About the Building and Construction Award

Crane and cement truck

Understand who the Building and Construction Award covers.

There’s also information on how to classify employees under the award.

On this page:

Important: Electricians, plumbers and other trades

This page has information on the Building and Construction Award.

Electricians, plumbers, landscapers and other labourers may be covered by another award.

For pay and entitlement information, follow our steps to check pay and award rules.

Who the Building and Construction Award covers

The Building and Construction Award covers employers in the building and construction industry.

The building and construction industry means construction work done on-site in a commercial capacity. It can be broken down into the following sectors:

An employee is covered by the award if there’s an award classification that covers them.

General building and construction

General building and construction work includes the building of residential or commercial structures, such as homes or offices.

It can also include the:

  • extension, restoration, repair and maintenance of these types of buildings
  • dismantling or demolition of buildings
  • site clearance works, including earth-moving and excavation
  • landscaping work as part of a construction project.

Example: General building and construction coverage

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

Billy goes to our website and uses the 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, Billy believes his business is covered by the Building and Construction Award.

Billy can now check the rules for pay and working conditions (like breaks and rosters) in the award for his employees.

Civil construction

Civil construction sector work includes the construction, maintenance and demolition of:

  • civil and engineering projects, including roads and transport works
  • car parks
  • other large projects.

It also includes related work such as traffic management around construction sites.

Example: Civil construction coverage

Shay is a traffic controller working at a highway roadwork site. She doesn’t know what her award is or if she’s getting the right pay.

Shay goes to our website and uses the Pay and Conditions Tool to check her pay.

Shay first searches for ‘traffic controller’. Based on her selections, the tool suggests that she may be covered by the Building and Construction Award.

Next, Shay reads about who the award covers and sees that it covers employees providing traffic management in the civil construction industry. She now believes that this is the award that covers her.

Shay then finishes using the Pay and Conditions Tool to calculate her pay and entitlements to check she’s getting the right pay. She bookmarks the tool for future reference.

Metal and engineering

The metal and engineering sector can cover employees performing metal trades work as part of a construction project.

This may include fabrication and installation work carried out during the construction of:

  • power stations
  • plant facilities
  • transmission towers
  • lifts and escalators.

Example: Metal and engineering coverage

Fred is an electrical tradesperson who’s started a new job installing lifts. He notices that his pay is different to when he worked in cabling services.

Fred’s workmate tells him that they’re covered by the Building and Construction Award.

Fred visits fairwork.gov.au and finds the Building and Construction Award from the List of awards page. He sees that the award covers employees in the lift industry.

Fred can now look up his entitlements, including calculating his wages using our Pay and Conditions Tool.

Classifying employees

Employees covered by the Building and Construction Award are paid according to their classification or skill level. The classification descriptions are in Schedule A.

An employee’s classification will depend on the:

  • type of duties the employee performs
  • employee’s level of responsibility
  • level of experience or qualifications the employee needs to work at that level.

For more information on understanding classifications, go to our Award classifications page.

Pay information is covered on our Pay under the Building and Construction Award page.

Example: Employer works out classification for employee

Ramon is hiring employees to operate his new excavators with bucket capacity of up to 0.4 cubic metres.

Ramon knows that his business is covered by the Building and Construction Award, but he’s not sure of his employee’s classification levels. To work this out, Ramon reads through the classification descriptions in Schedule A of the award.

Ramon sees that ‘Construction worker level 4’ covers employees operating excavators of up to and including 0.5 cubic metre capacity. He also reads the other skills required for a level 4 employee and decides that this is the most appropriate level.

Ramon advises his employees of their award and classification. He bookmarks the free Pay and Conditions Tool to help calculate pay rates and allowances in the future.

Types of employment

Depending on the employee’s type of employment, the Building and Construction Award entitlements can apply differently. These entitlements include things like:

  • hours of work
  • pay
  • leave.

There are 3 types of employment under the Building and Construction Award:

Employers need to tell employees what their employment type is in writing.

To understand the different types of employment, go to Types of employees.

For information on apprentices, go to Apprentices under the Building and Construction Award.

Weekly hire

Weekly hire employees can be full-time or part-time employees (including apprentices).

They have the same entitlements as other full-time and part-time employees.

For more information, go to Daily hire and weekly hire.

Daily hire

Daily hire employees are similar to full-time and part-time employees. They can work full-time or part-time hours and they still get entitlements like annual leave and sick leave.

Daily hire employees get a follow the job loading as part of their pay rate. This compensates them for any time they aren’t working between jobs. They also have specific entitlements that apply when it comes to notice and termination.

Find out more at Daily hire and weekly hire.

Casual

Casual employment is different from part-time and full-time (permanent) employment.

Casual employees have no firm advance commitment to ongoing work (taking into account a number of factors). They may work irregular hours and shifts.

Casual employees are also entitled to a casual loading or specific casual pay rate under an award, enterprise agreement or employment contract.

Learn more at Casual employees.

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How to use this information

We have tools to help you check if the Building and Construction Award applies to you.

Follow our tips to:

Work out if an agreement applies

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

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

Check coverage under the Building and Construction Award

If there’s no agreement, an award will most likely apply. We have tools and resources to help you work out which one applies.

Check if the Building and Construction Award applies to you by:

Our Library also has information on award coverage. This includes for the most frequently asked job titles or occupations. Search for your job title in our Library.

Read and apply the classifications

Find out how to read and apply classification descriptions under the Building and Construction Award with our Award classifications guide.

There are practical steps and examples to help guide you through the process.

Understand the different employment types

Learn about the different types of employment and which entitlements apply by going to Types of employees.

You can also find more detailed information about employment types by reading the Building and Construction Award.

Learn award pay and entitlements

We have dedicated pages on award-specific entitlements for the Building and Construction Award.

Learn employee entitlements and employer obligations under the Building and Construction Award at:

For contractors, see Contractors in building and construction.

Tools and resources

Related information