What is Construction Career Up System (CCUS)? Explaining its contents and how to use it!

What is Construction Career Up System (CCUS)? Introducing its purpose and effects

Construction Career Up System is a "system to support the construction industry and skilled workers" promoted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and is also called "CCUS" for short as "Construction Career Up System".
The environment is being improved to become an infrastructure for the construction industry.

It started in April 2019, and as of the end of August 2023, there are about 1.26 million technicians and 240,000 businesses registered.
Currently, participation is voluntary, but the government aims to fully implement Construction Career Up System in all construction projects by the end of fiscal 2023.

How Construction Career Up System Works

Simply put, Construction Career Up System is a system that "makes the careers of skilled workers visible" and "evaluates companies that employ business operators appropriately."

Once you register with Construction Career Up System, you will be issued a CCUS card, which is similar to a driver's license.
When technicians go to a work site, they simply bring their CCUS card with them and read the card with a card reader.
CCUS cards are color-coded from level 1 to level 4, and cards are issued according to the level based on factors such as employment history and qualifications held.

Businesses can use the information obtained from the card reader to understand the level and work experience of their skilled workers.
The level and number of skilled workers employed by a construction company are evaluated as part of the company's construction capabilities and this is made public on the websites of evaluation organizations and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

The purpose of Construction Career Up System

In Japan, the construction industry is no exception to the declining birthrate and aging population, and as a result, there are few skilled workers in the younger generation, and many of them leave the construction industry after a short period of time.

Unlike general companies, in the construction industry, workers often work at different work sites each day, making it difficult to evaluate each individual worker across the board.

Construction Career Up System identifies the qualifications and skills that skilled workers possess, as well as the types of sites they worked at and when, creating an environment that makes it easier to make relative evaluations.

Additionally, for business operators, a single card can be used to register skilled workers, and by registering the cards into the system at the work site, attendance can be managed, including who worked when, reducing workload.

This will make it easier for skilled workers to receive fair evaluations and wages based on those evaluations, and it will also make it easier for businesses to prove to the outside world that they have created an environment in which they can properly evaluate and develop skilled workers.

For business operators, there is an incentive in that providing an appropriate working environment makes it easier to receive work, and it also creates an environment where skilled workers can work steadily.

What are the benefits of Construction Career Up System?

Construction Career Up System has various benefits for skilled workers and business operators.

I will explain each one.

Benefits of using Construction Career Up System for Skilled Workers

The benefits of skilled workers using Construction Career Up System include the following:

• Earn a fair wage
• You can transfer your work information even if you change your workplace or address.
• Useful in the event of a workplace accident or unpaid wages
• System integration simplifies contributions to the Kentaikyo System (construction industry retirement pension mutual aid system)
• Easier to plan career advancement

In the construction industry, it is not uncommon for work sites to change every day, and you may be stationed at different sites in the morning and afternoon.
Construction Career Up System allows for centralized management of employment records, which has the advantage of making it easier to receive fair evaluations and have your evaluations reflected in your wages.

In addition, since a record of your work is kept, you can rest assured that it can be used as evidence in the event of any trouble.

Your employment and qualification information is recorded in history, so your career will not stop even if you change your workplace or address, or return to work.

Another benefit is that by linking with the electronic application system of the Kentaikyo System (Construction Industry Pension Mutual Aid System), employment history is reflected in retirement benefit points, thereby contributing to employee benefits.

In Construction Career Up System, cards are color-coded into four levels: "Entry-level technician (apprentice)," "Mid-level technician (full-fledged)," "Able to work on-site as a foreman," and "Those with advanced management skills (registered core technicians, etc.)," making it easy to see your own level.

Some companies have created a wage payment system based on the level of the card, making it easier to aim for career advancement.

Benefits for business operators using Construction Career Up System

The benefits for business owners using Construction Career Up System include the following:

• Reduce the burden of administrative work
• It becomes easier to externally prove the high level of technical capabilities
• In some cases, public works projects can be incentivized.
• It is easy to secure human resources
• specified skilled workers System is available

Attendance management can be done simply by scanning the card, and linking with the electronic application system reduces the workload related to Kentaikyo contributions, significantly reducing the administrative burden.

Another benefit is that you can see at a glance how many skilled workers of what level they have on staff, making it easier to demonstrate your company's technical capabilities to the outside world and increasing trust.

In particular, for construction projects directly managed by the national and local governments, an increasing number of organizations are offering incentives that give additional points to companies that register with Construction Career Up System, which is expected to increase opportunities for receiving orders.

In addition, it is expected that there will be an increasing number of cases in the future where selection criteria will be established, such as choosing suppliers from among registered businesses.
Another benefit of registering is that you can avoid the risk of missing out on opportunities.

Since the evaluation system is relative and very fair, it will also be easier to attract good talent.

In terms of securing human resources, another benefit of using Construction Career Up System is that it allows you to take advantage of specified skilled workers System.
specified skilled workers System allows for the acceptance of foreign workers with outstanding skills, but as a condition for use, they are required to adopt Construction Career Up System.

If you are a company considering accepting specified skilled workers in the construction industry, please also take a look at "Explaining how to accept foreign workers in the construction industry and the preparations you need to make!"

We also introduce how to use Construction Career Up System and the costs involved.

In order to use Construction Career Up System, both skilled workers and business operators must register in advance and pay a usage fee.

How to register a technician and the costs involved

In addition to applying and registering yourself, you can also have a person in charge at your company apply on your behalf.
There are three ways to apply: online, by mail, or in person.

A registration fee is required to issue a Construction Career Up Card.
The card is valid until your first birthday nine years after issue, or until your 14th birthday if you are 60 years or older at the time of application.
*For those who have not submitted identification documents, the expiration date is the second birthday after the card is issued.

For details on how to apply for technician registration and the necessary documents, please also see the "Guide to the Technician Information Registration Application Form."​

[Costs required for technician registration]

• Internet application: 2,500 yen (simplified type), 4,900 yen (detailed type)
• Certified registration body: 4,900 yen (detailed type)

*All prices include tax
*Card reissue costs 1,000 yen

How to register as a business and the costs involved

Businesses can register by themselves, or by having the person in charge of the prime contractor or a higher-ranking subcontractor apply on their behalf. There are three ways to apply: online, by mail, or in person at the counter.

The registration is valid for five years, expiring at the end of the month five years after the date of registration completion.

For details on how to apply for business registration and the necessary documents, please also see the "Guide to the Business Information Registration Application Form."

[Business registration fee]

This is the registration fee required for businesses to use Construction Career Up System.
The registration fee is based on the amount of capital of the business.

*All prices include tax

[Administrator ID management fee]

This is the management ID usage fee required to manage the business information used in Construction Career Up System.
The cost is 11,400 yen per ID (tax included, 2,400 yen for a sole proprietor) and is charged annually.

The validity period is one year from the date of acquisition or renewal until the end of the month in which the license was acquired.

[On-site usage fee]

This is the fee charged for using the on-site system when you arrive at the site.
The fee is 10 yen (tax included) per person and per site.

<Example of on-site use request>

① When 10 skilled workers work for 30 days：10 people x 10 yen x 30 days = 3,000 yen
② If you enter the site in the morning and afternoon：1 person × 10 yen = 10 yen
③ When entering site A and site B of the same prime contractor in the morning and afternoon, respectively：1 person x 10 yen x 2 sites = 20 yen
④ When entering site A and site B, which have different prime contractors, in the morning and afternoon, respectively：1 person x 10 yen x 2 sites = 20 yen

Summary: Construction Career Up System is a system that supports skilled workers and business operators

Construction Career Up System is an infrastructure system for the construction industry promoted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.
We provide support to both technicians and businesses with a solid system.

For skilled workers, the fact that their careers are properly evaluated, which is likely to be reflected in their wages, and they can work with peace of mind will be a major attraction.

There are also significant benefits for businesses, such as reducing the burden of administrative work such as attendance management and receiving incentives.

Construction Career Up System was introduced to alleviate the labor shortage in the construction industry.
Registration is required to utilize specified skilled workers System, which is one of the efforts to solve the problem of securing human resources.

One of the requirements for certification of a construction Specified Skills acceptance plan is that accepting companies and Specified Skilled Worker (i) must be registered in Construction Career Up System (CCUS).
Starting April 1, 2023, JAC will provide "CCUS charge support" to help cover the costs of administrator ID usage fees for businesses employing specified skilled workers and the fees for competency assessments for specified skilled workers.

If you are a company considering hiring specified skilled workers in the construction industry, please feel free to contact JAC!

*This article was written based on information from August 2023.