What is a Semi-Major General Contractor in Japan?

Semi-Major General Contractors

In Japan, the term semi-major general contractor is a generic term that refers to general contractors of a specific size when general contractors are classified according to their company size. Although there is no clear definition of this classification, in general, general contractors with sales (non-consolidated) of more than 300 billion yen other than super general contractors are often classified as “semi-major general contractors.

In this case, the size of a semi-major general contractor is approximately 2,500 to 5,000 employees (non-consolidated), and its sales (non-consolidated) are generally between 300 billion yen and 650 billion yen. (See list below)

Semi-major general contractors have a wide range of construction-related divisions, including design, engineering, and R&D divisions, in addition to construction divisions.

In FY2020, the domestic general contractor market will be worth approximately 52.38 trillion yen on a volume basis (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism), and the total sales of the 10 major general contractors will be approximately 3.77 trillion yen, giving the semi-major general contractors a 7.2% share of the industry.

As of March 2021, the ratio of building construction to civil engineering work was 67% and 32%, respectively, for the 10 largest general contractors.

See the table below for sales and number of employees of the 10 semi-major general contractors.

List of semi-major general contractors in Japan
10 semi-major general contractors with non-consolidated sales generally exceeding 300 billion yen

Source: Compiled based on each company’s annual securities report and financial statements (as of March 31, 2021)　Values are based on each company’s “non-consolidated” figures.