Laying the foundations for a career

As the building industry struggles to deal with a labour shortfall, PlaceMakers and Hauraki Plains College have together laid the foundations for an innovative programme to help introduce young people into the trade

Year 13 students at Hauraki Plains College interested in a building career can get an early taste of the trade, thanks to a house building course established five years ago following a conversation with PlaceMakers Mangawhai Depot Manager Paul Kerr.

Paul, then working at the Thames branch, says he approached the college after a series of conversations with Branch Operator John McGill.

“We had been talking about the lack of young apprentices coming in to the building industry in our area and I took it upon myself to approach the school,” says Paul.

“I spoke with two carpentry teachers [the aptly named Pete Carpenter and now retired Bruce Ratcliffe] and the principal Ngaire Harris about my idea to get students to build a house in partnership with our branch, both as a way of engaging them with the building industry and educating them on the nature of construction work.” 

Paul also approached a number of key suppliers, such as James Hardie, Winstone Wallboards and Tasman Insulation, to help support the project.

“They all thought it was a great idea and were prepared to help in any way they could, so we arranged classroom visits where they could show the students how to install products correctly, along with discussing the technical elements of the products and the role they play in the project,” he says.   

Getting off the ground

After getting approval from the Board of Trustees, the school created an optional course for Year 13 students, where they would build a transportable three-bedroom home over the course of the year, with initial financing provided by the Board in the form of a loan.

In addition to initiating the conversation and arranging support from suppliers, the local PlaceMakers store provided nailing beds for the students, so they could build the frames on site, and donated a number of tools to the school.

PlaceMakers Thames Branch Operator John McGill also arranged for them to get the trusses made through PlaceMakers Frame and Truss plant in Hamilton, which the students then erect on site once they are delivered.

John says it’s a project he’s proud to be involved with.

“For me, I enjoy watching the students grow and seeing them really care about what they are doing. It’s also great because it helps put them in front of a great future within our building trade.”

Built to last

The houses are built to a standardised 128m2 design, which teacher and former builder Pete Carpenter says simplifies the process.

“It’s good because it makes the compliance side of things easier and, because it’s transportable, we’re able to use the same foundation every year,” he says.

“There are also a couple of really nice features, such as the open plan kitchen and living area, along with scissor trusses in the lounge that create a vaulted ceiling.

Pete, who project manages the build, says all the features are “overbuilt” because they don’t know where the homes will end up.

“We sell them ex-yard, so after everything has been signed off we’re done, but someone could be moving them into a high wind zone, so we need to make sure it will stand up to the conditions. We’ve had them go all over the place and we’ve had really positive feedback.” 

Creating a career pathway

Pete says the course is run similarly to pre-trade courses offered by polytechnics.

“We use the BCITO Gateway package, which covers six theory units that can be credited towards an apprenticeship.

“At the start of the year, we put all of the students through a SiteSafe foundation passport. It’s hugely beneficial for them, as health and safety is an important part of the industry these days.”

He estimated that each year around five or six students from the course would go on to do a building apprenticeship.

One such apprentice is James Pou, who graduated from Hauraki Plains College in 2012.

While he’d always had his eyes on a career in building, James says that completing the course at college reinforced that it was the right path for him. 

“I started working in the industry in 2013 out of school and started my apprenticeship a year later. I found the course really good, as it helped me get a head start and meant I wasn’t going into the career blind or needing to learn from scratch,” says James.

“I’d say the most helpful skill I learnt was the theory relating to maths and calculations. It wasn’t something I’d studied too closely as a subject on its own, so learning how to apply it practically was really helpful.”

Four years into his career as a builder, James says he still enjoys it.

“I’m working on a lot of renovations at the moment and I love seeing how an old house can be transformed into something new.”

Good for the industry

BCITO chief executive Warwick Quinn says there are a handful of other schools across the country with similar programmes, which he thinks is fantastic.

“Giving people hands-on experience that showcases construction as a genuine career path at school is really important, as there is often a lot of pressure on young people to attend university and the trades tend to take second place to that,” says Warwick.

He says it’s also great that students get to experience the trade first hand, allowing them to make a more informed decision about whether or not they’d like to pursue a career in construction.

Warwick added that he thought schools needed to do a better job of explaining that a career in construction doesn’t necessarily entail a life spent on a building site, as there were a number of different roles people could move into later if they wanted to.