TABLE OF CONTENTS An electrician working for an electrical contracting company works as a part of the broader construction industry. This is a multi-million-pound industry carrying out all types of building work, from basic housing to hotels, factories, schools, shops, offices and airports. The construction industry is one of the UK's biggest employers, and carries out contracts to the value of about 10% of the UK's gross national product.
Although a major employer, the construction industry is also very fragmented. Firms vary widely in size, from the local builder employing two or three people to the big national companies employing thousands. Of the total workforce of the construction industry, 92% are employed in small firms of less than 25 people.
The yearly turnover of the construction industry is about 35 billion. Of this total sum, about 60% is spent on new building projects and the remaining 40% on maintenance, renovation or restoration of mostly housing.
In all these various construction projects the electrotechnical industries play an important role, supplying essential electrical services to meet the needs of those who will use the completed building.
The construction of a new building is a complex process which requires a team of professionals working together to produce the desired results. We can call this team of professionals the building team, and their interrelationship can be expressed by Fig. 2.1.
The client is the person or group of people with the actual need for the building,...
