Construction

The first huts and shelter were constructed by hand or with simple tools. As cities grew during the Bronze Age, a class of professional craftsmen, like bricklayers and carpenters, appeared.

Occasionally, slaves were used for construction work. In the 19th century, steam-powered machinery appeared and later diesel, then electric power vehicles such as cranes, excavators, and bulldozers. Architecture and construction involve creating awesome structures that can show the beauty and creativity of the human intellect.

Construction is the process of creating and building infrastructure or facilities. The construction sector involves the assembly of different components into a unified whole. It can also be defined as the action of building or creation of an abstract entity which starts with planning design, financing, and continues until the project is built and ready for use. 

Construction is the clearing, dredging, excavating and grading of land and other activity associated with building structure or other types of real property such as bridges, dams, roads, etc. Examples of Construction companies in Nigeria are Julius Berger, Cappa, square consort, Vinayak construction equipment, Achimore Nigeria, Aklab Nigeria limited, Arab contractors, etc.

Construction contributes 6 – 9% of the GDP of developed countries. It involves the fabricating operations performed at the site of construction by contractors. A project manager normally manages the job while the construction manager, design engineer, construction engineer, or project architect supervise it. For the successful execution of the project, effective planning is essential in order to yield a good result.

Types of Construction:

• Building construction: Residential building construction and Commercial construction
• Infrastructure construction
• Industrial construction

(a) Building construction is the process of adding structure to real property. 

(i) The commercial building is procured privately or publicly, utilizing various delivery methodologies including cost estimating, hard bid, negotiated price, construction management etc.

(ii) Residential construction practices technologies, resources that must conform with the local building authority regulations, and code of practice.

(b) Infrastructure is often called a heavy highway, heavy civil or heavy engineering which includes large public works such as dams, bridges, highways, water waste, and utilitythe state of being useful, profitable, or beneficial. More distribution

(c) Industrial construction includes refineries, process chemical plants, power generation, mills, and manufacturing plants.

Careers in Construction

There are many routes to different careers within the construction industry. There are three main tiers based on educational background and training which vary from country to country.

• Unskilled and Semi-Skilled: General site labourers with little or no construction qualifications. 

• Skilled: Tradesmen who have served apprenticeships, typically in labour unions and on-site managers who possess extensive knowledge and experience in their craft or profession e.g. carpenter, electrician, plumber, ironworker, and many others

• Technical and Management:  Personnel with the greatest educational qualification, usually graduate degrees, trained to design, manage and instruct the construction process. e.g. Quantity surveyor, Architect, Civil Engineer, Building Service Engineer, Project Manager, etc.