ABSTRACT
Computer Aided Design (CAD) is one of the more recent computer applications in domains which seem to be dominated by skilled human labour. It has increasingly attracted social science research. The social science research concerned with CAD has usually been carried out without using standardized job analysis intruments. This chapter attempts to test a newly developed job analysis instrument for mental labour, the VERA-G, in a rather unknown research field, the building and construction trade. It also presents the method and some of the first results of the job analyses. The procedure VERA-G was published in a shortened form in Resch. The VERA-G-analyses are conducted on 13 work places of engineers and draftspeople. Many of the work tasks analysed with the normal VERA are easily to understand by observing the movements of the worker. Especially if one wants to conduct a VERA-G analysis in engineering tasks, a lot of professional knowledge is demanded, which cannot be deduced from observation.
