bridie

Will send you a PM

BadgeIsBack

I think both Jad and Rich and Cresta tell the harsh reality well!

Some of these trades involve substantial amounts of sums of private money - it pays for people to have gone through a system.

Even if there might be a case of 'There's the right way and the way I show you'

BadgeIsBack

Presumably it works the same for all..

BadgeIsBack

I've got a question - are some states actually easier than others? Can anyone give a rundown on some examples?

Nikki

Have skimmed through this thread, so forgive me if I am repeating what has been said...

O/H wants to get a trades license, we were told 12 months on a day release course (would be down a days wages if we took this route) for $250, alternatively....we were told "we can offer you a fastrack route, not quite sure of the costs as this is fairly new but it will be between $2000 - $3000", someone tell me they are not making this up as they go along!!!

To fastrack all we need to do is supply lots of detailed references (de ja vu...TRA), I am aware TRA is not a license for work, yet they are willing to accept the same documents! Someone 'may' need to come on site if we do not get it all covered in references. We are in NSW and were told this changed in November 2006, prior to this my O/H's boss would have been able to sign something which satisfied the Office of Fair Trading regarding competency.

I agree that the industry needs to be regulated, but the high costs and lengthy processes seem to hinder those wanting to provide a good service and those looking for good tradesmen. We have no option but to go for the fastrack as O/H wants to set up asap, he has been offered private work already but wants to be 'above board'!

One question before I start surfing the net, is TAFE the only training provider therefore, a monopoly or can you go elsewhere and maybe get a more competitive price?

Good luck all.

Amazulu

I've noticed that over the last few weeks her in WA house building companies are starting to advertise on TV/Radio/print things like, 'we'll pay you $300pw if we don't build your house on time' or 'we'll pay your stamp duty' etc. A few months ago these type of ads would never have appeared. I think it shows the new house market is slowing here too.

Wendy

We found it really easy here is South Australia. After all the horror stories we'd read on here, my OH was really dreading it all, the reality of it was totally different. He's fully licenced now, no need for any supervision for x amount of time or anything. I wrote down the process somewhere on page 3 of this thread.

If he hadn't have been scared to death by some of the tales on here, he'd have had it done in 6 weeks....

Wendy

Which trade? They are all different and require different stuff.

steve`o

youve hit the nail on the head as it were badge ( are you a licenced joiner )

if its all about making sure that we are all at the same standard why does the standard vary ( massively ) from state to state???

south australia is suppposdly the easiest ( aka wendies experiances )
and victoria the hardest ( aka the_pom_from_aus`s experiances )
with qld been some where in the middle

now if we all had to sit the same course and exams that would be a fair system but like i said it can vary from SA ( a couple of months ) to qld ( approx a year ) to get an electrical licence surly this cannot be bring us all up to the standards required


now if you want to talk standards the standard of electrical work ive personnly seen in aus across dozens of sites in the last 5 months is friggin appalling

Wendy

If everyone got the SA licence and converted it, I'm sure the other states would panic by the loss of revenue

andicee

Me too I'm afraid (?) to say!! Arrived 11th December in Brisbane and rang a contact from this site on 14th who started me working, on $22/hour, supervised, the following week. Rang Queensland licensing office who said owing to the xmas period it wouldn't be possible to issue permit before the new year, but provided I was supervised by a QLD licensed sparky I could work. Applied to ARTC end Jan and classed as electrical mechanic three weeks later. Got pay-rise as a result to $25/hour. This in addition to van and mobile phone given to me end of Jan. Started at TAFE last Saturday. 12 Saturdays, 8am-4pm costing $1000. Peanuts. To me anyway as was expecting to pay for re-qualification.

I agree the system is ludicrous and the standards here are shocking, no pun intended, but to keep comparing everything to the UK IS CRAZY. Newsflash. This is Australia guys. We emigrated for something different, no? Well, it sure is different. And sunny. And all the girls wear skimpy clothes.

Gonna get another pay-rise when I pass the course. A big one. No-one fails!

Good luck all

Andy

Wendy

Another thing that's just popped into my head is that these courses MAY be tax deductable, so look into that

Dolly

Can anyone tell me what kind of licence a Carpenter needs in Victoria? For example, if they want to work for an employer. I think I heard something about needing a Contractors licence if you want to be self employed.

Any info greatly appreciated. Want to be prepared before we get there.

Dolly

Clippy

There seems to be some mystery shrouding carpenter licences, either that or I'm just crap at finding out information

I'm hoping this means all the chippies are far too busy to be posting on here

cresta57

Some states don't have licencing requirements at all accepting sparkies and plumbers, some have them for some trades others have licencing requirements for all trades. They are all individually governed with their own different rules and regulations.
Qld has licencing requirements for all trades.


Everyone has to be accountable here. I know we keep banging on about it and yes Jad & I are QLD licenced contractors, I assure you it's not a case of we don't want more competition as has been suggested. What it's about is creating a level playing field for all trades and providing customers with guarantees backed by a governing body. Unlicenced contractors are operating illegally, no grey area, it's illegal! Principle contractors have no legal obligation to pay any contractor for work done without the appropriate licence. The QBSA can & do prosecute for licence infringements, anyone contemplating a move to QLD should make a point of reading their website. Licencing makes everyone accountable for their work, their taxation & their liability to the general public. The licencing costs as well as any training courses are fully deductable business expenses.
I have to display both my ABN and my licence number on my invoices together with a self certification for the work undertaken, without it I don't get paid. I'm responsible for any work I or my employees have done for six years. Even if the tiles I've installed are faulty due to a manufacturing defect I'm still responsible.
As I stated earlier in the thread it took me over nine months to gain my licence. The problem I, as well as many others, had was just not knowing what to do about getting one. I rang several places and was told several different stories. There is a lot of misinformation and quite often even if you are contacting the right person from the off even they aren't aware of every step in the process. I went to the local TAFE and was told I had to sign up for a mature age course in tiling. I contacted the DET who said that was not necessary as I had a reference stating my skills met the requirements as well as City & Guilds quals. All I needed to do was pay them to assess my qualifications, that took about 10mins then apply to have my work inspected. Easier said than done when you need a licence to actually get a start in this area. I was told I couldn't do the necessary three day business course before I had a positive skills assessment, that was bull, I could have done the course whenever I wanted to as long as I had the paperwork that stated I'd applied to have them assessed. You can't begin the licence application before you arrive as the system is geared such that applications must be onshore. Before licences are granted you need to meet the financial requirements and have the necessary "net tangible assets" again this is more to protect prospective customers.
The TRA approval does state in bold lettering that a positive TRA does not guarantee that more specific Australian training may be required to work in the trade assessed. How much clearer does it need to be made?


If you don't want to bother getting a licence just don't get one,simple as! All it means is you have to work for someone else, at a lower rate, who does have one and is prepared to take the risk of employing you. I take blokes on who don't have licences providing they are seeking to gain one, if I was opposed to more competition would I do that?

Licencing is, as I'm sure everyone who's trying to get one or has one will agree, a very complicated process. Improvements do need to be made, the process could be made simpler for migrants who have had positive TRA assessments, the info provided in the initial assessment should count for something. More information could be made available on how to apply to each states governing body. The red tape is confusing, there's very little inter department cooperation regarding prior skills recognition, indeed differing departments actually appear to be in direct conflict with others on occasion. There seems to be a lot of people sitting in ivory towers presiding the fate of blokes who after all are only trying to earn a crust legally.