Registered Master Builders 2010 Apprentice of the Year

Acknowledgements

• Mike Fox,  Chair of Master Builders
• WarwickQuinn, CEO of Master Builders
• Ruma Karaitiana, CEO of BCITO

Thank you for inviting me to present the awards tonight.  It gives me the opportunity to congratulate Master Builders on their organisation of this competition.

Together with the support the Registered Master Builders Federation has given the Licensed Building Practioner Scheme this clearly demonstrates your commitment to supporting excellence in the sector. 

Nationwide events of this kind make sure that we get the skilled and competent carpenters needed to build right first time and increase productivity. 

The Government is doing its part to simplify processes and increase productivity.

We’ve already increased the range of work that can be done without a building consent.

Next year we’ll be introducing legislation for mandatory contracts, warranties, remedies and more options for dispute resolution.

We’ll be extending the range of work that can be done in the future with risk based, stepped consenting.

As we do this we need to be confident in building quality and it heartens me to see the skills you are developing as apprentices.

We have been working with the councils in Canterbury to bring forward some of these improvements to the building control system.  Our response allowing further work on repairs, replacement and demolition to help rebuilding in Canterbury shows how these improvements can work. 

The Licensed Building Practioner scheme has been streamlined to make it simpler to apply.  And right now in Canterbury my officials are running workshops to help building practitioners through the paperwork and apply to be licensed.    We are pulling out all the stops to help them and to process the applications quickly.

This is also an opportunity for me to acknowledge Carters for the support they have shown for licensing clinics in Canterbury. I have heard that Carters have hosted licensing clinics, trained their staff and even sent out flyers promoting licensing with their September accounts.

Thanks to this and other promotions we now have over 800 LBPs in Canterbury alone either already licensed or in the process of being licensed. That was about as many as there were in the whole country this time last year. This shows what we can achieve when government and the sector work together.

From 2012 only LBPs will be able to undertake restricted building work.

We will also be starting a push to educate the public about what to expect and the advantages of using a licensed practitioner.

This government will continue to listen to the sector, streamlining the processes and taking decisions to help raise productivity.

These improvements to building control provide the foundation of a sector that is more efficient, productive and stands behind its work.

And now I want to congratulate the carpenters who will contribute to this future.  Well done to the regional winners on your hard work to reach this stage.

I also want to acknowledge your family, your friends, your colleagues and the companies you work for.  I’m sure they gave each of you a lot of support in getting here tonight.

Congratulations to you all.