Skills maintenance an industry fixture

After conducting four rounds of PlaceMakers skills maintenance training, presenter Paul Alsford has a positive outlook on where the building industry is headed.

“I firmly believe that licensing and Restricted Building Work changes are being increasingly well understood, and dealt with, by LBPs as part of their business,” says Paul.

“There seems to be a positive relationship between LBPs and local councils, and skills maintenance is becoming an important part of the building industry.”

To sum it up, Paul says the industry is growing in its professionalism and LBPs are showing their willingness and ability to deal with change and new developments. He recommends five areas of focus:

1) Go online: There are so many resources available through the web. Getting information and keeping up to date on everything from regulations to business services to technical information online is now standard. 

Use the shortcuts you wrote down at the latest skills maintenance seminar to access those sites more quickly!

2) Your own record keeping: While this isn’t a legal requirement, it’s for your own benefit and worth the effort. If you’re not already, take photos and keep a daily site diary. Back it up with written contracts and, when required, the Record of Work memorandum is a very good way to record building work you’ve done or supervised.

Remind yourself – if in three years I needed to check what happened on a job today, what would I rely on?

3) Business skills: Since so many of you are business owners, keeping your business processes organised is key. 

However, don’t try to do everything yourself; use experts – from a tax agent to insurance broker – to help you.

If you have employees or apprentices who may go down the same business track one day, help them out by ensuring they get the ‘business basics’ right up front.

4) Constant change: They say the only constant is change. If you accept that, and realise it’s part of your job to stay up to speed, you will always be ready for whatever is coming next. To do this, use skills maintenance opportunities to your advantage – stay informed and be aware of changes as they come, particularly around compliance and regulations.

5) The ‘good no’: If a job you’ve been asked to quote doesn’t add up, or you’re not happy with how it might pan out, just say no and focus on the next (better) job! The ‘good no’ is better than a bad job.