# Biggest Challenges Facing The Trade?



## admin (Jan 4, 2010)

What do you feel are the biggest challenges facing the trade, both now and in the future. What solutions are there for overcoming these challenges?

What challenges are YOU dealing with now?


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## MrWillys (Mar 10, 2014)

Perpetuating the crafts with people with high attention for detail and not being lost to those of a lesser standard.


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## Kiwiman (Jun 14, 2008)

Job site health & safety has gotten way past ridiculous.....100% Compliance is next to impossible and you'll get fined if you don't :furious:


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## dnbdan (Mar 18, 2016)

Kiwiman said:


> Job site health & safety has gotten way past ridiculous.....100% Compliance is next to impossible and you'll get fined if you don't


100% agree with this. It's effecting the job at hand!! Can't do your job properly, on site your meant to use. Stair way platform, the ****ing things don't fit in coach houses or even some 4 beds!! So your only alternative is a ladder and plank. The site agent can order you a special sized one... But I'm on price I haven't got weeks to wait till I can get the job done!! It's a joke

Second to that is money, the contractors are really starting to take the piss and be beyond greedy. The money they make per house you do compared to what they pay you for the work is insane. It's basically rape!! 
I know labourers who haven't got a skill or brain cell between them earning more money for walking round site sweeping maybe 1 house a day and generally just standing round smoking and chatting!! Meanwhile I'm pushing out 10 hour days with no break getting covered in ****, just to make enough money to survive!!!


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## Tapeslamr79 (Feb 5, 2017)

I work in va..it's hard for me to find work..the mexicans have the new construction market cornered .if u don't have crew u can't get work..I work for select few custom builders who still care about quality


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## Wimpy65 (Dec 17, 2013)

Tapeslamr79 said:


> I work in va..it's hard for me to find work..the mexicans have the new construction market cornered .if u don't have crew u can't get work..I work for select few custom builders who still care about quality


Hey Tapeslamr, sounds like you need to talk to Mr Moore! He recently posted that he has only had 5 days off since last June!  He is based in the Dillwyn, VA area, so that might be too far south for you?


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

MrWillys said:


> Perpetuating the crafts with people with high attention for detail and not being lost to those of a lesser standard.


That's right .


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## VANMAN (Jan 14, 2011)

Not worked a day since September just trying to keep my worker going!!
Found out that some piece of chit site manager has been giving my houses out to some other chit tapers so I phoned the boss which is a friend and he is not happy so houses be coming back my way!:thumbup:


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## keke (Mar 7, 2012)

MrWillys said:


> Perpetuating the crafts with people with high attention for detail and not being lost to those of a lesser standard.



















You're right but you know both of us we dreaming....... these days this is the standard


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## icerock drywall (Nov 13, 2010)

I am going with dealing with high shoulders witch is not going away And Paper on rock is thinner , so more pops.


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## 800PoundGuerrilla (Nov 24, 2013)

Cricket said:


> View attachment 36745
> 
> 
> What do you feel are the biggest challenges facing the trade, both now and in the future. What solutions are there for overcoming these challenges?
> ...


"How does it feel? To be on your own, with no direction home ... a complete unknown, like a rolling stone." 

The challenge is the challengers and the challenged: Technocrats ... Transhumanists ... and, Extropians, oh my. Follow the Yellow Brick Road!

Technology that used to be conceived and perceived as a means to an end, has become an end in and of itself. Form follows function and/or dysfunction (the new paradigm being like something out of the movie Idiocracy). Many of the people I interact with these days no longer value human beings, because they no longer appreciate human potentials, because they don't understand human psychology and human behavior, because they are more focused on mechanical forms than organic functions. The function of these new forms of technology seem to be to replace human beings instead of enhancing human potentials ... the circular equation being the development of technologies that require less people to do less things which in turn creates more dysfunctional people which creates a demand for more reliance on technology ... rinse and repeat.

We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us. Change the focus of the function of forms to human centered purposes and change the functional forms.


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## moore (Dec 2, 2010)

build the wall !


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## keke (Mar 7, 2012)

I gave up ..... these people are not taught what's the common sense


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## pytlik86 (Sep 3, 2016)

keke said:


> I gave up ..... these people are not taught what's the common sense


 can we have a movie, where you slam the door :whistling2:


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## keke (Mar 7, 2012)

back at the same door... now how many sparkyes you need to fit a light


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## cazna (Mar 28, 2010)

Haha look at that, Each is getting paid just how much?
The biggest challange facing the trades in nz is baby boomers retiring and no one to take there place, No apprentices, Massive shortages of skilled tradesman, We cant afford the pay the shadow (Apprentice) anymore, Once we had govt places like the works and railways pumping out the trades then they went self employed (Baby boomers) now thats gone and the cycle of trades is stopping, Sparkys (as above in the pic) plumbers not to bad as they are rip offs and rates are high, Some builders doing ok, But painters and plasterers are toast, Its going to be handymen only, And unfortunatly this page has died, Its fb and instagram now but those pages have the numbers but are dead and cold, No real conversations on how to go about doing anything more trolls taking a shot, Im so grateful for the time i had here looking back, It was just gold.


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## Wimpy65 (Dec 17, 2013)

I agree with you Cazna! I miss the conversations that used to be fairly common here. This forum is just better than Instagram or Facebook for more in-depth conversations.  
On the upside, Instagram is much better for pictures and short videos! 
:yes:
I guess we're just living in a Brave New World, Cazna! We old timers need to change with the times or get left behind! :blink:
Of course, I'm old enough that getting left behind doesn't really sound all that bad!


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## cazna (Mar 28, 2010)

Hi Wimpy

Im on the other things like fb and insta as well, But now i miss the old days of dwt, Those are nothing like here, Your not really missing much, As you said better for pics and vids but the conversation and learning isnt much.

Dwt killed the ph app they had its gone, Thats how i could load pics to dwt easy, Then they did a big pass word change and locked us all out, And the site was running poorly and getting hit hard with dodgy posts, so one by one we looked at other things, Im still in contact with some of the old dwt crew thankfully :thumbup:


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## 800PoundGuerrilla (Nov 24, 2013)

Very interesting thread that deserves more feedback and back-and-forth discussions and deliberation (conversating).

The delivery "means and methods" are key to addressing the "what happened and why" question. 

When I got into the trades, the stakeholders that I dealt with on a day to day basis were Owners, Architects and General Contractors (not Construction Managers). I saw extreme changes for the worse when Construction Management became the predominant delivery method of projects.

When I got into the trades, those new to the trade worked and learned on the job under the tutelage of experienced tradesmen. We also worked in crews which had the same structure … mechanics and mechanic helpers. One learned by doing and working with experienced tradesmen who truly cared about the integrity of their trade and made sure that only those with the right attitudes, temperaments, and shared respect for the trade and tradesmen continued to work with the crew. 

When I got into the trades ... belonging, freedom, power and fun were valued and were the standards for evaluation. If these human elements were present and appreciated, productivity emerged. Being part of a crew in which each and every member felt a sense of responsibility to each other and what it was they were trying to accomplish.

When I got into the trades, we met for the breakfast in the morning … didn't do lunch … and met for a few pints and a conversation at the pub in the afternoon. The message first thing in the morning it was that we would "hit it hard for a good five or six hours then wrap it up and get the hell out of here". 

As I read the contributions to this thread, what stood out to me was the expressed matters that matter … of being mindful of the matters that matter … that what we do and who we are is as much spiritual as it is material … the manifestation of the relationships of head, hearts and hands.


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