Why are bricklayers important?

Bricklayers are important for a vast number of reasons. At a macroeconomic level, the UK economy relies on the buying and selling of property. The construction industry facilitates the buying and selling of property by employing bricklayers to build.  Bricklayers, along with many other skilled trades onsite, bring building plans from drawing to fruition everyday. In doing so, these trades contribute directly to the success of our economy. It’s common knowledge that when houses stop being built, the economy is usually in trouble. 

 At a microeconomic level, bricklayers are important because of their role in the construction industry. Bricklayers work to build and repair domestic and commercial property across the UK. If you are in a building whilst reading this, a bricklayer somewhere built it. 

What do bricklayers do? 

Bricklayers typically work on a site building commercial and domestic property. They work with a range of tools like trowels and profiles and a range of materials like cement and mortar. Some materials that bricklayers work with can be hazardous, that’s why bricklayers also have to prioritise health and safety at all times. Our bricklayers at SLBC work on a range of projects, small and large. Types of projects can include: 

• Commercial housing developments on behalf of a principal contractor 
• Social housing developments on behalf of the government 
• Domestic repairs i.e., extensions, wall repairs

Everyday is different, our bricklayers typically travel around to work on different sites across the west of Scotland. It’s a great career choice if you like meeting new people and being a part of a team. We’ve written a blog on a typical day in the life of one of our bricklaying apprentices if you want to find out a bit more about careers in our industry.

How much do bricklayers earn? 

The salary a bricklayer earns depends on which stage of their career they are at. Apprentices make less in the beginning of their career than they will do when they are qualified, as with many career paths. The average bricklayers salary in 2023 is around £39,000 according to Talent.com. We’ve written a blog about how much bricklayers earn if you want to learn more. 

All image credit to Canva.