An Introduction into Level 3 Construction Support Technician Training

Before starting my role with Ashby Energy almost a year ago I had no experience within the construction industry. Thanks to the company I have been enrolled onto and am completing an apprenticeship course all about construction to grow my personal knowledge to benefit both myself and Ashby Energy. The course is titled ‘Level 3 Construction Support Technician’, and it contains several different units that focus on different areas of methodology behind construction, as opposed to the actual physical onsite building works.

For example, Unit 7 is titled ‘Design Methods’ in which so far I have learned about some of the various equipment and methods used for construction drawing, as well as creating some construction drawings myself. I have spent time learning about manual drawing techniques and had multiple sessions on drawing boards creating my own floorplans and sections by hand. This is a massively beneficial skill for me as an air tightness tester as I know I could create plans out on site if I need them with very little equipment.

Alternatively, I have also spent time learning CAD (Computer Aided Design) techniques of drawing. The software I have been given an introduction to are called AutoCAD and Revit, both which allow the creation of 2D plans and sketches with a variety of different design elements and details. I can specify what materials I am using in a design for floors, walls, roofs, and add detail to the building such as the locations of doors and windows. I can now also expand into site plans with designing the surrounding are to show roads, flowerbeds, footpaths, or carparks to name a few.

Within Revit specifically I can also convert these 2D plans into a 3D view which brings the plans I have created to life, and this is useful to be able to present and show my ideas and work, as well as edit the plans from another angle to be more accurate to the vision of a client. Attached to this post is an image from my recent work on Revit where I’ve been designing a sports pavilion and surrounding land.

My knowledge of construction has greatly improved already from the course and I’m looking forward to getting into the second year and starting more new units. Overall the course is helping my personal development and building up my skills which will only further benefit me going forward both on my course and in my role as a Building Testing Engineer with Ashby Energy.