Building your community
Introduction
Joiners in local government work on the construction and
maintenance of council buildings such as houses, schools and town
halls. Joiners prepare and fix into place all the wooden
parts of new buildings, such as floor joists, roofs and door
frames. They also carry out maintenance work on existing
buildings.
Work Environment
Joiners work inside and outside and are usually required to wear
hard hats and boots with steel toe-caps and extra protective
clothing, such as goggles, gloves, facemasks and ear defenders for
some jobs. The work is very physical and may involve heavy
lifting. Joiners often work at heights, using ladders and
scaffolding. Joiners normally work a standard 37-hour week
but tend to start early at around 7.30-8.00am depending on daylight
hours. There may also be an out of hours on-call system in
operation.
Daily Activities
Joiners work from plans and drawings provided by architects and
engineers. They plan the order of their work and calculate
how much of each material they need. They measure the wood and mark
out where any cuts or joints need to be, then use tools such as
saws, chisels and planes to cut and shape the wood. Joiners
use a variety of methods to fix the pieces of wood together.
They may use hammers and mallets to knock pieces into place then
fix with nails, screws, glue or specially cut joints. Some
pieces arrive pre-fabricated from a factory or workshop and just
need assembling.
In the early stages of construction, joiners carry out the
'first fix'. This means getting the basic structure in place
and includes the roof, floor joists, floorboards, wall partitions
between rooms and staircases. The 'second fix' requires
neater work and involves making and fixing door frames, window
frames, doors, window sills, skirting boards, picture rails,
cupboards, shelves, etc. To finish off, joiners fit any small
items, such as door knobs, handles and locks. As well as
working on new buildings, joiners also carry out alterations and
refurbishments on existing buildings.
Skills & Interests
Joiners need to be:
- physically fit, with good hand-to-eye co-ordination;
- skilled using their hands;
- good at basic maths for measuring and doing calculations;
- safety conscious;
- courteous and polite when working in people\'s homes and work
places.
Entry Requirements
Although there are no set entry requirements, some GCSEs/S grades
or equivalent vocational qualifications may be required,
particularly in English, maths and technology. Some councils
may ask for some previous experience working within a building and
construction environment. Training schemes for joiners often
combine on-the-job experience with day release to college.
You may be able to work towards N/SVQs in carpentry and
joinery. Apprenticeships and Advanced Apprenticeships in
construction are also available.
Future Prospects & Opportunities
With experience and further training, joiners may be able to
progress to supervisory jobs or roles within construction
management. They may also be able to move into other
construction related roles such as building control or building
maintenance engineering.
Further Information & Services
Apprenticeship information www.apprenticeships.org.uk
Association of Master Tradesman http://joiners.amtuk.com/
Bconstructive CITB Careers Information www.bconstructive.co.uk
British Woodworking Federation www.bwf.org.uk
Construction Industry Council www.cic.org.uk
Construction Industry Training Board www.citb.co.uk
Careers Wales have produced a Spotlight article on careers in
construction: https://www.careerswales.com/en/spotlight-on-construction/
You may find further information about this area of work through
Careers Wales (www.careerswales.com/) or
in your local library, careers office or school careers
library.