Decline in Level of Skills within Building Industry.

There was a general consensus amongst submitters that there has been a decline over the last decade in the level of skills in all sectors of the building industry. A number of contributing factors were identified. More interestingly here are some of the comments/quotes made by submitters to the Committee:

Without registration anyone can be a builder -”all one needs is a ute, a dog and loud radio”.

Too many building projects are run by “circus” entrepreneurs, project managers that have little, or no, technical ability (except to driving costs down), and ex-hammer hands. Anyone can call himself or herself a builder – that is also wrong.

Any “clown” can still go out and build a house. The trade needs to be registered. The Certified Builders’ Association is on the right track. Being a builder by trade is not a requirement of Master Builders.

Comment was made to the effect that the distinction between carpenters and builders has been lost in New Zealand. A “carpenter” was a person trained in the techniques and methods of building structures, and should be a tradesperson working with tools and building materials. The term “builder” on the other hand should be used to describe a person with wider knowledge and responsibilities in the building process. In addition to the skills of a carpenter, a builder will understand:

how to manage and coordinate subcontractors

the importance of the various subcontractor functions and how they interrelate

how to formulate progress and variation claims and understand the management of the building process

have an understanding of building contracts.

Specialisation and fragmentation of the building industry was noted by a number of submitters as being a factor that has lead to the decline in skills. The point was made that the principal contractor is now left with the situation where no one is in overall control to take responsibility for the project leading to problems at the interface of the various parts of the process. A similar comment is made in relation to the education of modern day builders, with a preference for specialist knowledge rather than generalist knowledge and skills.

A number of recommendations were made to the Government by the Select Committee in relation to improving the alleged decline in skill levels of the building industry:

People employed in the building industry may need to be reskilled or upskilled to ensure they are competent to carry out the tasks they undertake.

The majority consider that a building industry registration and competency regime should be developed.

Consideration is given to requiring critical building work to be supervised by building practitioners, such as builders, architects, engineers, designers or draughtspersons, who have demonstrated competence. We expect owner-builders to also be covered by this requirement.

The apprenticeship scheme and other training be expanded to align with current and perceived future needs of the building industry.

Major development projects should be supervised by a registered clerk of works, or similar. Government policy in this area needs to differentiate between homeowners and major construction projects.

Building Inspection Regime.

Most of the submitters who comment on the building inspection regime consider that there must be improvements to the types and number of inspections in regard to watertightness issues and at critical stages of construction. The following recommendations were made:

A code of practice needs to be developed that prescribes what the building inspection regime is required to accomplish.

This code needs clear guidelines which clearly defines numbers, timing and nature of rigour of each inspection

Checklists and risk classification systems that might help to provide clarity in terms of expectations.

Identification of building constructions that are more at risk of failure and therefore need a greater number of, and more detailed inspections.

Responsibility and liability of territorial authority and private building certifier to the owner.

The Government has responded favourably to many of these recommendations, but will need to legislate to implement them.