Builders’ merchants sell building and do-it-yourself products and materials to the building trade and the public.

Salary Range: £16,000 to £30,000

How to become a builders’ merchant

You can get into this job through:

• an apprenticeship
• applying directly

Apprenticeship

You could get into this job through a trade supplier intermediate apprenticeship.

Entry requirements

You’ll usually need:

• some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship

More information

• equivalent entry requirements
• guide to apprenticeships

Direct application

You could apply directly to work as a builders’ merchant. You may find it useful to have GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), including maths and English. Experience in construction, warehousing or retail could be helpful.

More information

Further information

You can find out more about working as a builders’ merchant from Building Materials Careers and the Builders Merchants Federation.

What it takes

Skills and knowledge

You’ll need:

• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• the ability to work well with others
• patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
• customer service skills
• the ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure
• excellent verbal communication skills
• the ability to work well with your hands
• physical skills like movement, coordination, dexterity and grace
• to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device

Restrictions and requirements

You’ll need to:

• have forklift truck driver training for some jobs

For some jobs you’ll need to have a C1 licence to drive trucks up to 7.5 tonnes.

What you’ll do

Day-to-day tasks

Your day-to-day tasks could include:

• giving product information to customers
• loading and unloading deliveries by hand or with a forklift truck
• processing orders and handling payments
• moving goods to storage areas
• putting orders together and organising deliveries
• advising customers about which materials to use

Working environment

You could work at a builder’s yard or at a store.

Your working environment may be physically demanding and outdoors in all weathers.

You may need to wear protective clothing.

Career path and progression

With experience, you could progress to supervisor or manager.

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