and decision makers, plus outlined six-overarching ‘system levers’ where action taken now will result in rapid decarbonisation of the construction sector.
These levels are:
* Setting and stipulating progressive targets for carbon reduction
* Embedding quantitative whole-life carbon assessment into public procurement
* Increasing design efficiency, materials reuse and retrofit of buildings
* Improving whole-life carbon performance
* Improving skills for net zero
* Adopting a joined up, systems approach to decarbonisation across the construction sector and with other sectors
Progress is being made internationally to decarbonise the sector including improvements to sustainable procurement practice such as the CO2 performance ladder in the Netherlands and the Danish Partnership for Green Public Procurement. There are also now demonstrations of applying the principles of circular economy practices in practice such as Circl, ABN AMRO's sustainable pavilion and the Waste House, Brighton Waste House.
See also
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Notes
References
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