Residential Work
This area of construction is where you'll find the most individual homeowners as clients. While many business owners may have homes, this aspect of your work will be all about the residential clients who need a fence fixed or a new roof put on. It's likely to be smaller-scale projects, but the expectations from clients can be high and they'll often require more attention than a large company that just needs some plumbing done. For instance, say you're a company installing solar panels for industrial buildings—you could get hired for three buildings in a row without much interaction with your client. But if you're putting up siding on one house, you're going to want to consult your client every step of the way to ensure they get exactly what they want. This kind of attention may mean higher salaries or hourly rates—with good reason! It's important to keep up on communication with smaller groups and individuals to make sure everyone's happy and working together well toward the same goal.
Commercial Work
Commercial work is similar to residential work in a lot of ways, but the principle difference is that commercial buildings are larger—and we’re not just talking about size. Commercial buildings have more rules, regulations and standards to adhere to than residential construction. In addition, because they're larger and taller, they require more specialized knowledge when it comes to safety measures. As you can imagine, working on a commercial building also requires access to more equipment and people to get the job done right.
Industrial Work
Industrial work will take place in the following environments:
- Large buildings or complex structures
- Large machines
- Large pieces of equipment
- Large systems (plumbing, HVAC, electrical, etc.)
- Large pieces of infrastructure (dams, power stations)
When you can see the differences between each type of skilled trade you can decide which is right for you.
- Residential skilled trades
- Commercial skilled trades
- Industrial skilled trades
If you're a person who likes to make your own decisions, then you might want to consider an industrial career. With the ability to manage yourself, your time and your projects, industrial is the right fit for individuals who are self-starters as well as self-motivated. If you prefer working indoors in a shop or factory environment, this type of trade is right up your alley. It's important that if you choose an industrial trade, that you have the ability to lift heavy objects. Depending on what industry you choose, there are opportunities that require minimal physicality or strength. For example: welding and operating machinery don't require much strength but if you're doing heavy lifting on job sites then it's important that can handle the work load.
