Construction - The Process of Building Stuff

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The construction industry is one of the largest employers in the United States, and probably the world as well.

Construction falls into several categories. For example:

• Residential construction
• Commercial construction
• Industrial construction
• Infrastructure construction

Each of these types of construction have different attributes and require different skills on the part of the contractor.

Residential construction construction is broken down into two general sub categories as well, Home Builders and Remodeling contractors. The requirements for each of these can and frequently will vary, although there are many contractors that do both.

Home builders frequently don't do any of the actual construction themselves. They rely on subcontractors to do everything from grading the land to installing the landscaping. They're primarily project managers and take an oversight position on the project.

Remodeling contractors, on the other hand, frequently do all the work themselves so the project is totally in their control. The exception may be when there is a unique specialty or requirement on the job, like a home theater.

Commercial construction, at least in my definition, is construction of small office buildings (1-3 floors), concrete tilt-ups and R&D buildings. Contractors that are involved in commercial construction usually do some of the work themselves and subcontract a substantial part of the work, like electrical, HVAC, and so on to specialty contractors.

Industrial construction involves building warehouses, manufacturing plants, and tall office buildings. Contractors involved in industrial construction frequently do some of the work themselves although there are other that just manage the projects and don't do any of the actual work.  Specialty contractors are subcontracted by both types of general contractors to do the bulk of the work, such as electrical, plumbing, hvac, and so on.

Infrastructure construction is focused on, believe it or not, building infrastructure, like highways, bridges, water lines, sewer lines, and so on. Usually, contractors that specialize in infrastructure construction do a majority of the work themselves and only work on the types of projects that they specialize in. For example, a contractor that specializes in building highways normally will not do water lines, sewer lines and so forth.

AEC Construction software is used by contractors to manage their business