Page 1617 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 17 May 1994
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Mr De Domenico: Carpenters?
MR WOOD: No.
Mr De Domenico: Builders themselves?
MR WOOD: No. Builders have to be registered, but only those two categories, and perhaps a third, have to have qualifications or that work cannot be done. The vast bulk of the work in the housing industry is done by people with an assortment of training, but often that training is very limited. I could list the whole range.
Mr De Domenico: List some.
MR WOOD: Just wait. Mr De Domenico went on to say that there was no need demonstrated. I think there is. I think there is the need for a skilled work force and a quality product. Mrs Carnell asked the same question. Let us take the two areas that are responsible for most complaints to the Building Controller. Those two areas are concreting and tiling. Most complaints in respect of housing work relate to those two areas. There is simply no training provided. There is no training program. There is no background for concreters. It is just not there. Do you remember the complaints two or three years ago, or a year or so ago, about concreting and footings? There is no training scheme. There is a one-year program somewhat available for tilers, and there is no small number of people in this community who complain about the quality of tiling.
Mr Moore: Is this roof tiling or ceramic tiling?
MR WOOD: I am sorry; this is interior tiling. Do you see what I mean with just those two examples? I thought it logical to pick the two that give rise to most complaints to the Building Controller. The programs that we have in place for training people working in those areas are absolutely inadequate. You asked for a demonstration of need. Those two alone are enough.
Madam Speaker, Mr De Domenico argued about the additional cost. I think that Mr Moore and I now have an agreed figure on this. We have done our maths together and we come out with an agreed figure. The amount I chose, which is above the average cost of a home in the ACT, was $100,000, and the cost is $200. I think it is a very modest cost for the results. Take the two examples I have given you. You would save, rapidly, on any example you want to run, that amount of money if your tradespeople were better qualified. But here is the key point. The unions, as they cooperate, as they promote and work in this area, will be advancing the cause of multiskilling. That has been a bit of a difficulty in the past. Mr Westende, though not a builder, may have some idea of the advantages of multiskilling on a building site. You do not have to send one tradesman away and get another. If multiskilling is available to the building industry there are immediate and enormous savings. I think that $200 is very quickly repaid, both to the employer and to the purchaser. In any case, there are offsets to that $200.
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