How to become a civil engineering or Building construction labourer

Official title: Civil engineering/Building construction labourer

Also called: Building construction labourer, Cable puller (cable laying), Chainman (surveying), Civil engineering labourer, Concrete mixer, Construction form setter, Construction labourer, Ditch digger, Grubber and clearer, Rail track layer, Reclamation worker, Road maintenance labourer

Civil engineering/Building construction labourer performs routine tasks in connection with demolition works as well as the construction of buildings and civil engineering projects such as roads, railways and dams. He/she performs tasks involving physical labour such as cleans and prepares sites, digs trenches, sets braces to support excavation sites, erects scaffolding and cleans up rubble and debris. He/she may operate hand and power tools such as cement mixers and small mechanical hoists.

Main tasks

• Digging and filling holes and trenches using hand-held tools
• Shovelling and spreading gravel and related materials
• Trimming and cutting rocks and concrete and bitumen surfaces using jackhammers
• Loading and unloading construction materials, excavated material and equipment and transporting them around construction sites using wheelbarrows and hand trucks
• Cleaning worksites and removing obstructions
• Cleaning used building bricks and doing other simple work on demolition sites
• Mixing, pouring and spreading materials such as concrete, plaster and mortar trucks

Pay · Outlook · AI and this job

• Median pay: $18,600 a year. The middle half earn $16,800 to $19,920 a year.
• Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

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Questions people ask

How much does a civil engineering or Building construction labourer earn in Singapore?

Median full-time pay is $18,600 a year (Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg)). The middle half earn $16,800 to $19,920.

Will AI change the work of a civil engineering or Building construction labourer?

Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

• Ministry of Manpower (via data.gov.sg): Resident Occupational Wages (Occupational Wage Survey) (June 2024 (data.gov.sg update 2026-04-01)), Singapore Open Data Licence v1.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
• International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026

Updated 4 October 2026