Working in building and construction

Crane and cement truck

Employees and independent contractors can both work in the building and construction sector.

Find out where pay and entitlements come from for each worker.

On this page:

Employees

Employees work directly for a business. They have minimum entitlements and conditions of employment.

Independent contractors (contractors) don’t have the same entitlements as employees. To learn more, go to Contractors.

Employees get their minimum entitlements from:

An employment contract can also have additional terms about employment. These terms can’t be less than an employee’s minimum entitlements (for example, under the NES). Learn more at Employment contracts.

National Employment Standards

The National Employment Standards are minimum employment entitlements for employees. These include maximum weekly hours and leave. Find out more at National Employment Standards.

Enterprise agreement

An enterprise agreement is a legal document containing employment conditions that are agreed to between an employer and their employees.

Enterprise agreements are registered and approved by the Fair Work Commission and apply instead of an award.

For help finding an enterprise agreement, go to our Finding an agreement page.

Award

An award is a legal document that outlines the minimum pay rates and employment conditions for employees within a particular industry or occupation.

Awards don’t apply when an employer has an enterprise agreement in place.

Example: Employee understanding their entitlements come from different places

Mike works onsite in the residential construction industry as a joiner.

As Mike is covered by the Building and Construction Award, his rate of pay and other entitlements (like breaks) come from that award. He uses our free Pay and Conditions Tool to check pay rates and allowances under his award.

Mike wants to better understand his sick and carer’s leave entitlements. His award says that these come from the NES, so he checks our Sick and carer’s leave section and reads about what he’s entitled to. He also uses the Pay and Conditions Tool to calculate his future leave balance.

Mike also has an employment contract. He reads on fairwork.gov.au that employment contracts can also have additional terms about employment, but these terms can’t be less than an employee’s minimum entitlements. Mike remembers this for future reference.

Most employers and employees working in this sector are covered by an award.

Employers and employees working in building and construction may be covered by one of the following awards:

The award that applies depends on:

  • the industry the employer operates in
  • whether there’s an award classification for the type of work the employee performs.

It’s important to know the right award because:

  • each award has its own definition of the industry or occupation it covers
  • each award has its own classification levels and pay rates
  • different employment conditions like hours of work may apply.

Building and Construction Award

The Building and Construction Award covers construction work done on-site in a commercial capacity. The type of work covered by this award is divided into the following sectors:

  • general building and construction
  • civil construction
  • metal and engineering.

For more information about minimum employee entitlements in this award, visit About the Building and Construction Award.

Example: General building and construction coverage

Noah wants to start a business that demolishes residential homes. He’s not sure which award would cover this new business and what to pay his employees.

Noah goes to fairwork.gov.au and uses the free Pay and Conditions Tool. He sees that ‘demolition labourer’ in the building and construction industry points him to the Building and Construction Award.

After also reading the Building and Construction Award summary, Noah believes his business is covered by the Building and Construction Award.

Noah can now check the rules for pay and working conditions (like overtime and uniform entitlements) in the award for his employees.

Contractors

Contractors are different from employees. Contractors provide services to other businesses. In the construction sector, they may also be known as subcontractors.

Understand the laws that apply for contractors from our Contractors in building and construction page.

Businesses can find practical guidance on engaging contractors by reading our case studies.

Help with security of payment

Independent contractors and businesses enter into contracts for building and construction work. Sometimes disputes arise around those contracts.

Security of payment refers to a building contractor’s right to receive payments that are due under their contract. Each state and territory has its own security of payment laws that provide a statutory mechanism for resolving payment disputes.

Find out more about the security of payment laws for the building and construction sector at Contractor entitlements and support.

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How to use this information

Follow our tips to help find pay and other entitlements for employees:

Check if an award or agreement applies

To first check if an enterprise agreement applies, follow our steps on Finding an agreement.

If there’s no agreement, an award will most likely apply. To check their award coverage, employers and employees can use our Pay and Conditions Tool.

Read the award coverage

Our award summary pages also summarise coverage for awards, including:

Read these pages to see who an award covers and doesn’t cover.

Check your award entitlements

For most building and construction awards, we have tailored information about rules on employment conditions. Go to:

Select your industry from the drop-down menu to access information. For example, ‘Building, construction and on-site trades’ and then ‘Electrical’.

If your industry isn’t listed in one of our drop-down menus, it’s best to go to the award itself. Find a copy from our List of awards page.

Calculate pay rates

Ready to calculate your pay rates? To check pay rates, penalty rates and allowances, use our Pay and Conditions Tool.

You can also download the pay guide for your award from our Pay guides page.

Fix a workplace problem

If there’s an issue at work, use our step-by-step guides to help fix it: Fixing a workplace problem.

We cover common issues like underpayments, not getting pay slips and problems with final pay.

Tools and resources

Related information