It is useful to divide the construction sector into three main subsectors (as reflected in the NAICS categories), residential construction, heavy construction, and special trades. An overview of the industry, including a summary of the characteristics of these subsectors, is available in the "Impacts, Risks, and Regulations" (IRR) document for the construction sector.
Judging from the relative visibility of the EMS approach as reflected in the activities of the major trade organizations representing the subsectors, we may characterize the "EMS-readiness" of the subsectors roughly as follows:
Given the somewhat surprising relative level impact on air quality attributable to the special trades, as indicated in the "Quantitative Impact Data" section of the IRR document, raising the level of awareness on the part of the special trades to the potential of an EMS approach to might seem to be a priority issue. It should be noted, however, that much of this work is done by very small firms or individual contractors, for whom much of the process content inherent in an ISO 14000-style EMS would be superfluous.
A recently produced (April, 2003) brochure from AGC summarizes the EMS and ISO 14000 resources identified by AGC staff that were thought to have particular relevance to the construction sector. Significantly, they are general purpose references. The area of EMS resources prepared specifically for the construction industry appears to be virgin territory. The brochure refers to a joint effort by AGC and EPA to establish an EMS template for the construction industry (presumably a reference to the Sectors Strategy Program).
Table of available resources for this sector. (Only a handful of resources specific to this sector have been identified. The AGC brochure lists several general references.)