We embrace the concept of apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs, classroom and hands-on training, and licensing and certification programs, so that today's young men and women entering the construction field will be equipped with the skill sets necessary for a rewarding, family supporting, and life-long career in the construction trade of their choice.

Construction unions have a long successful history. Medieval Europe’s trade and craft guilds were the early models for today’s trade unions, yet a young person learning a skill or trade under a master or expert is as old as humankind. This method of learning a trade has many benefits.

Build a Career

Union-sponsored apprenticeships are the foundation of today’s construction industry and the most common path to becoming a union member. By enrolling in an apprenticeship through a construction union, you get training for the trade that interests you, a salary while training and eligibility for union membership. Apprenticeships last two to four years and combine on-the-job training with classroom instruction in a specific trade.

Skills that Go Anywhere

With the opportunity to learn from the construction industry’s most highly trained instructors in a safe environment, apprentices graduate with a portable, recognized credential affording them good pay and benefits to support themselves and their families.

Earn While You Learn

A union apprenticeship offers a way to make a living while you are learning on the job. In addition, our training centers offer state-of–the–art curriculums and facilities where master craftsmen and experts in their fields teach you the latest mediums and skills you will need to become successful in your chosen trade. All RI Building Trades members offer this training and support through training centers that are jointly managed by the union and signatory contractors.

A Debt-Free Education

An apprenticeship provides you with a debt-free education. When you finish the apprenticeship program, you'll be a qualified tradesperson with certifications that make you eligible for professional pay and union membership.

Benefits & A Secure Retirement

Both union and management are interested in keeping members healthy and satisfied with their jobs. Good health and pension benefits reduce turnover, and injuries and days out of work as well as reducing overall insurance costs. Fair wages and benefits keep employees motivated and help contractors build a steady workforce and grow their companies.

Today’s benefit programs are negotiated with wellness programs in mind. Keeping you healthy and preventing injuries and illness insures that you can have a long and successful career. It also keeps the cost of insurance down for the employer and out-of–pocket costs down for union members. Knowing that as you build your career, you are also working towards a secure retirement, which is also a motivating factor in keeping you on the job.

Lifelong Opportunities for Training and Education

The continuous training and skills upgrade educational opportunities. They also serve to address the evolving concerns of businesses and industry for the development of a quality skilled craft workforce that meets the needs of a growing union contractor base. A healthy and viable union construction apprenticeship and training system is also a proven avenue to restore the American middle class and bring dignity and security back to the workplace.

Meeting and Exceeding Industry Standards

The union construction industry’s world-class apprenticeship and training infrastructure is the pride of the American labor movement, providing a great and comprehensive way for a worker to acquire the experience and instruction to get established in a career, without the burden of debt.

Unions/Employers/Government Working Together to Keep Standards High and Provide Career Opportunities for You

Each national construction trade union has regional or state offices that enroll apprentices. The U.S. Department of Labor also provides public information about construction apprenticeships and the standards that union programs must meet. Your state labor offices usually have resources for enrolling in construction trades training programs too. Link RIDLT

Build Your Future with Us

Apprentices in the building trades learn skills that lead to rewarding careers- and get paid well to do it. At Building Futures we help qualified candidates get the training, support, and certifications necessary to begin a career as an apprentice in the building construction trades on large-scale project like highways, bridges, schools, and commercial projects.

Our graduates who go on to pursue an apprenticeship earn money while they learn a trade and they enjoy great pay, full benefits, a pension and paid education and training.

If a career in construction is the right fit for you, you’ll have far more than a “job.” You’ll have a career that will support a family, fill you with pride, and take you higher than you ever dreamed.

Certifications

At Building Futures you’ll earn:

Aerial Lift Certification;
Adult CPR, AED, and First Aid Certifications;
OSHA 10;
Multi-Craft Core Curriculum (MC3) and,
RI State Apprenticeship Council Certification.

Building Futures is the only construction pre-apprenticeship program that is certified by the State of Rhode Island.

If you choose to take our optional welding course you’ll be able to add American Welding Society Certifications to your accomplishments.

Throughout the 5-week training, you’ll also get hands-on training, technical instruction, academic tutoring including support in preparing for your apprentice exam if necessary, emergency and supportive services, career counseling, and more.

How do I get started?

We have updated our application process to protect interested applicants and their families during COVID-19. Learn more here.

Individualized services to help overcome employment barriers
Evaluation of participants’ employment readiness and whether their interests, goals and skills are a good match for the commercial construction industry

Hands-on basic construction training to prepare you for quality, registered apprenticeship in one of more than a dozen different skilled trades
Support in entering and succeeding in apprenticeships

We help build careers.

Participation in Building Futures is a long term investment in your career. Building Futures is not a job agency. We help women and men build the foundation for a career in construction that starts in a first year apprenticeship. Apprentices learn while they earn working on a construction site. Your construction employment starts when you successfully enroll as an apprentice.

Learn more

Requirements:

18 years of age & Physically Fit

High School Diploma or GED

Reliable Transportation

Possess a Drivers License