Careers and Nomenclature

In this episode, the topic is words; specifically, how nomenclature can change depending on location. We also discuss careers in the industry and how to get started. 

More About the Show

The Build Perspectives podcast shares insider knowledge to build connections and community in the building materials industry. Tim and Carolina are friends, colleagues and former coworkers who love the construction industry and their clients, and want to share their passion and insights to attract future talent to the industry.

In this episode, Tim and Carolina talk about nomenclature in the industry and how these terms can be used differently in different counties, as well as in different regions around one country. They also discuss career paths in the buildings industry and how you can get started or even make a career change. 

Different Countries, Different Meanings

When Tim talked to a supplier in the U.K. recently, he realized that the supplier was using words differently, as well as using words the other hadn’t heard before in terms of the industry. FOr instance, the supplier used words such as clatter and fixer. 

It opened up a whole new perspective on the language we use when working globally. In the U.S., we use the word render to mean a 3D mock-up of a design. However, in the U.K., render is the word for stucco. This can lead to a disconnect in conversations when dealing with suppliers or builders in other countries. 

Another example is the word clatter. In the U.K., a clatter is a roofer on commercial jobs. In most cases, the clatter does the roofing installation, as well as the entire building envelope. In the U.S., the clatter role is broken up into three or four different subs. 

Even in the U.S., people have different meanings to words based on the part of the country you are in and what trade you are in. Here are a few words and their meanings based on Tim and Carolina’s experience in the industry. 

Facades

A facade encompasses the whole exterior of a build. It’s the outward appearance of the building. It could mean cladding, it could mean, glazing, it could mean storefront or it could mean all of those things together. Facade can sometimes be synonymous with the building envelope, though sometimes building envelopes are more about what’s behind the cladding.

Enclosure

The word enclosure is actually used in the building code and the ICC, when it refers to facades and building envelopes. The facade and building envelope combined is called an enclosure. This is more of a technical term, which helps reduce confusion around the word, no matter where you are in the country. 

Veneer

While some people refer to veneer as cladding, though cladding can be much more than a veneer. For instance, in the Northeast, mason unions refer to brick as a veneer or cladding. Some of the confusion can come from terms being used today that referred to a different type of building from decades ago. Some buildings used to be made of cinder stone or brick, and the brick was referred to as the siding or cladding. However, today, when brick is just put on the outside of the building for aesthetics, it’s more of a facade.

Rainscreen

Some of the most important places in the world to use a rainscreen type system are places where it doesn’t rain, so really, it’s more of a ventilated facade. A rainscreen is a wall outside of a wall, and it seems to be named such because it ‘keeps the rain out’ and is the first layer of protection for the interior of the building. It can also sometimes be called a curtain wall because it’s a wall over the sheathing. However, today, curtain walls tend to refer to something more robust than a rainscreen. 

According to Wikipedia, a rainscreen is: “A rainscreen is an exterior wall detail where the siding (wall cladding) stands off from the moisture-resistant surface of an air barrier applied to the sheathing (sheeting) to create a capillary break and to allow drainage and evaporation.”

Outboard Insulation

Outboard insulation is another word for continuous insulation and is used in the U.K.. However, it also can mean external framing that does not provide a thermal break, unlike continuous insulation. 

Career Cards

Source

Tim recently contacted a company in the U.K. called Gilliford Try who created construction career cards. The purpose of these cards is to raise the interest of construction design, architecture, engineering real estate for drawing people into the industry, whether they’re retraining from a different industry or they are coming out of school. The cards are all about different industries. 

Each card contains information such as salary levels, career pathways, upward mobility, industry demand for the role and more. They are a bit like a Yelp review for the job. Because these cards are made by a company in the U.K., they do use some different career terms. For instance, they use bricklayer (mason in the U.S.), ceiling fixer (drywaller in the U.S.) and clerk of works inspector (building inspector in the U.S.).

Finding a Job

If you want to change indstries or you’re just getting started, don’t be deterred if there isn’t an official apprenticeship program in your target career. Talk to a company you want to work for and be persistent. Show you are reliable and hardworking. Even if they don’t have something for you right then, keep in touch, even if you work somewhere else, and you may be surprised by a call down the road. 

You can make anything into an apprenticeship. Also, try interviewing people that are already doing what you want to do. Take them out for coffee and ask them what they like, what they don’t like, how you can break into the field, etc. It not only gives you a good idea of what the job would be like and if you’d like doing it, but it also increases your network. 

Join the Conversation

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this week’s episode! Shoot us an email at buildperspectives@gmail.com