Bricklayer

A bricklayer is a tradesman who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The term also refers to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of masonry.

The training of a trade in European cultures has been a formal tradition for many centuries. A tradesman typically begins in an apprenticeship, working for and learning from a master craftsman, and after a number of years is released from his master's service to become a journeyman. After a journeyman has proven himself to his trade's guild (most guilds are now known by different names), he may settle down as a master craftsman and work for himself, eventually taking on his own apprentices.

The modern process can be different. A tradesman still begins as an apprentice, but the apprenticeship is carried out partly through working for a qualified tradesman and partly through an accredited technical college delivering level one, two and three brickwork qualifications to learners .

The training takes three years. After that there is an examination by the (guild). The apprentice must show that he is able to construct masonry, knows how to protect a house from humidity, knows about thermal insulation, knows about construction material science and about occupational health and safety.

A man who has many years of experience in his trade will be allowed to become a master. He will have an exam again. In this exam he will show that he is an expert of his trade. He also must show that he can work with other people well and has some knowledge of pedagogy, because as a master he will be allowed to educate younger bricklayers.