How do I Become a Paving Contractor?

Paving contractors enable the building of roads, driveways, and parking lots. The work may also entail enabling larger jobs such as the building of highways, paving of runways at airports, or doing any other job which involves paving skills. To become a paving contractor, you generally will need at least a high school diploma and will need to do supervised work as a paver until you are ready to become a paving contractor.

Individuals who become paving contractors often begin their careers as paving workers or paving equipment operators. If you want to become a paving contractor, it is necessary to learn the paving business from the ground up and being a paving worker or equipment operator can enable you to do that. After promotion from paving worker into being a paving contractor, then the emphasis is on managing paving jobs.

To become a paving contractor, it can be helpful to get a high school diploma, get a post-high school apprenticeship to learn paving on the job, and then work for several years until you are promoted into management training as a paving contractor. Granted, some people go to a community college and some go to four-year colleges to take classes in business management, get computer training, learn more about construction, and get a bachelor's degree in business. Then after college, they might choose to find employment as a paver. After gaining experience in paving and gaining understanding of the business, they are gradually given more responsibility until eventually they are promoted into management as a paving contractor.

Due to the managerial nature of the job, paving contractors have a variety of responsibilities. For example, during the process of a paving project, paving contractors may be responsible for getting new clients, hiring paving workers, training paving workers, surveying the site, doing cost analyses, and determining how much equipment and labor will cost. The paving contractor is also responsible for keeping the paving project on schedule, keeping the client informed about any problems that arise, and sending an invoice to the client for payment at the end of the project.

Paving contractors need to have excellent computer skills because they often use computers to keep records. Also, paving contractors need excellent interpersonal skills because they have to communicate with clients and manage work crews to keep jobs on schedule and finish them successfully. Finally, paving contractors must have good math skills because they have to do cost analyses and keep track of the expenditures on each project.

After working as a paving contractor for a company for a few years, you could choose to remain with the company or you could start your own paving contracting business. If you choose to start your own business, be aware that the start-up cost could be high. Nonetheless, if you are able to get sufficient start-up money, if you are able to get clients, and if you are a good manager who is able to hire good paving workers, you could have a successful paving business.