Elementary construction
occupations n.e.c.
Job holders in this unit group perform a variety of general labouring and construction duties to assist building, civil engineering and related trades workers in the performance of their tasks not elsewhere classified in minor group 912: Elementary construction occupations.
- Employees (UK)
- 45k
- Median annual pay
- £26,723
- Exposure score ?
- 0.1/10 Minimal 0.2/10 Minimal strict reading, with tools is 0.2/10 with-tools reading, strict is 0.1/10
- Wage exposure
- £12m £24m
Higher exposure than 12% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
Where the work usually starts.
This role's strict reading is low because its top tasks are judgement, not drafting. The three highest-stakes tasks below are still usually where the work starts. Switch to With tools to see what AI plus the right context can take on.
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Tend pumps, compressors, or generators to provide power for tools, machinery, or equipment or to heat or move materials, such as asphalt.
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Lubricate, clean, or repair machinery, equipment, or tools.
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Signal equipment operators to facilitate alignment, movement, or adjustment of machinery, equipment, or materials.
For this role the labels do not surface obvious candidates, so the work would start with the highest-stakes tasks below and find the AI angle in conversation.
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Tend pumps, compressors, or generators to provide power for tools, machinery, or equipment or to heat or move materials, such as asphalt.
-
Lubricate, clean, or repair machinery, equipment, or tools.
-
Signal equipment operators to facilitate alignment, movement, or adjustment of machinery, equipment, or materials.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "Construction Laborers" (47-2061.00).
What AI can already do
0 of 27 tasks, unaided
No tasks here are labelled as something an LLM can do unaided. Switch to 'With tools' above to see what changes when AI is paired with the right context.
What still needs a person
27 of 27 tasks
Tend pumps, compressors, or generators to provide power for tools, machinery, or equipment or to heat or move materials, such as asphalt.
Lubricate, clean, or repair machinery, equipment, or tools.
Signal equipment operators to facilitate alignment, movement, or adjustment of machinery, equipment, or materials.
Position, join, align, or seal structural components, such as concrete wall sections or pipes.
Perform site activities required of green certified construction practices, such as implementing waste management procedures, identifying materials for reuse, or installing erosion or sedimentation control mechanisms.
Control traffic passing near, in, or around work zones.
Install sewer, water, or storm drain pipes, using pipe-laying machinery or laser guidance equipment.
Operate or maintain air monitoring or other sampling devices in confined or hazardous environments.
Read plans, instructions, or specifications to determine work activities.
Smooth or finish freshly poured cement or concrete, using floats, trowels, screeds, or powered cement finishing tools.
Measure, mark, or record openings or distances to layout areas where construction work will be performed.
Erect or dismantle scaffolding, shoring, braces, traffic barricades, ramps, or other temporary structures.
Clean or prepare construction sites to eliminate possible hazards.
Dig ditches or trenches, backfill excavations, or compact and level earth to grade specifications, using picks, shovels, pneumatic tampers, or rakes.
Load, unload, or identify building materials, machinery, or tools, distributing them to the appropriate locations, according to project plans or specifications.
Provide assistance to craft workers, such as carpenters, plasterers, or masons.
Spray materials, such as water, sand, steam, vinyl, paint, or stucco, through hoses to clean, coat, or seal surfaces.
Raze buildings or salvage useful materials.
Mop, brush, or spread paints, cleaning solutions, or other compounds over surfaces to clean them or to provide protection.
Position or dismantle forms for pouring concrete, using saws, hammers, nails, or bolts.
Grind, scrape, sand, or polish surfaces, such as concrete, marble, terrazzo, or wood flooring, using abrasive tools or machines.
Place, consolidate, or protect case-in-place concrete or masonry structures.
Mix ingredients to create compounds for covering or cleaning surfaces.
Mix, pour, or spread concrete, using portable cement mixers.
Operate jackhammers or drills to break up concrete or pavement.
Apply caulking compounds by hand or caulking guns to protect against entry of water or air.
Tend machines that pump concrete, grout, cement, sand, plaster, or stucco through spray guns for application to ceilings or walls.
Tasks via O*NET "Construction Laborers" (47-2061.00).
What AI can already do
2 of 27 tasks, with tools
Read plans, instructions, or specifications to determine work activities.
Measure, mark, or record openings or distances to layout areas where construction work will be performed.
What still needs a person
25 of 27 tasks
Tend pumps, compressors, or generators to provide power for tools, machinery, or equipment or to heat or move materials, such as asphalt.
Lubricate, clean, or repair machinery, equipment, or tools.
Signal equipment operators to facilitate alignment, movement, or adjustment of machinery, equipment, or materials.
Position, join, align, or seal structural components, such as concrete wall sections or pipes.
Perform site activities required of green certified construction practices, such as implementing waste management procedures, identifying materials for reuse, or installing erosion or sedimentation control mechanisms.
Control traffic passing near, in, or around work zones.
Install sewer, water, or storm drain pipes, using pipe-laying machinery or laser guidance equipment.
Operate or maintain air monitoring or other sampling devices in confined or hazardous environments.
Smooth or finish freshly poured cement or concrete, using floats, trowels, screeds, or powered cement finishing tools.
Erect or dismantle scaffolding, shoring, braces, traffic barricades, ramps, or other temporary structures.
Clean or prepare construction sites to eliminate possible hazards.
Dig ditches or trenches, backfill excavations, or compact and level earth to grade specifications, using picks, shovels, pneumatic tampers, or rakes.
Load, unload, or identify building materials, machinery, or tools, distributing them to the appropriate locations, according to project plans or specifications.
Provide assistance to craft workers, such as carpenters, plasterers, or masons.
Spray materials, such as water, sand, steam, vinyl, paint, or stucco, through hoses to clean, coat, or seal surfaces.
Raze buildings or salvage useful materials.
Mop, brush, or spread paints, cleaning solutions, or other compounds over surfaces to clean them or to provide protection.
Position or dismantle forms for pouring concrete, using saws, hammers, nails, or bolts.
Grind, scrape, sand, or polish surfaces, such as concrete, marble, terrazzo, or wood flooring, using abrasive tools or machines.
Place, consolidate, or protect case-in-place concrete or masonry structures.
Mix ingredients to create compounds for covering or cleaning surfaces.
Mix, pour, or spread concrete, using portable cement mixers.
Operate jackhammers or drills to break up concrete or pavement.
Apply caulking compounds by hand or caulking guns to protect against entry of water or air.
Tend machines that pump concrete, grout, cement, sand, plaster, or stucco through spray guns for application to ceilings or walls.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Elementary occupations, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons