Bricklayer

Guild coat of arms of the bricklayers with a slightly flared compass , hammer and bricklayer's trowel in a triangle

Company sign of the bricklayer Diogenes Structor, 79 AD, company headquarters: Pompeji Insula VIII 15, recognizable the symbols of his craft a. a. Plumb bob, trowel, angle, pick, taken during the Pompeii exhibition of the European cultural park Bliesbruck-Reinheim

Bricklayer

The mason (from What do you want to become , around 1880)

Masons yesterday and today: Postage stamp from 1986

Guild drawer, Märkisches Museum Berlin

The journeyman bricklayer Conrad Mohrbotter's hiking book started in the Kingdom of Hanover in 1838

A bricklayer is a building craftsman whose eponymous core activity is the construction of masonry . The bricklayer is the main builder of the shell . That is why he usually also carries out concrete , reinforced concrete , screed and plaster as well as sealing and drainage work for smaller construction projects (single-family houses) . In the course of the progressive division of labor in the construction industry, specialists with a narrower professional profile have developed for many areas of the broad job description of the bricklayer, who mainly work on larger construction sites. For example, bricklayers can specialize in business and also work as concrete repairers .

Masons in the Holy Roman Empire had been organized as guilds since the High Middle Ages . The training to become a bricklayer join took three years to get down to the Wanderjahre joined. Fixed rules for masterpieces have been handed down since the 16th century. In 1934, the mason profession was listed for the first time in the German Reich in the directory of handicrafts and in 1936 in the field of industry as a recognized teaching profession . The apprenticeship system was regulated in 1940 in the craft by professional regulations. In the Federal Republic of Germany, training in the craft and industry was reorganized in May 1974 through the regulation on vocational training in the construction industry. In 1998, the masonry profession was merged with the two professions of concrete and reinforced concrete and furnace and chimney builders to form the masonry and concrete construction trade.

From 1999 to 2010, the number of bricklayers, construction workers, building construction workers, oven, furnace and chimney builders who were subject to social security contributions fell in Germany from 296,047 to 146,878 people. The profession is still a classic male domain today . In 2010, the proportion of women in training and professional practice in the DACH countries was not more than 0.8%.

education

Germany

In the three-year vocational training , in addition to the technical skills required for the execution of masonry and reinforced concrete components, skills in plastering, screed and scaffolding work are taught. As part of the construction level training - 1st level as a building construction specialist after two years, 2nd level as a bricklayer after the third year - the prospective bricklayer also receives basic knowledge of tiling and carpentry .

The school part of the training also provides the necessary knowledge about the correct execution of building structures with regard to moisture protection and thermal insulation of buildings, basic knowledge of building materials and, last but not least, an awareness of safety at work .

In addition to the school-based and company -based training phase, practical and theoretical lessons are given in inter-company courses . Therefore, one often speaks of a "triple training". The inter-company training takes place in training centers, which in turn are financed by SOKA-Bau (social insurance funds for the construction industry).

The aim of the apprenticeship is the ability to correctly carry out a shell construction according to a plan from the basement floor to under the roof structure , while observing the intersections with other trades such as carpenters , plasterers , glaziers , electricians and heating engineers .

Austria

Maurer, Austria

The apprenticeship period in Austria is three years. Apprentices are trained on a trial basis in training companies (construction companies), vocational schools and the BAU academies / training yards of the federal states. ( Triales training system .) This training system is considered a recipe for success. In international competitions, Austria’s youngsters traditionally play at the forefront (masonry world champion 2005, concrete world champion 2015, 2013, 2015, vice European champion 2008.) In addition to the skills needed to erect new structures, the renovation and conversion of existing structures are becoming an increasingly important area of responsibility. With the production of thermal insulation on old houses, bricklayers make a significant contribution to saving energy and protecting the environment. Related apprenticeships can be completed at the same time with a double honor, for example formwork , civil engineering or carpenter .

The apprentice completes the vocational training with the final apprenticeship examination. There are opportunities for advancement, for example, through further training at the BAU academies to become foremen, foremen, construction technicians, site managers and builders. A successfully completed apprenticeship also enables access to the vocational diploma (vocational matriculation examination) and subsequently to further higher qualifications. But apprentice masons can also complete the Matura in Austria using the apprenticeship with Matura model . Here the apprentice can take part in Matura courses at the same time during their apprenticeship (either in the integrated model, during working hours and in consultation with the training company, or in the accompanying model, after working hours in their free time without the necessary consultation with the training company). In addition to the final apprenticeship examination, the apprentice must then complete the central school-leaving certificate in German, mathematics, English and a school-leaving certificate in the respective subject area (structural engineering).

Switzerland

The training to become a bricklayer EFZ ( French Maçon CFC , Italian Muratore AFC ) lasts three years in Switzerland . The training locations are the apprenticeship company, vocational school and inter-company courses .

Work equipment

Essential handicraft aids are trowels , float boards , bricklayers ' pans , spirit levels , plumb bob , mason's cord , mortar trough , mixer and mason's hammer .

The most important working materials are artificial bricks of all kinds (e.g. bricks , sand-lime bricks , aerated concrete ) and mortar .

tradition

In today's building trade, bricklayers are one of the professional groups who once again attach great importance to their traditions . After completing their apprenticeship, some of them go on a hike, also known as a journeyman's hike or waltz , as they did then .

literature

Balder Batran, Herbert Bläsi et al .: Expertise in construction . Verlag Handwerk und Technik, Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-582-03503-4 .
Balder Batran, Herbert Bläsi et al .: Basic knowledge of construction . Verl. Handwerk u. Technology, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-582-03500-X .
AW Dammann (arrangement), Hermann Alexander von Berlepsch (ed.): Chronicle of bricklayers and stone masons: together with an overview of the history of architecture of all times and peoples. Zeller, Osnabrück 1966.
Kurt Kettler et al .: skilled mason. Stam-Verlag, Cologne 2000, ISBN 3-8237-0687-X .
Klaus Köhler (Ed.): Specialist levels construction. Technical math. Bricklayer. Verlag Handwerk und Technik, Hamburg 1981, ISBN 3-582-03562-X .
Carl August Menzel: The practical bricklayer. Handbook for master masons. At the same time, a guide for the journeyman masons who have to pass the master mason examination. Knapp, Halle 1870 ( digitized ( DjVu ))