CONSTRUCTION SITE

Exercise 1 

Study this text and learn the words in blue.

A few days after Anne`s arrival Jim Atkinson had to drive down to the yard in the pick-up to collect some scaffolding tubes, a ladder and a wheelbarrow and take them to a building site his firm was working on.When he asked Anne if she would like to go with him, she jumped at the chance. During the drive to the yard she had plenty of time to ask her host a few questions she had been itching to put to him:

A: Is your company a very big one?

J: No, we`re quite small, really. Mainly we build single houses, modernize old buildings, do conversions and extensions, and a good deal of repair work. Our clients are mostly private persons. At the moment I think we have 34 employees, including the office staff.

A: Are most of them carpenters?

J: Well, we need carpenters on most projects, but as you know, not so many houses here are built mainly of wood, so we need other types of craftsmen as well, bricklayers for example.

A: Are they all skilled workers?

J: No, we have a few labourers as well. They load and unload lorries, move materials on the site and serve the craftsmen. We also have a couple of drivers who transport materials and equipment from the yard to the site.

A: Don`t you have any apprentices?

J: Oh yes, we have several trainee and apprenticed carpenters and bricklayers. We badly need to recruit good youngsters to the industry.

A: Are you personally in charge of the work on the site?

J: No, the day to day site management is taken care of by a foreman.

A: What about management and office staff?

J: In addition to being the owner, I`m also the managing director of the company and responsible for the overall running of it. At the office I have a secretary and a book-keeper who deal with correspondence, bills and other paperwork. We also have a building surveyor. He has technical qualifications; and prices bills of quantities, estimates tenders and does all the necessary calculations; He`s my second in command and runs things when I`m away. I suppose you could say that he deals mainly with the technical side of things, whilst I deal with the business side.; I do a few odd jobs too, like today. It gives me a chance to get out of the office and keep in touch with the workmen - I started off as a carpenter myself!

A: And now you`re a rich company owner!

J: Not rich exactly. Well, I have to admit that I make a fairly good living. As you know, mass production techniques and big business have rationalised the building industry in recent years - the big contractors are getting bigger and more streamlined all the time, but there`s still a niche in the market for the traditional craftsman and the small builder - luckily for us!

A: Do you do all the work on a house from start to finish?

J: We`re what`s called general builders, which means we usually do most of the work ourselves, from laying the foundations to doing the interior fitting. Windows are supplied by glazing firms, kitchen furniture and doors and so on by joinery firms, but we do the tiling, painting and wallpapering. The plumbing and electrical installation are done by specialized firms who work as sub-contractors. They employ skilled plumbers and electricians, of course. Sometimes we work as sub-contractors ourselves on larger projects - on the structural side. On really big projects the whole system´s much more complicated and specialized. The big property development companies have their own planning staff, but they would also employ consulting architects and engineers at the planning stage. Their contracting staff, accountants and sub-contractors to submit tenders for various parts of the work, for instance scaffolding, structural, services etc. The sub-contractors would be big companies with their own staff of surveyors and engineers.

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Exercise 5

Exercise 6

Read and translate about the general rules  on the construction site

Entering the construction site requires the following basic rules of conduct to be observed:
*Always wear personal protection equipment in the construction site area.
*Do not leave the construction site without giving notice of departure.
*Do not obstruct roadways or storage areas.
*Ensure separate, appropriate material storage.
*Protect supply lines (cable,pipes) from damage.
*Mark out and secure places of danger.
*Targeted and detailed planning is one of the most important and imperative conditions for any job.

Exercise 7

Exercise 8