工事
こうじ · kouji · JLPT N2 · noun
work
🚧 工 (work, craft) + 事 (matter, affair) = work matter: construction work
工 means craft or labour, and 事 means matter or affair. Road signs say 工事中, meaning work in progress, so you'll see this word on any site being built or repaired.
事 — hand 又 holding a banner/tablet on a pole
Originally a pictograph of a hand (又) grasping a pole or ceremonial banner used by an official, depicting the act of conducting court business. From this it came to mean 'affair, matter, business, service.' It shares an ancient origin with 史 (scribe) and 吏 (official).