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Construction

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 1 Definition
 2 Builders, contractors and subcontractors
 3 Permissions
 4 The UK construction industry
 5 Procurement
 6 Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

Definition

The term ‘construction’ refers to the process of building something such as a house, bridge, tunnel, and
so on.

The CDM regulations suggest that 'construction works' means '...the carrying out of any building, civil
engineering or engineering construction work…’ More specifically, Civil engineering procedure, 7th
edition, published by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), defines construction works as: ‘What
a contractor has undertaken to provide or do for a promoter (client) - consisting of the work to be carried
out, goods, materials and services to be supplied, and the liabilities, obligations and risks to be taken by
that contractor. It may not be all of the project, depending on what is specified in a contract.’

Construction may also be considered to include:

 Demolition.
 Rebuilding.
 Alterations of or additions to buildings.
 Others normally undertaken by a person carrying on business as a builder or contractor.

See Construction works for more information.

Builders, contractors and subcontractors

In very broad terms, contractors are the organisations appointed by clients to carry out construction

works. However, this apparently simple relationship is complicated by the fact that contractors tend not to
 have all the trades required to construct a building in their direct employment. And so construction
works themselves tend to be subcontracted to specialist trades.

The word ‘builder’ is typically used to refer to an organisation that employs workers that undertake all of
the roles necessary to undertake construction works, they do not have to contract trades. Typically
‘builders’ are associated with domestic construction, as housebuilding is a relatively repetitive process, for
which the workforce required is predictable and so direct employment of the workforce does not limit
the builders capability.

See Builder vs contractor for more information.

Permissions

The carrying out of construction works in the UK may require planning permission and Building

Regulations approval, as well as other approvals depending on the nature of the works.

 Planning permission is the legal process of determining whether proposed developments should

be permitted. Responsibility for planning lies with local planning authorities (usually
the planning department of the district or borough council). The Ministry of Housing, Communities and
Local Government (MHCLG) decides national planning policy for England and this is set out in
the National Planning Policy Framework.
 The Building Regulations set out requirements for specific aspects of building
design and construction, such as accessibility, energy use, drainage and so on.

See What approvals are needed before construction begins for more information.

The UK construction industry

The construction industry in the UK accounts for approximately 3 million jobs, 10% of

total UK employment and includes both manufacturing and services.

There are three main sectors:

 Commercial and social (approximately 45%)

 Residential (approximately 40%).
 Infrastructure (approximately 15%)

Approximately 60% of construction output is new build, whilst 40% is refurbishment and maintenance.

See UK construction industry for more information.

Procurement
 Typically, a construction project will involve a funder, a client, consultants, a contractor, sub-
contractors and suppliers. They will generally be procured following one of the five main procurement
routes:

 Traditional contract.
 Design and build.
 Construction management.
 Management contract.
 Public procurement.

For more possibilities see: Procurement routes

Generally, the client will work with consultants to define what they require, then a tender process will be

undertaken to identify a contractor to construct the works.

See Tender process for more information.

A typical project might follow stages such as:

 Stage 1: Business justification.

 Stage 2: Feasibility studies.
 Stage 3: Project brief.
 Stage 4: Concept design.
 Stage 5: Detailed design.
 Stage 6: Production information.
 Stage 7: Tender.
 Stage 8: Mobilisation.
 Stage 9: Construction.
 Stage 10: Occupation and defects liability period.
 Stage 11: Post occupancy evaluation.

See: Work stages for more information.

Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki

 Building regulations.
 Comparison of work stages.
 Contractor.
 Construction contract.
 Construction industry institutes and associations.
 Construction industry organisation.
 Construction industry.
 Construction strategy.
 Contractor.
 Global construction market projections from 2020 to 2030 .
 Government construction strategy.
 Planning permission.