Any habitable construction built for human purposes can be termed as a building. Buildings are used for purposes of residence, industry, academic, official, political and many others. In ancient times, buildings were in the form of small hutments which were made of thatch, hay, stone, bricks and such other crude materials. Today building construction is a much more complex art and uses materials such as reinforced concrete, cement, steel, glass, etc.

Based on their purposes, there are many types of buildings like residential buildings, warehouses, commercial buildings, church and school buildings, storage buildings, arenas and gymnasiums, farmhouses, museums and theaters, shopping malls and much more. Almost every commercial and noncommercial purpose requires a building to carry out its activities. The building may be of a single storey or may be a sprawling skyscraper having hundreds of stories.

Construction of a building is a very complicated task. When planning a building construction, the most important thing is to consider its function. The building must fulfill all the necessary requirements. Next consideration is of the exterior appearance of the building. This is achieved by hiring the services of an architect. Then a contractor is roped in to engineer and construct the building.

There are two main types of construction methods for buildings, viz. system construction and conventional construction. Conventional construction methods are orthodox methods, requiring traditional building components like wood, steel, masonry, and concrete to be cut fitted, welded and assembled on site. In contrast with conventional construction, system construction is both fast and effective. In this the building is erected with pre-designed parts which include floors, roofs and walls.

A building construction does not mean just the construction of floors, roofs and walls. There are several other fixtures like plumbing, electrical wires, cabinets, fireplaces, doors and windows, etc. that are to be considered. Buildings are also made waterproof, disaster proof and pest-resistant.

Almost every building can be covered by an appropriate insurance policy. There are many types of insurance policies available in order to avoid any loss like fire insurance, flood insurance, earthquake insurance, home insurance or boiler insurance.