Brian Dickinson, Chairman of WDL Builders, reflects on 46 years within the construction industry.
It is now 46 years since i began my career in the construction industry and since I am retiring soon I wanted to mention two things that have hardly changed in all that time.
The first thing is what is now commonly known as ‘cowboy builders’.
Only this morning I was asked to go and look at a job carried out badly by someone who quite clearly did not know what they were doing – the client was taking them to the small claims court – good luck with that.
A national newspaper carried an article last week about someone who had employed a ‘builder’ who had charged them thousands of pounds and left them with a hole in the roof. They had then paid someone else to put that right and they had done the same thing. They had thought that as they were a member of Checkatrade they would be covered – but that is not how it works – they only cover up to £1000 in damages – and had only paid out after pressure from the newspaper.
However this was not an original story – you could have read a similar article 40 years ago – and i was looking at ‘disaster’ jobs 40 years ago.
We now have programmes like Cowboy Builders and Rogue Traders naming and shaming these people but still it goes on.
The Federation of Master Builders and other trade organisations have campaigned for many years to get some sort of legislation brought in to try and contain the problem but to no avail.
Most governments be they Labour or Conservative make noises about changing the law to deal with the problem but to date nothing has been done.
We still have a situation where anyone who has never held a hammer can buy a van and call themselves a builder.
There is no register and no check on their credentials and is very easy for them to become members of one of these so called vetting organisations who will run for cover when problems arise.
It would be quite simple for the government to make it impossible to trade as a builder without being given a government accreditation to prove that they are competent to work in the industry
Obviously this would not be perfect as everything is open to abuse but it would go a long way to removing the reputation the industry has got
My second criticism is apprenticeships.
I took on my first apprentice in 1981 and shall be taking on the latest in September.
Quite a few over the years in various trades – some good – some not so good and some very good – but they were all given a chance
We are a small company but i like to feel that we have contributed
However the one thing which has remained static within construction over the last 40 years is lack of skills
There has just not been enough government support for full apprenticeships
We have had systems such as the Youth Opportunities Scheme in the 80’s through to various works skills training courses in the 90’s and works placements in more recent times.
The one thing though that they do not give to the individual is a full time job.
That is what is wrong with the system – a person needs to feel wanted and part of where they are working – not something that can be cast aside on a whim – they need to gain some pride.
We need more investment in apprenticeships within this industry.
This country is the most uninsulated in Europe and hopefully with a change of government we will see the re-instatement of the Green Grants.
We already know that should there be a large roll out of grants to insulate houses we will need more trained operatives.
I have campaigned with the Construction Industry Training Board and the Government to try to get a qualification solely to carry out the works associated with the insulation industry.
To date I have had no response. but i shall keep on trying.
However remember both of my topics go hand in hand – less skilled more unskilled carrying out the work.
www.wdlnortheast.co.uk
