A Message from the President

A MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT, FRANK PORRECA

At Master Builders ACT our responsibility, first and foremost, is to our members and our team has been working hard to elicit change on the pressures impacting MBA Members.

Our Responsibility is to our Members

In this edition of Canberra Builder we discuss a number of ways that businesses are displaying responsible practices that contribute positively to the community, company culture and the environment. We provide a number of initiatives and practices that you can undertake which can help strengthen your brand, help retain employees and improve your connection to the local community.

At Master Builders ACT our responsibility, first and foremost, is to our members and our team has been working hard to elicit change on the pressures impacting MBA Members. Our long-term vision means that we need to focus on addressing immediate problems such as the insufficient supply of land, to prevent this being exacerbated as the demand for housing increases.

With skills shortages rife within the industry, we understand the overwhelming pressure members are facing and we’re looking for new ways to attract people to the industry. Internally, we have developed new strategies to break down barriers between potential apprentices and the choice to take up a trade. The MBA Group Training team are making regular visits throughout the year to local schools to discuss careers in construction with students. Our inaugural Carpentry Careers Evening is another strategy to connect employers with potential apprentices, by showcasing the value of a construction career.

To ease financial pressures on construction businesses, we need the ACT Government to increase apprenticeship subsidies for all trade apprenticeships, tackle lower apprenticeship completion rates by offering incentives for successful completions; and continue funding for MBA Women in Civil and MBA Women in Trades programs. While our Members have used forward planning and creative alternatives to accommodate the ongoing building materials shortage, we need the Australian Government to increase the capacity of Australia-made building products to provide a longterm strategy to address this issue.

We need the next ACT budget to deliver a 25-year ACT infrastructure plan, with funding committed for a rolling $5 billion, 5-year, pipeline of infrastructure work.

While addressing all these issues will be a monumental task, if there’s anything I can take away from being the son of a bricklayer who then became a builder, it’s that every job starts with laying that first brick. If our members are still committed to delivering outstanding projects with all these pressures continuing to impact their businesses, then we are determined to continue fighting for positive change.

The MBA Group Training team are making regular visits throughout the year to local schools to discuss careers in construction with students.

The Master Builders Fidelity Fund was established in 2002 to protect the interests of builders and home owners in the ACT.

Income received by the Master Builders Fidelity Fund remains in the ACT, and is securely invested, and used for the betterment of the ACT building and construction industry.

The Fund issues Fidelity Certifi cates which provide protection for new homes or those making substantial changes, if the builder dies, disappears or becomes insolvent. The Certifi cates protect the owner during construction and for up to fi ve years from the date a Certifi cate of Occupancy is issued.

Members of Master Builders ACT receive reduced premium rates.

For more information, please contact the Master Builders Fidelity Fund.