Construction Industry

The construction industry is the branch of manufacture and trade based on the building, maintaining, and repairing structures, including drilling and solid mineral exploration. The U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that the 1996 annual revenues of the construction industry, $306.1 billion, accounts for about 4% of that year's U.S. gross domestic product (the total output of goods and services produced by labor and property located in the United States). These revenues represent construction project sales and do not include construction materials, tools and equipment sales by construction industry suppliers.

Two major segments of the construction industry include heavy construction and building construction.

Heavy construction includes all general contractors primarily engaged in heavy construction other than building, such as highways and streets, bridges, sewers, railroads, irrigation projects, and flood control projects and marine construction.

Building construction includes all general contractors and operative builders primarily engaged in the construction of residential, farm, industrial, commercial, or other buildings. Building construction in the United States is the product of a diverse group of industry segments, with many individuals and organizations involved in the construction of a single structure, from the manufacture of necessary elements to final assembly.