Editing Bricklayer

{{Short description|Craftsperson and tradesperson who lays bricks to construct brickwork}}
{{for|the photograph|Bricklayer (photograph)}}
{{Infobox occupation
| name               = Bricklayer
| synonyms           = Builder, construction worker
| pronounce          = ˈbrɪkleɪə
| image              = Kuben murer.jpg
| imagesize          = 
| alt                = 
| caption            = Bricklayer apprentice practising at [[Kuben Vocational Arena]] in [[Oslo]], [[Norway]]
| official_names     = 
| type               = [[Artisan|Craftsperson]]
| activity_sector    = [[Construction]]
| competencies       = 
| formation          = [[Apprenticeship]]
| employment_field   = [[Civil engineering]]
| related_occupation = 
}}
[[File:The Employment of Women in Britain, 1914-1918 Q28190.jpg|thumb|A team of bricklayers preparing to lay courses of bricks (1917)]]
[[File:Brickwork 1.png|thumb|Illustration of how the bricklayer, on clearing the footings of a wall, builds up six or eight courses of bricks at the external angles]]

A '''bricklayer''', which is related to but different from a '''mason''', is a [[Artisan|craftsperson]] and [[tradesperson]] who lays [[brick]]s to construct [[brickwork]]. The terms also refer to personnel who use [[Cinder block|blocks]] to construct blockwork walls and other forms of [[masonry]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Masonry Skills |author= Richard T. Kreh|year= 2003|publisher=Thomson Delmar Learning|isbn=0-7668-5936-3}}</ref> In [[British English|British]] and [[Australian English]], a bricklayer is colloquially known as a "brickie".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/dictionary/bricklayer |title=bricklayer noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes &#124; Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com |website=Oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com |access-date=2017-04-02 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> A [[stone mason]] is one who lays any combination of stones, cinder blocks, and bricks in construction of building walls and other works.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stonemason {{!}} Explore careers {{!}} National Careers Service |url=https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/stonemason |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930091058/https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/stonemason |url-status=usurped |archive-date=September 30, 2020 |access-date=2023-12-17 |website=nationalcareers.service.gov.uk |language=en-gb}}</ref> Bricklaying is a part of masonry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bricklayer Job Description |url=https://work.chron.com/bricklayer-job-description-11161.html |access-date=2023-12-17 |website=Chron |language=en-US}}</ref>

Bricklaying may also be enjoyed as a [[recreational activity|hobby]]. For example, the former British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] did bricklaying as a hobby.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Glueckstein |first1=Fred |title=Churchill as Bricklayer |url=https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/finest-hour/finest-hour-157/churchill-as-bricklayer/ |website=International Churchill Society |date=March 2015 |access-date=14 September 2022}}</ref>

Bricklayers occasionally enter competitions where both speed and accuracy are judged. The largest is the "Spec-Mix Bricklayer 500" held annually in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-10-10 |title='Spec Mix Bricklayer 500' incites fierce competition and ample learning in masonry |url=https://news.yahoo.com/spec-mix-bricklayer-500-incites-222906586.html |access-date=2023-12-17 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=SPEC MIX BRICKLAYER 500® {{!}} SPEC MIX |url=https://www.specmix.com/spec-mix-bricklayer-500/ |access-date=2023-12-17 |website=www.specmix.com}}</ref>

==Required training==
Professional bricklayers usually go through a formal apprenticeship which includes about three to four years of on-the-job training combined with classroom instruction, though some bricklayers may learn entirely from on-the-job experience. Unions and employers may offer [[apprenticeships]], which allow individuals with little or no experience in bricklaying to learn fundamental skills under a more experienced employee. Contemporary masons in many countries must attend trade school and/or serve apprenticeships in order to complete curricula signifying that they understand fundamental related concepts such as the effects of humidity and water ingress, [[thermal insulation]], and general knowledge regarding the science of construction materials, as well as occupational health and safety.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Job Information |url=https://careerswales.gov.wales/job-information/bricklayer/skills-and-qualities |access-date=2023-12-17 |website=careerswales.gov.wales}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Become a Bricklayer {{!}} Key Skills, Qualification & Salary |url=https://www.lcb.ac.uk/find-a-course/careers-a-z/bricklayer/ |access-date=2023-12-17 |website=Leeds College of Building |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bricklaying apprenticeship Level 2 - Find an apprenticeship |url=https://www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk/apprenticeship/1000203407 |access-date=2023-12-17 |website=www.findapprenticeship.service.gov.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2018-07-06 |title=Foundations of Success as a Bricklayer {{!}} Builders Academy |url=https://buildersacademy.edu.au/building-and-construction/foundations-success-bricklayer/ |access-date=2023-12-17 |website=Builders Academy Australia |language=en-AU}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bricklayer: Occupations in Alberta - alis |url=https://alis.alberta.ca/occinfo/occupations-in-alberta/occupation-profiles/bricklayer/ |access-date=2023-12-17 |website=alis.alberta.ca |language=en}}</ref>

==In fiction and popular culture==
* Italian-American author [[John Fante]] featured [[brick hod]] carriers, bricklayers, and [[stonemason]]s prominently in several novels and short stories. This was due to the autobiographical nature of much of Fante's writing; his father, Nick, an Italian-born bricklayer descended from — at least in Fante's fictions — a long line of Italian artisan bricklayers and stonemasons. Fante also spent a significant portion of his youth apprenticed to his father.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2015-04-09 |title=John Fante: A Real American Writer |url=https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/california/articles/john-fante-a-real-american-writer |access-date=2023-12-17 |website=Culture Trip |language=en}}</ref>
* In [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]]'s ''[[One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich]]'', the title character, a [[Gulag]] prisoner, worked as a bricklayer.
* The long-running British children's TV series ''[[Look and Read]]'' featured "Bill the Brickie" ("brickie" being a British and Australian [[colloquialism]] for "bricklayer"), who would 'build' words with bricks to demonstrate the use of [[Morpheme|morphemes]], such as '-ed' or '-ing'.
* In 2021, [[Cristiano Ronaldo]]'s mother, Dolores Aveiro, stated in an interview for [[Sporting Clube de Portugal]]'s official television channel ([[Sporting TV]]) that her son would have become a bricklayer if he hadn't become a professional football player.<ref>{{Citation |title=ADN de Leão {{!}} Episódio 37: Dolores Aveiro |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA9wTYYLdLI&t=430s |access-date=2023-09-28 |language=en}}</ref>
* In 2024, ''[[The Bricklayer]],'' an American [[action thriller]] film directed by [[Renny Harlin]] and written by Hanna Weg and Matt Johnson, based on the 2010 novel of the same name by Paul Lindsay, who used the [[pen name]] Noah Boyd, was released.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-05 |title=The Bricklayer {{!}} Rotten Tomatoes |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_bricklayer_2023 |access-date=2024-01-28 |website=www.rottentomatoes.com |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
* {{annotated link|Architectural Forum}}
* {{annotated link|Dry stone}}
* {{annotated link|Guild}}
* {{annotated link|Stonemasonry}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
*{{Wiktionary-inline}}

{{commonscat|Masons}}

{{Construction overview}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Bricks|.]]
[[Category:Artisans]]
[[Category:Construction trades workers]]
[[Category:Crafts]]
[[Category:Masonry|.]]