Industry Overview

The UK's engineering construction industry (ECI) designs, constructs and maintains all types of process plants across major parts of the UK economy in the oil and gas (onshore and offshore), water, environmental, steel and metal, cement, glass, paper, brewing and distillation, food, power generation, nuclear waste reprocessing, pharmaceutical production, petrochemical and chemical sectors.

The ECI has a big impact on the UK economy, directly contributing around 1.5% of GDP. The importance goes beyond direct GDP contribution, because engineering construction underpins the UK production of crucial products such as oil, gas, chemicals and power generation.

Around 100,000 people are employed in the industry in both site and offsite (design and procurement) work worldwide. The type of site work has changed in the last decade as fewer new build projects have been undertaken. Repair and maintenance work now makes up the majority of work in the sector.

The skills are specialist and mobile between the sectors and range from VQ level 3 (or equivalent) for engineering design technicians and specialists, mechanical and electrical engineering craftspersons and technicians capable of working in safety critical and hazardous environments to levels 4 and 5 skills in project planning, management, construction planning and execution. Intermediate supervisory skills are also critical to engineering construction.