18
BusinessEast Monthly
East Anglian Daily Times Tuesday, March 21, 2017
www.eadt.co.uk
Sector skills report: Construction
THE SITE MANAGER
THE TRAINEE QUANTITY SURVEYOR
How I got a job in the
construction industry...
Rheanna Pavey is a trainee quantity surveyor at R&D
Construction based in Bury St Edmunds
After taking my A Levels at St
Joseph’s College in Ipswich, I
completed a degree in biology at the
University of Reading. I decided I
didn’t want to continue with biology
but I had enjoyed the maths content
in the course. I also have a maths A
Level, so I went along to the 2015
Suffolk Skills Show with my CV,
intending to talk to accountancy
firms but instead was inspired by a
young female quantity surveyor on
the R & D Construction stand. I had
an inspiring conversation with the
people there and was invited to
come into the company for a
morning to learn more about the
company and quantity surveying as
a career, with the possibility of a
vacancy for a commercial trainee. I
had another interview following on
from this and started as a
commercial trainee a few weeks
later.
I feel lucky that the company
recognised I had some transferable
skills and didn’t see my lack of
construction experience as a
barrier.
What does a quantity surveyor
do?
I spent six months working as an
assistant estimator which involved
pricing jobs at tender stage. I have
now moved to the Surveying
department, which involves ongoing
cost analysis of contracts, pricing
variations, sending out subcontract
orders and completing
monthly valuations. The
work is very varied – each
job I am involved in is
different. R&D
Construction is a
groundworks contractor
and offer a wide range of
agricultural,
commercial, housing
and utilities services.
I try and get out to
each job at least once
a fortnight and I
liaise with contract
The Employees
managers and site supervisors to
ensure we maintain margins.
To be a quantity surveyor you need
a good numerical and analytical
ability. A high level of IT competency
is also important as is attention to
detail, and the ability to work well
within a team.
What industry qualifications are
you studying for?
The company is funding me to do a
three-year Quantity Surveying
Masters conversion course by
day-release at London South Bank
University. I travel down to London
to attend lectures and workshops
every Tuesday.
I had a couple of exams in January
and have more in May, in addition to
ongoing course work. The course is
intense with a heavy workload which
means I spend many of my weekends
studying.
After spending time in the
Surveying department there will be
an opportunity for me to spend some
time on site.
In the next three years I hope to
become a qualified quantity surveyor
and be RICS accredited, which
should allow my salary to
significantly increase.
Advice to young people looking to
develop a career in the
construction sector?
Find out as much as possible about
the construction industry and the
careers available. Getting work
experience with a construction
company is important and
spending time on a
construction site is
beneficial.
■ To see Rheanna talk about
her experience of work
visit the R & D profile on
www.icanbea.org.uk
‘There are so many niches in
construction and a huge variety of jobs...’
Stephen James, 52, is a site
manager working on various
projects for Gipping
Construction, a construction
company based in Ipswich. He
is also an ambassador for the
Construction Industry Training
Board (CITB) and has visited
schools to talk to young people
about working in construction
How did you get into
the construction industry?
After leaving school I went onto
a carpentry and joinery
apprenticeship with a Londonbased firm called Ashby and
Horner. It was an interesting
time, a lot of the work was based
in the City of London on
heritage buildings, offices and
banks.
I moved more into the
management side of things in
1987 when Ashby and Horner
were contracted to work with
Bovis on the construction of the
Financial Times depot. The
engineering assistant was on
long-term sick leave, so I was
brought across to work
alongside the engineer setting
out the print depots. I enjoyed
seeing the job more as a whole
– not just the carpentry element
of it - and from here I progressed
away from being on the tools
towards more management type
roles.
What industry - specific
qualifications do you have?
At the time I moved into
management I took a number of
City and Guilds qualifications
in surveying and costing
projects and gained Licentiate
membership of City and Guilds.
These qualifications are
becoming obsolete, so I’m
currently taking an NVQ Level
6 in construction management.
It’s an eight month
programme that I started at the
turn of the year. It is run by the
CITB and once a month I visit a
class held at the Barbican in
London and we look at different
aspects of being a
manager on a
construction site
such as
health &
safety
assessments, management,
costing and pricing. I keep a
diary and a folder of evidence to
prove I have satisfied the
requirements of the
qualification.
Later on this year an assessor
from the CITB will visit me on
site to shadow me as part of the
assessment.
How did your career
progress?
Bovis eventually bought out
Ashby and Horner and I became
a site manager for Bovis
running smaller sites with jobs
around the £2m mark. Over the
years I’ve held similar roles for
a number of firms and also set
up my own building company
that I ran for three years but the
recession came along and the
work dried up.
I’ve been with Gipping now
for five years, they are a great
company and I haven’t looked
back. My work with Gipping
focusses on building bespoke
private houses. Recent projects
include a house in Orford on the
coast and a private residence at
Great Bealings near
Woodbridge. I’m currently
site manager on a job in
Braintree where we are
building 21 flats. I manage
everything from start to finish
including the site engineering
and surveying, setting out the
levels and steel work and
organising the materials and
workers.
What is the best thing about
working in construction?
I enjoy the variety of work – it’s
not like you are stuck in the
same office all the time. If you
work in construction you work
on different projects, on
different sites in different
places.
I also like to see how
buildings come up from the
ground. You start with nothing
and finish with buildings you
can feel proud of.
Advice to young people
thinking about entering
construction?
Check out the CITB and the Go
Construct websites, which tell
you about where to get training,
the names of local construction
companies, salaries and types of
jobs.
When you mention
construction, most people just
think it’s all about bricks,
mortar and mud, but there are a
huge variety of jobs for those
with engineering, surveying
and mathematical skills. There
are so many niches in
construction you just have to
have your eyes open and if you
work for a good organisation
you can move into different
roles – as I did in becoming a
site manager.
One problem is that the
industry is so short of the
skilled trades that employers
are reluctant to promote these
people into management.
Today you tend to find less
managers that are skills-based
– they tend to be people who
have gained qualifications in
management.
I’ve been into schools as a
CITB ambassador and I feel
more can be done to inspire
young people to consider a
career in construction.
We desperately need skilled
bricklayers and plumbers, as a
well as those with a background
in engineering, IT and the
sciences.