Another builder opts for the brain drain

The whole question of why experienced waterproofers are being allowed to leave the building industry has generated a lot of comment. Here one 14-year veteran explains what the challenges are and why he is joining the building brain drain – although not for the obvious reasons.

I’ve been working in Sydney, in remedial building since 2007. I started my own remedial business nearly seven years ago, and have a great partner who looks after estimating, invoicing and all things office, where I spend all day on sites or in between jobs on operations.
It’s a pretty incestuous industry where everyone knows most other players.  It’s also a lucrative market as I believe it’s a harder gig than new build or commercial.  Dealing with so many stakeholders in occupied buildings can be a real challenge, not least of all getting house-trained staff and sub-contractors that aren’t complete savages. (I include myself in this slight).
Things have been getting harder with material price increases and it’s been a real struggle getting the right people on board.  When you see the cvs and interviews I’ve held, you would sympathise.  Everyone’s an expert, but they’ve never done it! 

Wages have been going up as there is a skills shortage, helped along by a decrease in “backpackers” who would usually do the breaking and carrying.  Managing expectations has been a huge issue too, as I believe the “reality” shows have created a false expectation in the uninformed punter. 

Cutting back from an ad break to see a plywood sheet transformed into a painted and ornate French lattice screen is nonsensical.  I once watched a “reality” show opposite our job use four takes just to film people getting out of a car to walk up to the front door.
I sympathise with the builder that will close down. However reading between the lines, I feel that they just don’t want to get the qualification for the DPB act.
Perhaps they are a little long in the tooth after 40 years in the game, and find it overwhelming, which I get. The vast majority of competitors I have dealings with have all just got on with.  I personally dodged the course as my partner, another director who is a civil engineer and MBA ate the course before breakfast.  This ensured that our company was qualified. Unfortunately not everyone has that option. But times change and unless we adapt, we are doomed to be left behind
I note that the builder said that he had managed fire upgrade works. Being involved in a few of those myself, I expect that was as a principal and he arranged everything through a licensed fire practitioner, as we as builders are not qualified. This is the same principal introduced for Waterproofing.
The other aspect is that although this builder may be in the top 10% in skills as claimed, most people are not. These regulations were introduced to decrease Waterproofing defects which constitute up to 90% of building defects. If an inexperienced player comes on site, trying to help, and  puts in an extra drain off a balcony, this could have unintended consequences on a lower area. This is just one simple  example of  creating more problems by being uninformed.
The real problem of course is self-regulation of new build via Private certifiers, and not using a clerk of works. We’re some of those clerks of works corrupt and on the take? Yes, but it was a whole lot better than the current system.

As a contact in the Department of Fair Trading told me, until we make individual trades on site responsible for their own work, with recourse to follow up, it’s not going to be easy to reduce defects.

I’m closing my company down to go back to uni, as I want to move into the environment space. I never really loved building like my competitors, just fell into it, studied, had a go, saw some opportunity and seized on it. It just means my guys will end up at a competitor which will help them.