The profession of paving stone is a very well-known profession. However, there is a bit more to it than most people think. A paving contractor must have knowledge of different surfaces and must know which type of stone should be used with which connection. The work of a paver is physically very difficult. Fortunately, more and more heavy tasks can be taken over by machines. Despite this, there are always jobs that cannot be done by a machine, and the paving profession will always exist!
The road builder
A paver is someone whose profession is concerned with laying streets, sidewalks, squares and gardens. There are different types of paving, such as clinkers, tiles, cobblestones and natural stone. Each type of paving requires its own approach. That is why the paving contractor must have knowledge of all these different materials.
You can work as a paver in different ways. For example, you can choose to mainly work for private individuals. This means that you mainly create gardens or re-pave at people’s homes. This also means that you need to have knowledge of, for example, planting and installing fences and decking. You can also work as a paver in road construction. These are mainly the large projects, in which you often work for the municipality or for large contracting companies. This often involves constructing a new street or repaving the current street work.
A paver almost always works in a couple. This couple consists of a paver and a supervisor. The supervisor ensures that the paving contractor has sufficient stones available on time. The supervisor also carries out all additional work, such as sweeping the sand and filling and sealing the soil.
Equipment
A paver needs the following tools:
- Street hammer
- Sledgehammer
- Wire and wire pins
- Measuring tape
- Chalk
- Screed beam
- Level
- Vibratory plate
- Knikmops
- Stone cutter
Furthermore, a paving contractor must always wear special work shoes that have steel toes. Gloves should be worn to protect the hands. When a paver works with the vibrating plate, he must wear hearing protection. It is also good to wear knee pads to protect the knees.
Machine paving
According to Arbo regulations, surfaces of 1500 m2 and larger must be paved by machine. This is necessary to reduce the burden on road workers. A disadvantage of mechanical paving is that a very expensive machine must be purchased. Stones can be placed in these machines, after which they are automatically placed in large plaques. Mechanical paving is very fast and efficient, but is less useful for smaller projects.
Education and salary
The training course to become a paver can be followed at MBO level. At MBO level 2, you can follow the training for future road builder/supervisor. At level 3 you can follow the paving course. You can follow a course for this diploma, which involves going to school full-time and completing various internships to gain practical experience. You can also choose to work and learn. This means that you work 4 days a week and are at school 1 day a week. The big advantage of this is that you immediately have an income. You can follow the training course to become a paver from the age of 16.
The gross starting salary of a road worker is around 1650 per month. A paving contractor with 10 years of work experience will earn approximately 2250 monthly. Many pavers work as self-employed. They are hired by contractors or subcontractors to take care of the paving work. A self-employed person earns around €30 gross per hour.
Becoming a road builder is really something for people who like to work in the outdoors and people who like to do physical work. Because paving is a fairly difficult profession, it is often practiced by men. The disadvantage of working as a paver is that you are outside in any weather condition. However, when it is snowing or freezing, in many cases you do not have to work. The subsurface is frozen, and therefore you cannot pave.