The exposure that most people have to the construction industry is to its rough end – to the dodgy roofer who appears after a storm and charges gold dust for replacing a few slates, or the brickie’s labourer leering at short skirts from the scaffold. And it is a rare dinner party or a pub gathering, that is complete without some tale of woe from some experience with ‘The Builders’.
On the Job, book cover

Available now from Amazon UK as a paperback or Kindle edition. Amazon US Kindle edition.

Construction certainly has its rough side, where mechanical excavators and concrete lorries churn up the mud, and rasp-tongued scaffolders swing from dizzy heights. With it though, comes the excitement of creating something from nothing; of turning an old bomb-site into a school or modern office-block, a neglected Victorian pile into a state-of-the-art hospital, or providing decent homes for people – and of course keeping the already-built environment in a state of good repair.

There is too the satisfaction of seeing the concrete – in the full sense of the word – results one’s work and not just a pile of papers or electronic signals on a disc, though there is enough of that too in the modern construction industry. Above all, there is the sense of humour generated by confronting and overcoming obstacles – a feeling, at times, that we must only be in it just for the laughs.

Through real-life anecdote and short story, On The Job tells of the varied facets of the construction industry and of those employed in it, who by working together, create and maintain our built environment.

This collection also reflects a period of transformation from the 70’s into the new century, when most directly employed operatives were replaced by sub-contractors and everyone in the industry had to digest the changeover from Imperial to Metric measurements, together with initiatives like Quality Assurance, Health & Safety Regulations, etc., etc. It was also a time when the industry was still full of real-life characters – names and personal details amended here – who’d left school at fifteen to learn a trade, then ducking and diving their way up the managerial ladder.

Despite the pressures and problems, at the end of each project there is a sense of achievement. In my thirty odd years of construction project management, on hospitals, museums, banks, housing, railway stations, airport and many other projects, there were hectic days, tense days and certainly, frustrating days, but I can truly say that there rarely was a boring day. Are there many other professions that provide that?

David Merron MCIOB, MSc

Available now from Amazon UK as a paperback or Kindle edition.

Amazon US, Kindle edition.