Navigating Long-term Careers in the Construction Industry.
It’s not always easy to see the opportunities that exist within your own area of expertise, let alone those that run alongside it.
Using the metaphor of he awa whiria, a braided river, the Built Environment Career Streams project moves beyond the idea of a single, linear career path. It highlights flexible and interconnected routes that allow people to enter, specialise, transition and lead at different stages of their working lives.
Funded by the Construction Growth Foundation (CGF) and developed by Dr Kathryn Davies in collaboration with the University of Canterbury’s Building Innovation Partnership (BIP), this research-led framework builds on international best practice. Its goal is simple: to help retain people in our industry by showing clear, achievable opportunities for growth and development.
The project includes practical tools and guides for individuals and organisations, so whether you’re new to the sector, mentoring others, or managing professional development, you can see where and how talent flows across the built environment.
How are people using the Built Environment Career Streams Framework?
Graduates and recent grads
The BECS will help you identify the wide variety of professional roles available. You can determine where your skills fit best and gain the confidence to plan your next steps.
Career advisors and educators
Use the BECS framework to help others explore the possibilities within construction and connect learning to real industry pathways.
Employers
Identify new ways to attract, develop and retain people, and use the framework to design clear progression routes and support professional growth.
Learning and development professionals
Incorporate the framework into programmes to help teams plan their careers and navigate change in a dynamic industry.
Choosing the right career stream
This helpful guide has been created for anyone entering or changing careers in the construction industry.
Career Streams
The Built Environment Career Streams framework maps eight professional pathways across the construction ecosystem. Each stream comes with its own guide outlining roles, responsibilities and entry points.
- Architecture
- Engineering
- Quantity Surveying
- Project Management
- Construction Management
- Building Consenting & Compliance
- Facilities Management & Operations
- Building Information Modelling (BIM)
As you'll see, each stream connects and overlaps with others, just like the strands of a braided river, offering an incredible array of opportunity and creating a more resilient, skilled and connected industry.
Download the Report
Want to explore the full framework and insights from two years of research? Provide your details below and we'll email you the Built Environment Career Streams Report.
Our Partners
This project was made possible through the generous support and collaboration of:
Special thanks to Dr Kathryn Davies, Research Fellow and Project Co-Lead, for her leadership and insight throughout this work.