Hi,

We are applying for a 189 visa through my job in the New Year and have enough points, but would like help in gauging the trades market for my DH. We are open to go to most places but have ruled out WA, the NTs and Tasmania. DH has a string of professional qualifications and has almost 20 years experience and is very good at what he does. We have looked on the usual job sites but they just discuss employed prospects. We have heard that being a subby is the way to go as the earnings are loads more lucrative, but do not know of RL people in the trade in Aus who can confirm either way. That said, we have spoken to a lovely guy up in Brissy who has been there 10 years that said good things but we want to ensure that he is not just one of a lucky few!

DH can fit carpets, vinyls (domestic & commercial), LVTs (Amtico, Karndean) and artificial grass, so isn't limited to one particular area of the trade. Is there anyone out there that can help give information as to the potential average earnings of a self-employed fitter? TIA!

I'll ask one of my building mates when I get back..... but... I've not heard of this as a profession before. Except with supermarket and shopping centers.... hopefully this brings someone forward to contradict me.

Plenty of hardwood floorboard layers here though ?

Hate to say it, but it's more in the handyman realm... hopefully I'm wrong.


Very few carpets in houses in Aus... and god knows who lays the vinyl... some builders apprentice I think.

We got some vinyl fitted in our kitchen a couple of months ago so can only go off that....we got quotes from 2 flooring shops that were both around $1,400 ($500 labour, $900 for the tiles) but shopped around a bit more and found a lovely old Scottish boy who did it for $200, and we bought the tiles wholesale ourselves for $500 - so got it for 50% of the 'professionally quoted' price. It only took a few hours for him to do it.

So if you're self employed, you can $70/80ph easily for that sort of business, I guess the tricky bit is finding the work.

I work in the construction industry and employ floor layers. On building sites, the rate of pay will depend upon whether the site is an EBA (enterprise bargaining agreement) one (i.e, unionised) or not.

Generally the EBA sites will pay more, but be prepared to be pulled of site for reasons outside normal comprehension just so the unions can prove they can stop work. Oh, and you loose pay in this instance as a minimum 4 hours if it is deemed an unofficial walk off.

The pay will be dependent on size of site, height, value all of which add increments to the basic wage. This can range between $50-90/hour

A good start would be contacting MK flooring, who are a larger commercial floor laying company that I have used often
About Us | MK Floors Your Leading Flooring Solutions Partner

Work in Brissie is buoyant at the moment, especially in the high rise resi market

Best of luck!

TD

Thanks for taking the time to reply guys, any information is useful because we are doing this blindly at the moment! I guess it's probably just a case of making yourself known and networking within the trade once you're over there. Thanks Toe Dipper for the contact info, much appreciated!í ½í±í ¼í¿»

Very helpful post to a newbie Toe Dipper.

Have some BE karma.

Indeed

Hello How are you doing?

Make sure you check out what local qualifications he'll need to work over here.

Just cos the immigration say you qualify to work over here what they don't tell you is that for many trades an OS certificate is not recognised here and you must pay many thousands of dollars to do a local collage certificate to be employable and insurable here.

Once you have the local certificate then hopefully he can start finding work using his UK references.

My hubby is a floor layer in Victoria. There is no formal certificate required to work for most shops as a sub contractor. And he's never been short of decent paying work since we arrived. Hope that helps