Certificate important even for old hands

Peter Bennett appreciated that he could study at his own pace. Photo / Ted Baghurst

Building careers have always been based on an apprenticeship-type arrangement, but it wasn't always as formal as it is now. In the old days, you would complete a set number of hours on the tools to complete "your time", and then pass a written exam to gain your certificate.

Plenty of people did their time and are excellent builders, but never followed through to get their certificate. But changes are coming and in the next few years you won't be able to get a licence without a National Certificate in Carpentry. And from March next year you will need a licence to build a house.

The Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation (BCITO) gives experienced building practitioners who aren't formally qualified an opportunity to have their skills and experience recognised towards the National Certificate in Carpentry.

People in this category must, however, have considerable building experience, usually in excess of seven years. Training advisers conduct an examination of the candidate's past building projects, record what the builder knows and create a training programme to fill knowledge gaps. This is called an experience recognition process (ERP).

New builders coming into the workforce usually take about four years to complete the qualification, with a mix of practical and on-site work, plus theory. For experienced builders who have all the knowledge required by the National Certificate in Carpentry, the process could cost $1200 and take less than six months.

When I left school, I wanted to join the police force, but I wasn't old enough so I went to university and I got a part-time job with a building company in the weekends and holidays.

I discovered I enjoyed it enough to stay. I got a job with a pre-cut and nail company before working for a builder, but I could never get an apprenticeship so I just continued building for about 27 years in that way, because you didn't have to complete a qualification.

I've taken two guys through their apprenticeships and have a third apprentice at the moment who is starting his third year.

I thought having the qualification was an opportunity that had passed me by until this programme was put before me when Carl Sutton from the BCITO came to a master builders' meeting. He said they had this experience recognition programme in place where people like me who have been building for a number of years could do a shortened version of the apprenticeship programme and still get their qualification.

I saw him after the meeting, asked a few questions and went from there. I was aware that a number of other builders, particularly in the group of master builders which I was part of, were moderately disparaging of guys who hadn't done their apprenticeships and hadn't done their formal qualifications. I believe that in the next few years your licensing and qualification will be linked in some fashion. So I wanted to pre-empt that and not be forced into doing it in a hurry.

And then Carl became my, I don't know what you call it, overseer in my apprenticeship. He gave me the same set of books my apprentices use.

Basically you have to work your way through them and answer all the same questions. The thing that appealed to me was that it was motivation-based. You could do it in six weeks if you were able to, or six months or a year. I took a year because, of course, you're running a business and you have a family and everything else you have going on in your life as well.

I think you also had to present details of about six projects that you had done, showing which components of building you had included. You could demonstrate you had done the practical work on a number of projects that had covered all the bases as well as all the theories.

Unlike all the apprentices who have to fill out the theory books, we were able to do it as an exam format and that was once again motivation-based.

I'd encourage anybody who was in my situation to go for it. Some of it was easy because they start at the most basic level, which is hand tools - this is a hammer, this is a ruler. But it does get through some complicated stuff as well; things which I'll never re-apply because some of it was commercial work and I don't do that, I only do residential. But it's still interesting and you can still learn things.

The builder
Peter Bennett, director of Selva Residential 0274

Completed the National Certificate in Carpentry (Level 4), February 2011.

Carpenter

Carpenter National Certificate in Carpentry (Level 4) through the ERP (Experience Recognition Process)

Where: On worksite under the guidance of a training adviser.

Contact: 0800 4 BCITO; BCITO.org.nz; Facebook.com/BCITO.org.nz

Prerequisites: Builders aiming to get their experience formally recognised should have seven years' experience.

Dates: Year-round.

Course costs: Just over $3000 for the National Certificate in Carpentry. Costs for those with extensive experience in the industry could be considerably less.

Starting salaries: $25-$30 per hour for new builders, more for experienced builders.

Length of course: Usually four years, but much less for those with extensive building experience.