CARPENTER

A carpenter (builder) is a skilled craftsman who performs carpentry. Carpenters work with wood to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work may involve manual labor and work outdoors.

Carpentry skill is gained through experience and study. Outside of unions, there are no formal training requirements (in the U.S.) and the trade can be easy to enter. In other countries, such as Germany, Japan and Canada there are strict standards.

The word "carpenter" is the English rendering of the Old French word carpentier (become charpentier) which is derived from the Latin carpentrius , "(maker) of a carriage.The Middle English word (in the sense of "builder") was wright (from the Old English wryhta), which could be used in compound forms such as wheelwright or boatwright.

In British and Australasian slang, a carpenter is sometimes referred to as a "chippie". The German word for carpenter is "Zimmermann" (room-maker, literally room-man), and hence is the source for the surname of many people in German and English-speaking countries.

Tradesmen in countries such as Germany are required to fulfill a formal apprenticeship (usually three years) to work as a professional carpenter. Upon graduation from the apprenticeship, he or she is known as a journeyman carpenter. Up through the 19th and even the early 20th century, the journeyman traveled to another region of the country to learn the building styles and techniques of that area before (usually) returning home. In modern times, journeymen are not required to travel, and the term refers more to a level of proficiency and skill. Union carpenters in the United States are required to pass a skills test to be granted official journeyman status, but uncertified professional carpenters may be known as journeymen based on their skill level, years of experience, or simply because they support themselves in the trade, and not due to certification or formal woodworking education.

After working as a journeyman for a specified period, a carpenter may go to study or test as a master carpenter. In some countries, such as Germany or Japan, this is an arduous and expensive process, requiring extensive knowledge (including economic and legal knowledge) and skill to achieve master certification; these countries generally require master status for anyone employing and teaching apprentices in the craft. In others, it can be a loosely used term to describe a skilled carpenter. In Canada carpentry is a Red Seal trade requiring a formal apprenticeship and an interprovincial exam. While each province sets its own standards for exactly how long the apprenticeship takes the average is about 4 years of both on the job instruction and college based training.

In the modern British construction industry, carpenters are trained through apprenticeship schemes where GCSEs in Maths, English and Technology help, but are not essential. This is deemed as the preferred route as young people can earn and gain field experience whilst training towards a nationally recognized qualification.

Fully trained carpenters and joiners will often move into related trades such as shop fitting, frameworking, bench joinery, and maintenance and system installation.