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Building Construction, associate degree

Hands-on building construction technology

The best hands-on training in Oregon also delivers a degree: our associate degree in Building Construction Technology combines realistic training with excellent classroom instruction in the latest materials, methods, and sustainable building practices.

We split our time between our fully-equipped woodworking shop, which contains all the tools, large and small, that any carpenter or cabinet maker would put on their list. Whether it’s learning how to operate our industrial-grade planers, our joiners, our state of the art SawStop table saws, or the litany of handheld power tools in our tool room, there is no limit to what we can build in this facility. When we build big, we head outdoors to our construction yard, a fully serviced exterior classroom big enough to have several “houses” in foundations, and several more in finish work, or being remodeled.

If you have very little construction experience, you won’t be the only one entering our program. Within two years you can develop professional skills in:

• Blueprint reading
• Construction mathematics
• Foundation forms
• Framing floors, walls, and roofs
• Interior and exterior finishes on a typical wood-framed house

Award information

Learn more about Building Construction and all 4 awards available »

What will you do?

Graduates of the Building Construction program may go into business for themselves or may seek employment in the construction industry for rough and finish carpentry in new construction and remodeling, cabinetmaking, estimating, and building maintenance. Graduates of the Construction Management program may pursue entry-level management and supervisory positions in residential and commercial construction.

Courses

Course listing for the 2025-2026 catalog year.

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Could be used as General Education

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Course cannot be substituted for another course

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This course is part of Oregon Common Course Numbering. The following courses are equivalent:��

COMM 111 and COMM 111Z

WR 122 and WR 122Z��

WR 227 and WR 227Z

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BCT 106 Tool Safety must be taken before beginning any other hands-on classes unless the instructor provides permission to take the classes concurrently.

Morning classes

Most hands-on classes start at right about the same time you might show up for work on a home building project, 7am. We work indoors and out, rain or shine, until we break for lunch at 12:50pm. A full-time student is usually attending class 4 days per week, Monday – Thursday. Exceptions include general education, writing, and speech classes that are offered on multiple campuses and online.

Schedule

Given our size, nearly all courses are offered only once per year, so planning your courses with an advisor is important for students to complete on time. A course planner is available from a BCT faculty member. Students typically graduate in 2-2.5 years. And don’t be afraid if you never really found school worked for you in the past. This is a whole different ball game than high school and compared to your standard college classes. Hands-on classes make it real. Real fast.