Monthly Archives: March 2021

Is It Time for Your Contracting Business to Get Into Residential Construction?

A lot of construction professionals tend to choose either commercial or residential construction, and then they stick to it. Right now, there is so much need for new housing that many pros are reconsidering their commitment to just one or the other. Of course, it’s hard to know from the beginning if building housing is the best choice for your future career. Here are a few ways to determine whether residential construction might be a good fit.

Does Your Area Have Room to Grow?
One thing about new construction is that it needs space to grow. Although many custom home builders will take down an old home and construct a new one in its place, most of the new construction developments in California require some open spaces. A city that is almost completely built up may not have as much room for new construction as one with lots of open fields on all sides. In short, if you’re living deep into the suburbs or even on the outskirts, there may be a lot of opportunities for residential construction.

Do You Like Working With Housing?
Although it’s important to choose a field that allows you plenty of work and opportunities to make money, what you want to do with your career also plays a heavy role. The commercial sector has a lot of unique aspects that might not translate as well into residential construction. For example, if you want to construct, maintain, or repair elevators, residential construction may be relatively limited for your skillset. However, if you love to see a building come to completion from start to finish, you may get more satisfaction from building homes instead of large office buildings.

What’s Your Commute for Residential Construction Work?
If you happen to live in an area with lots of housing construction potential, you might be able to find all the work you need within a short drive of your home. Of course, this isn’t going to be the case for everyone. If you live in a built-up area that is more commercial than residential, you may need to commute farther out to find where the newest construction is happening. Set a driving distance you are willing to make for daily work, and figure out how far from your home that will take you. That should give you a range that you can compare for possible job opportunities.

Are You Looking for Steady Growth?
Experts were thinking that residential housing was going to decrease somewhat in 2020, but they didn’t anticipate how it was going to play out. Instead of tapering off just a little, housing plummeted due to the pandemic and now is rising steadily again. If you want a career with steady growth, now might be the perfect time. With the millions of new housing units that California still needs, it’s likely that anyone who gets into residential construction will have a lot of work to do for the next several years.

Do You Have the Ability to Work in Both Industries?
Ultimately, you may not have to make the decision to work exclusively in residential or commercial construction. Although many contracting businesses do generally focus on one or the other, and some have no choice but to stick to one, most have a fair degree of flexibility. The ability to move from one to the other, or choose projects from both throughout the year, is a highlight of building your own contracting business. With the right knowledge and training, you can find the part of the industry that suits your needs most.

Residential construction is a growing part of the industry and will be for a significant amount of time. If you want to break in and start building a career that offers you flexibility, security, and steady growth, you have picked a good time. For more information about residential construction careers, contact CSLS today!

5 Reasons to Start Your Construction Career in 2021

Now that 2020 is starting to fade into the past, you may be reminded that you have a whole new decade full of potential. Is 2021 the year you’ll start in construction? The choice is yours. Here are five reasons you can be optimistic about your decision.

Construction Is Rebounding in 2021
Lots of industries shut down or slowed down for most of 2020 due to the pandemic. Construction is no exception. Plenty of investors and property owners decided to scale back or even abandon projects that they were thinking about doing because they weren’t sure if they would be able to find qualified professionals to handle it or how the economy would look by the end of the year. But as 2020 started to come to a close, the interest in new construction starts began to rebound. And now, the demand for housing is still high. The next few years are going to be really interesting for the industry, and those who get in on the ground floor are more likely to reap the benefits.

California Needs New Construction
At the end of 2019, the need for buildings in residential and commercial sectors in California was already high. Cities like Los Angeles were neck-deep in urban renewal projects to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. And not much has changed since then. California still has a housing crisis, especially since many people have shifted to working exclusively from home. Although housing needs often wax and wane from one decade to the next, this is a problem that’s likely to continue for many years into the future. The state needs qualified construction professionals who are able to meet the challenge.

You’ll Have Lots of Opportunities to Learn
Along with a new understanding of the building needs of the state, you may see a renewed interest in professional trades. There was a time, decades ago, when trade schools and apprenticeship programs started to fade away in favor of colleges churning out degrees. Now, people are realizing that they needed these professional trades all along. If you’ve been looking for the perfect opportunity to study on the job or find a paid apprenticeship that gives you the expertise you need for a challenging career, you’ve picked the perfect time to get started.

Growth Potential Is Still High
If you’ve read anything on the subject, you probably know that construction has had a labor shortage for almost a decade now. It just keeps getting worse as the most skilled professionals in highly-competitive fields retire with no one to replace them. With the right training and experience, that person could be you one day. Right now, there’s a lot of interest in investment but not as many professionals who can fill the roles that complete the projects. A targeted career trajectory could get you exactly where you want to be with less competition than you might have had 5 years ago.

Your Career Is Waiting
Any year can pass by in a flash. Blink, and you’ll miss it. And for any big opportunity, the first step is often the hardest. Once you get started building experience and the requirements you need to become a licensed contractor, you’ll be so glad you did. So what you are waiting for? The sign that you should get started has been shining brightly for some time. Follow it now and see where it takes you.

Starting your career in construction may be one of the best decisions you’ve ever made for your life and your future. All you have to do is make the choice and get started. To learn more about making construction your future, contact CSLS today!