Home secretary David Blunkett told the Labour Party conference in Brighton last week he wanted to give work permits to some economic migrants.
Unions have been critical of the proposal on the grounds that it has serious health and safety implications and sidesteps the central problem of creating a skilled workforce in this country.
But Stephen Ratcliffe, chief executive of the Construction Confederation, said he supported the initiative. He said: "We need a big skills injection, with over 70,000 new recruits every year for the next five years. Several thousand skilled foreign workers would be a start, but it is by no means the ultimate answer."
Under the plan, skilled workers would be able to come to Britain without a job offer if they could show that they could support themselves.
The construction trade unions have serious reservations about the proposal. Neil Moore, construction officer for the GMB union, said there was no need to attract workers from abroad as unemployment in this country was high. He also feared the government's proposal could turn into a recruiting ground for cheap labour.
He said the policy could lead to health and safety problems. If foreign staff did not understand English there was a risk that they would put themselves and others in danger. He also feared that employers would refuse to use foreign workers if they had difficulty with the language and this could lead to them doing unsafe jobs that British workers turned down.
Bob Blackman, construction general secretary for the TGWU, said the priority should be to train people in Britain rather than bringing in others from abroad. "The real way to address the skills shortage is to create a proper training programme and to tell firms to recruit a minimum number of apprentices," he said.
Electricians and engineers union the AEEU said it also had reservations that it hoped would be removed after talks with the government.
Construction Confederation figures show that 93% of firms have problems recruiting bricklayers; 84% have difficulties finding carpenters and joiners; and 82% struggle to recruit plasterers.
The confederation welcomed Blunkett's initiative, which it believed could lead to thousands of extra construction workers joining the workforce.
