Construction is the one sector where the work has an end date built in. Projects mobilise, execute and demobilise, and hiring follows the physical schedule rather than a headcount plan — which is the first adjustment an international contractor has to make here.
Site access depends on certified training
NR-18 governs working conditions and the working environment in the construction industry, and organises site safety. Work at height requires NR-35; energised installations require NR-10; confined spaces require NR-33.
All expire and require refresher training. A worker with lapsed certification cannot enter the work front, and it surfaces at the pre-admission medical or, worse, in an audit. Verification at screening is the cheapest step in the process.
Engineering roles carry formal responsibility
Engineering requires registration with the CREA, the regional council, and where the role signs for execution or supervision, a technical responsibility filing (ART) ties that professional to the work.
Foreign engineering qualifications require recognition before council registration is possible — a project timeline of its own if your plan involves relocating engineers. Confirm current requirements with Brazilian counsel.
Reading Brazilian construction CVs
Short tenures across many employers are normal here and do not indicate instability: projects end and teams move. Applying a home-market heuristic removes good candidates.
What matters instead is whether leaders took the person from one project to the next. Who have you worked with more than once, and why? Reputation travels between sites, and being called back is the strongest reference the sector produces.
Employment runs under CLT, with premiums where hazardous or unhealthy conditions apply — which shift design and site conditions determine directly. Follow-up continues for 90 days, where attrition concentrates on commute and work-front conditions.
