What Do Construction Workers Do?

Construction industry job descriptions should lay out the construction team functions and how they fit in the construction process and your organisation. Your construction business needs to hire its construction managers, construction professionals, and specialist sub-contractors carefully to ensure it has the best mix of construction worker experience and skills. The professional performance of your construction project team will affect all parts of the construction phase, from initial planning of construction sites to building inspection, quality control, work progress, regulatory issues, budget, and completion deadlines.

Depending on the construction project, the construction project team has various duties and oversees:

• Construction project management (Construction Project Manager)
• Overseeing construction operations and construction site safety
• Building project submissions
• Preparing contract documents for subcontractors
• Removing debris
• Operating equipment
• Attend meetings
• Completion budget
• Staff rotas and schedules (Construction Project Managers)
• Hiring, firing, and performance reviews
• Installing or repairing plumbing, wiring, floors, foundations, and roofs

Construction Role

The duties of construction and project management professionals are completed by individuals in roles with a job title such as:

• Construction Project Manager
• Senior Project Manager
• Architect
• Plumber
• Electrician
• Carpenter
• Interior Designer
• Construction Worker
• Construction Operative

Construction Responsibilities And Duties

Construction worker duties and responsibilities are the must-do and high-priority responsibilities of the role. These are the job aspects that you will likely govern the individual’s performance on, and as you can imagine, meeting deadlines and ensuring construction work safety will probably be top of the list.

Construction management and construction worker responsibilities and job duties might include:

• Preparing construction sites for the next construction phase
• Erecting temporary structures
• Removing debris and building materials
• Erecting traffic signs and regulating traffic
• Digging holes or other strenuous physical tasks
• Reading project plans and construction plans
• General construction/build structures
• Handling dangerous materials
• Assisting contractors
• Attending meetings
• Adhering to budgets
• Installing wiring, plumbing, drainage pipes, roofs, or floors
• Ensuring compliance with construction site health and safety regulations
• Meeting deadlines for construction projects/completing multiple tasks
• Erecting scaffolding
• Unloading building materials/construction materials
• Using heavy machinery and construction equipment
• Fitting windows
• Negotiating contracts

These duties are pretty generic, but you can make the job’s duties more engaging and meaningful by saying how the responsibility should be accomplished. For example, ‘Ensuring safety on construction sites by ensuring construction workers undergo relevant hazardous materials, heavy equipment, and heavy lifting training.’

Construction Skills

To ensure your construction site follows best practices, meets its objectives, and completes its different tasks, you need to hire construction managers, employees, and contractors with the right skills.

To complete their key responsibilities, project managers and construction workers need hard and soft skills that might include:

• Excellent communication skills
• Time management
• Ability to perform strenuous physical tasks/physical strength
• Good knowledge of building materials/construction materials
• Problem-solving skills
• Active listening
• Trustworthiness
• Negotiating skills
• Target driven
• Adaptable
• Leadership and motivational
• Strategic thinking
• Knowledge of health and safety regulations and health and safety issues
• Theoretical construction industry knowledge
• Practical-side construction knowledge of all the tasks in the whole project
• Team-working and an ability to work closely with construction managers, team members, and other parties involved
• Organisation and planning skills (Construction Project Manager)
• Leadership and motivation (Construction Project Managers and Supervisors)
• Computer proficiency
• Financial acumen for budget and expense management (Construction Project Manager)

Construction Qualifications And Education

Your construction worker job description should include relevant qualifications and education, such as:

• A Degree or formal qualification in Construction, Project Management, Civil Engineering, or Business Administration
• Chartered Status
• GCSEs or a High School Diploma
• Heavy Equipment Operating Licence
• A proven health and safety track record
• Proven experience working for construction companies
• Proficiency in using computers spreadsheets and databases

Required Construction Experience And Construction Training

A good construction worker might have previous work experience or undertake training to ensure their competence in completing the role’s duties and responsibilities. A construction worker may complete a Construction Site Management or Design and Construction Apprenticeship or complete a Chartered Institute of Building accredited training course.

Construction Job Description FAQs

Here we answer your questions on construction worker roles and the construction worker job description.

WHAT DOES A CONSTRUCTION WORKER DO?

A construction worker might be erecting scaffolding, using power tools, building structures, planning staff schedules, or estimating building costs. They might be busy removing debris after demolition or operate heavy equipment and machinery.

WHAT ARE THE CONSTRUCTION ROLES?

Many construction roles appear on job boards including civil engineer, project manager, site supervisor, plumber, and surveyor.

WHAT ARE CONSTRUCTION WORKER SKILLS AND QUALIFICATIONS?

These depend on the role and might include organisation, physical fitness, time management, or a degree in construction, engineering, or surveying.

WHAT ARE THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A PROJECT MANAGER IN CONSTRUCTION?

A successful Construction Project Manager supervises progress and coordinates activities. The Project Manager also liaises with other professionals, ensures building code adherence, and manages ongoing project costs.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE CONSTRUCTION TEAM?

The construction project team work under the guidance of construction project management, performing construction processes, such as brick laying and installing electrics, plumbing, heating, and roofing systems.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PROJECT MANAGER AND A CONSTRUCTION MANAGER?

A Construction Manager only oversees the construction processes. A Project Manager oversees the entire project management, which may include procuring land and hiring construction management.

HOW DO I HIRE CONSTRUCTION WORKERS?

Job advertising for construction will differ based on the job skills, responsibility, and position. It will help to leverage a recruitment strategy that encompasses advertising on general and specialist construction job boards, social media, and to promote word of mouth referrals. Your hiring strategy might also include having a presence at leadership or industry conferences and online with construction or building organisations or professional bodies.

Vital elements that will affect recruitment success include writing an effective job description and selecting the proper job title. Your job description should define the construction or management job and the job advert should highlight your company mission and values and state if you are recruiting contractors or for full time or part time construction jobs.

Flat fee recruitment solutions continue to deliver the best results when recruiting a Construction Project Manager, contractor, or practical side tradesperson.

HOW DO I ENGAGE CONSTRUCTION CANDIDATES?

As a final note for employers and recruiters, it is crucial to remember that while a job description is about what and who you want, describing this alone will not create an inbox full of eager candidates willing to comply. A job advert must go beyond the duties, skills, education, qualifications, traits, and tasks that you want and communicate the position’s value to job seekers.

Your business should convey its employee value propositions to engage candidates, highlighting both monetary and other benefits. Benefits that will entice qualified job seekers to apply might include:

1. Stating the construction position’s average salary range

2. Focusing on work-life balance

3. Flexibility in work location and work schedules (office workers and managers)

4. Training opportunities

5. Career development opportunities

6. The quality or type of construction methods

7. How company values align with those of customers and employees

WHAT IS A CONSTRUCTION WORKER JOB DESCRIPTION?

A construction worker job description is a document that sets out the role’s duties, tasks, and skills. Putting these in black and white is crucial and will help you find the right match for a position that directly affects your business’s revenue, profit, growth, and health and safety record.

The construction worker job description should be transparent and clearly set out who you are, who you want, what they will do, and why a potential candidate might want to work for you. It helps tremendously to use language and jargon that engages your audience.

When you get all of this right and include the best words to use when writing construction job descriptions, you will get job applications from qualified candidates that closely match your ideal person profile. Starting with a construction worker job description template delivers the best results for postings ads on job boards and job sites.

HOW DO I WRITE A CONSTRUCTION WORKER JOB DESCRIPTION?

When writing a construction worker job description either for a construction job ad or an internal job specification you need to focus on 5 main criteria:

1. What are the key jobs, tasks, and duties required for a construction position

2. Consider all the job responsibilities required for a construction role

3. What skills the person must have for the job

4. What personality traits the person must have to work in the construction industry

5. Appropriate and relevant education and qualifications

These five criteria should help you build a picture of your ideal candidate. Good questions to consider that will help you write a concise construction worker job description that stands apart from others (essential in the current competitive job market), and attract the best candidates, include:

1. What value does this role bring to your company?

2. How does the role align with your company culture, values, and mission?

3. How does this role differ from other company positions?

4. How is this role similar to other company positions?

5. What are the minimum construction skills and transferable skills?

6. What are examples of your construction projects and construction process targets?

Suppose you are not hands-on in the construction department or highly familiar with the construction company’s sites or projects. In that case, it can help to interview a construction project manager or reliable construction worker to gain a greater understanding.

A word about jargon: The phrase ‘jargon’ has good and bad connotations, and if it isn’t carefully considered, it may deter candidates from applying. Ask yourself if words and phrases are company-exclusive or industry recognised.

Furthermore, if you are hiring for senior-level positions, such as construction project manager, you might expect candidates to have a greater vocabulary and understanding of construction jargon and health and safety regulations. However, if you are hiring construction workers at a junior level with on-the-job training, consider being as straightforward and transparent as possible.