Bricklayer
the trade,
explained.
A complete Danish reference work on bricklaying — from bonds and joints to mortar, concrete and measuring. Read the articles. Use the calculators. Ask the assistant.
17
Calculators
30
Articles
∞
Questions
Elevation of masonry in stretcher bond, standard brick 228 × 54 mm with 12 mm joints. The level shows the wall plumb — one mortar joint is highlighted.
§ 01 — What you can do here
Read, calculate, measure — or ask.
Eight tools from booking to pointing — for students, bricklayers and builders.
Tools in the trade
§ 02 — About the trade
Bricklayer
Bricklaying is the construction and repair of masonry and concrete — facades and backing walls, foundations, chimneys, rendering and tiling. A bricklayer joins units and mortar into a load-bearing or weather-protecting structure, where plumb, alignment and uniform joints determine both durability and appearance. The trade spans everything from new build to the restoration of historic masonry.
Questions about the trade
What does a bricklayer do?
A bricklayer builds masonry and casts concrete: facades and backing walls, foundations and plinths, chimneys, stairs, rendering and tiling. The work begins with the drawing and the setting out — plumb line, alignment and line string — and continues with laying in bond with uniform perpends and bed joints. Then comes the take-off: how many units go on the area, how much mortar the joints swallow, and how many m³ of concrete the foundation requires. The trade is equal parts hand skill and arithmetic, because materials are ordered from figures that have to be right before the wall goes up.
What is the difference between masonry and concrete?
Masonry is units joined with mortar, while concrete is a cast mass of cement, sand, aggregate and water. The two types of structure are designed under separate rule sets: masonry to Eurocode 6, DS/EN 1996-1-1 with the Danish national annex, while concrete falls under DS/EN 1992-1-1 and takes its exposure class from DS/EN 206 with the Danish supplement DS 2426. A bricklayer meets both on the same job — the foundation is cast and the wall is raised on top — but the strength comes from two different places: in masonry from the unit and the mortar together, in concrete from the mix and the reinforcement.
What does the mortar's M class mean?
M-klassen er mørtlens deklarerede trykstyrke efter DS/EN 998-2 og er dét projektet foreskriver. En funktionsmørtel deklareres direkte på klassen, mens en receptmørtel deklareres på sin blanding: KC-tallene angiver blandingsforholdet i vægt (tørmasse), hvor kalk + cement = 100 — fx KC 50/50/700 (50 kg kalk, 50 kg cement, 700 kg sand), som ifølge Mur & Tag har en trykstyrke på ca. 0,9 MPa. Kræver projektet en bestemt M-klasse, bruges derfor typisk funktionsmørtel, og klassen bekræftes i producentens deklaration. Normalfugen er nominelt 12 mm (liggefuge 8–16 mm og studsfuge 8–20 mm i normal kontrolklasse, Mur & Tag), mens tyndfugemørtel til blokke efter DS/EN 998-2 er beregnet til fuger på højst omkring 3 mm og lægges med limkam.
Which standards apply to masonry?
Eurocode 6 — DS/EN 1996-1-1 with the Danish national annex — is the load-bearing standard for masonry and sets out how the characteristic compressive strength of masonry is derived from the strength of the unit and the mortar. DS/EN 1996-2 covers execution, including movement joints and protection of fresh masonry. The products have their own standards: DS/EN 771-1 for clay units, where frost classes F0–F2 must match the exposure of the facade, DS/EN 998-2 for masonry mortar and DS/EN 845-1 for wall ties, whose capacity is stated in the product's declaration of performance. The national annex also sets minimum requirements such as at least 4 wire ties per m² in a cavity wall. On top of the standards, the Danish building regulations BR18 set the functional requirements, and the SBi guidelines describe practice.
How do you become a bricklayer?
Murer er en erhvervsuddannelse, hvor man veksler mellem skoleforløb på en erhvervsskole og oplæring i et murerfirma og får løn under oplæringen. Man starter på grundforløbet, finder en læreplads og afslutter som svend. Undervejs lærer man at læse tegning, sætte hjørner og skiftesnor op, mure i forbandt, blande mørtel efter M-klassen, støbe og armere fundament, pudse og fuge — og at opmåle materialer, så der hverken bestilles for lidt eller for meget. Derfra går vejen videre til formand, konduktør eller egen virksomhed.
Based on: DS/EN 1996-1-1 + DK NA · DS/EN 1996-2 · DS/EN 771-1 · DS/EN 998-2 · DS/EN 845-1 · DS/EN 1992-1-1 · DS/EN 206 + DS 2426 · BR18
§ 03 — Read now
Featured articles
Featured articles
All articles →§ 04 — Tools
Work it out.
Enter the brick's visible dimensions and the joint width — and the number of bricks per m² is calculated purely geometrically: n = 1 / ((L+joint)·(H+joint)). No table to memorise, the figure always matches your own brick.
Open calculators→Example · Stones per m²
Standard brick · stretcher
§ 05 — Trade in Action
How it looks craftsmanship.
Two classic working methods from the trade — drawn as blueprint: cavity wall in pattern with ties, and jointing and rendering with joint tool.
Work processes
Bricklayer builds cavity wall
The bricklayer applies mortar to a brick from a horizontal course line and a level, while copper wire ties bind the outer leaf to the inner leaf across the cavity, and open perp joints at the bottom lead water out.
Bricklayer joints and plasters
The bricklayer leads a pointing trowel diagonally down through the joints and smooths the mortar: some joints are already smooth and filled, others still need it, while the mortar bucket waits at the foot.
Your trade in numbers
The buildings you work on.
Brick and half-timbered facades, tiled roofs and the oldest houses.
2,481,935
External wall code 1 «Brick»
642,118
Roofing code 5 «Clay tiles»
47,532
External wall code 4 «Half-timbering»
Across Denmark, counted in BBR.
Source: BBR + DAR (Datafordeler) — bygningsindeks; grundareal fra Matriklen, jordforurening fra Danmarks Miljøportal (DKJord), fredning/SAVE fra Slots- og Kulturstyrelsen (FBB), energimærker fra Grundfasts energimærke-korpus via Grundfast · fetched
See the numbers for your municipalityBricklaying and masonry across the country
§ 06 — Next step
One question
in Danish.
The AI assistant can calculate consumption, explain bonding patterns and joints, compare mortars and help with take-off. Write to it as you would to a colleague on site.
Safety
Come home in the same state
Som murer arbejder du hver dag i tre ting, der langsomt slider dig ned: støvet fra sten og mørtel, den våde cement på hænderne, og vægten af sten og sække. Ingen af dem gør ondt den dag, det sker. Stenlunger, cementeksem og en ødelagt ryg kommer efter år — og de går ikke væk igen. Oveni står du på et stillads, du tit har bygget selv, og river i murværk der kan være ældre end reglerne om asbest.
Safety course
37 modules · 343 min · 4 hazards that can kill
§ — Where can you read about Bricklayer?
Find a school near you.
Bricklayer is offered at 19 places in the country. The list is informational — always check the latest and complete offering on the Education Guide's vocational education map.
Schools offering the programme
Hovedstaden
03- NEXT Uddannelse København — København
- U/NORD — Hillerød
- NEXT Uddannelse København — Glostrup
Sjælland
05- CELF — Nykøbing Falster
- EUC Sjælland — Køge
- Roskilde Tekniske Skole — Roskilde
- ZBC (Zealand Business College) — Næstved
- ZBC — Slagelse
Syddanmark
04- EUC Syd — Sønderborg
- Rybners — Esbjerg
- Syddansk Erhvervsskole (SDE) — Odense
- EUC Syd — Aabenraa
Midtjylland
04- AARHUS TECH — Aarhus
- Learnmark Horsens — Horsens
- Tradium — Randers
- Herningsholm Erhvervsskole — Herning
Nordjylland
03- EUC Nord — Hjørring
- EUC Nordvest — Thisted
- TECHCOLLEGE — Aalborg