Construction Industry

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Industry Overview
The construction industry is diverse and huge. It ranges from the plumber or electrician who works alone on residential and small commercial projects to engineering and construction companies that design and build giant, complex projects.

Spending on construction in the United States was $480 billion in 2001 and this spending has escalated since. This amounted to 4.8 percent of the United States’ Gross Domestic Product.

Construction Categories
U.S. contractors usually specialize based on type and size of project and their role in the project. The industry therefore can be categorized into the following segments: Building Construction by general contractors or operative builders; Heavy Construction other than building by general contractors or specialized establishments; and Construction Activity by Special Trade contractors.

• General Contractors – General contractors normally bid on contracts submitted by prospective homeowners, corporations, or governmental procurement processes. General Contractors manage the complete project and often outsource most of the jobs through subcontracts with specialty firms.
  
  
• Operative Builders – Operative Builders are similar to General Contractors except for one major process. They do not bid on projects. They normally conduct construction projects on their terms, conditions, and according to their own specifications then resale the property for a profit after the project is complete.
  
  
• Heavy Construction – Firms in this category construct highways, bridges, power plants, airports, and the like that are generally bid through state or federal procurement processes, or formal commercial request for bid processes.
  
  
• Specialty Trade Contractors – Specialty trade contractors in the building sector consist of plumbers, electricians, and painters. Specialty trade contractors in the Heavy Construction sector engage in the grading or paving of asphalt or concrete on highway’s or airport runways; sign installation; trenching; cable laying; and land clearing or leveling.
  
  

Construction Industry Outlook
The outlook for the construction industry in general looks positive at this point in time due to low interest rates for housing, and due to the age and the rate of deterioration on the major off ramps, road beds, and overpass bridges that shape the U.S. interstate highway system and metropolitan transit infrastructures.

 

Working In the Contruction Industory
Construction company owners need to possess strong fundamental knowledge of engineering, design and management principles, including knowledge of business procedures, economics, and human behavior. Owners may expect to engage in design of temporary structures, coordination of project design, systems design, cost estimating, planning and scheduling, company and project management, materials procurement, equipment selection, and cost control.

The process of construction involves the organization, administration, and coordination of labor resource requirements, temporary and permanent materials, equipment, supplies and utilities, money, technology and methods. These must be integrated in the most efficient manner possible to complete construction projects on schedule, within the budget, and according to the standards of quality and performance specified by the project owner or designer. To achieve this, a construction company owner should have:

• confidence
• initiative
• demonstrated leadership ability
• be able to:
  
  - apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering.
  - design and conduct experiments - analyze, interpret data.
  - to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems.
  - design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs.
  - communicate orally, graphically and in writing.
  
  
• have an understanding of:
  
  - the overall construction process.
  - the estimating process.
  - the planning and scheduling process.
  - contracts and laws.
  - business and management.
  - of ethical reasoning.
  - contemporary issues in the industry.
  - business and construction engineering terminology.
  - communicate orally, graphically and in writing.
  
  
• an awareness of modern techniques, skills and technologies for construction.
  

Construction Industry Statistics
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