We've run out of Irish, I know...

let's get some women in. Graham Ball on the new breed of builders

Who is going to build New Britain? Last week's announcement by Railtrack of a massive station refurbishment plan, means that up to pounds 34bn worth of building projects are due to start during the next four years. Lottery money, Millennium schemes, the release of council-house sales receipts and private developments are all adding to the regeneration.

But the rush to build is causing a recruitment headache for Britain's construction industry. After seven years of decline and the loss of a half a million jobs, there is a severe shortage of skilled workers.

In the past, Britain's builders have looked to Ireland for a seemingly limitless labour supply, but now that flow has been reversed. Irish firms are enjoying their own boom and are offering top pay to lure men home.

The solution, say employers, is simple: recruit women. Britain's building trade wants to abandon its hard-hat, hard-man image, so that it can attract large numbers of women to what firms believe will be a new age of politically correct construction. Gone, they say, are the days of the building site dominated by wolf-whistles, "builders' bottom" and the all-fried breakfast.

Christine Godfrey is one of Britain's new builders. She is a 24-year- old graduate aiming for a management career with the Bovis Construction group. As part of her training she had to learn basic building skills on macho sites in the early 1990s. "I was one of the earliest women trainees on my firm's scheme and it was quite intimidating at times," says Ms Godfrey, who decided to specialise in quantity surveying.

"On one occasion I was the only woman there and I had to go into this horrible site canteen. It seemed that suddenly everyone turned to look at me and it all went quiet. But once you get to know the men and win their respect you just become part of the team."

Pin-ups are banned at Bovis sites and alcohol is prohibited at work. "The language can still be pretty strong at times but that has never bothered me. In fact I wish they would just spit it out, rather than constantly apologising," she says.

The construction industry employs about a million people but only 10 per cent are female.

Vanessa Currie, aged 22, is combining a Salford University degree with on-site training and hopes to become a project manager. "I suppose I thought it would be a bit like Auf Wiedersehen Pet, but it was not like that. I was surprised," she says.

"As long as you know what you are talking about, the men are pretty quick to accept you. A lot of men are inhibited in their dealings with me. But, as a woman, it is easier to reach a compromise or understanding without being confrontational or aggressive."

Both Vanessa Currie and Christine Godfrey have received wolf-whistles at work. "I suppose it has happened about four or five times, it is really quite rare. The trick is to ignore it. ,They are only trying to provoke a reaction after all," says Ms Godfrey.

But women who join at the craft level, most commonly as painters, carpenters and electricians, claim they still have to do better than men to be treated as equal.

"It is inconceivable for a woman to be promoted to, for instance, site manager without the appropriate qualifications, though this has until recently been possible for men, especially in the private sector," said Christine Wall, co-author of a recent survey of London tradeswomen.