Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

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

Degrees and certificates by number of terms to complete

Award	Length (attending full-time)	Financial aid eligible	Currently accepting students?
Associate Degree: Building Construction Technology	2 years

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 2024-2025 catalog year.

Plan of Study Grid

First Term		Credits
BCT 102	Residential Printreading	3
BCT 103	Residential Materials and Methods	3
BCT 104	Construction Math §	3
BCT 106	Hand Tool/Power Tool Use and Safety	3
General Education: 1 course
Second Term
ARCH 110	Introduction to Architectural Drawing	2
BCT 127	Residential Concrete	6
BCT 135 or ARCH 132	Residential Building Codes or Residential Building Codes	2
COMM 215 or COMM 111	Communicating in Teams and Small Groups *,Z or Public Speaking (COMM111=COMM111Z)	4
BCT Degree Electives		3
Third Term
BCT 118	Introduction to Space Planning and Design	2
BCT 120	Floor Framing	3
BCT 121	Wall Framing	3
BCT 122	Roof Framing I	3
BCT 123	Roof Framing II	3
General Education: 1 course		3
Fourth Term
BCT 128	Exterior Finish	6
BCT 129	Mechanical Planning for Kitchens and Baths	4
BCT 223	Finished Stair Construction	3
BCT 229	Introduction to Kitchens and Baths	4
Fifth Term
BCT 203	Interior Finish	6
BCT 219	Cabinetmaking I	6
General Education: 1 course
Sixth Term
BCT 204B	Construction Estimating - Residential	3
BCT 206	Sustainable Construction Practices	3
BCT 211	Remodeling	6
WR 227 or WR 122	Technical Writing (WR227=WR227Z) Z or Composition II (WR122=WR122Z)	4
	Total Credits	97

*

Could be used as General Education

§

Course cannot be substituted for another course

Z

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

 

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.