when you get back

Korero (AEWS), Volume 2, Issue 10, 22 May 1944, Page 13

POSSIBLE JOBS FOR SERVICEMEN

when you get back

THE BUILDING INDUSTRY If you have read the C.A.B. “ 60,000 Houses,” you will know that a large number of skilled workers will be needed in the building industry. These are the figures that have been worked out for every 1,000 carpenters to be trained, it will be necessary to train 133 joiners, 120 plumbers, 44 electricians, 70 roof-tilers, 260 painters and paperhangers, 24 solid plasterers, 22 drainlayers, and anything from 20 to 70 or more bricklayers, depending on how the ’housing situation develops. Carpenters and Joiners Carpentry training schools have already been establishedtwo in Wellington, one in Auckland, one in Christchurch, one in Dunedin, one in Napier, and one for Maoris at Rotorua. It is intended to provide another fourteen or fifteen of these schools, taking care that the training centre is justified by the number of applications for State houses, and the probable expansion of the district. The “A ” class carpentry centres provide a twelve months’ course, including approximately eighteen weeks’ intensive study in the school itself. For the rest of the time the trainees are actually erecting State houses under competent instructors. The idea is that every trainee should have experience in erecting practically every part of a State house. So far the scheme has proved very satisfactory. But while there is scope for the mechanization and rationalization of the carpentry

We have tried to make the information given here as complete and accurate as possible; but it should be remembered that changing conditions may invalidate some of it. These articles can be regarded, therefore, only as a general guide. They do not bind Korero or any authority.

industry, there is need also of fullyqualified men who have served a complete apprenticeship. Otherwise we should, before many years, reach the stage when we should have no one fitted to instruct trainees. Because of this, the normal period of apprenticeship for those over eighteen has been three years, and preference has been given to youths who have had a year or two at a technical school.

The importance of technical training for the qualified carpenter or joiner cannot be too greatly stressed, for the work in both branches depends on plans which must be understood and followed. The carpenter and joiner must be able to follow geometrical and architectural drawing, his trade mathematics must be sound, and he must learn the various regulations regarding building. A.E.W.S. has courses in carpentry and drawing which are suitable for apprentices and also for soldiers who require a knowledge of carpentry for army or for civilian work. Those who have not previously had a technical-school course are advised to study trade calculations and mechanics before beginning the specialized course. The Wellington Technical College has a correspondence course designed for trade apprentices and for journeymen. The course is practical and covers the following

subjects : mathematics, building mechanics, carpentry and joinery theory, and building construction. The course is free to servicemen. Wages : £5 ss. to £5 7s. 6d. for servicemen during training. The present minimum award rate is 2s. 9|d. an hour, plus two cost-of-living bonuses. The average ruling wage appears to be about 3s. 3d. an hour. Plumbing ' Prospects in plumbing are very good, but ability above the average is necessary, as well as a capacity for serious study. The normal period of apprenticeship is six years. This can be served with a private plumbing firm or with a freezing company, a Harbour Board, a Hospital Board, or some such body. Attendance for instruction at technical school evening classes is compulsory. Examinations The Education Department conducts technological examinations for appren- . tices in plumbing, a ■preliminary examination in the candidate’s second year, an intermediate in the candidate’s fourth year, and the final in the candidate’s sixth year. The Plumbers’ Board conducts a qualifying examination which candidates are entitled to sit after they have served five years’ apprenticeship. This examination consists of an eight hours’ practical test, and a three hours’ theoretical test. The successful candidate cannot, however, become a registered plumber under the present regulations until he has had at least six years’ service. Possibly in the near future this period may be reduced to five years. The Royal Sanitary Institute, New Zealand Branch, whose address is care of the Department of Health, Wellington, conducts qualifying examinations in December of each year (a) for Sanitary Inspectors, and (&) in Sanitary Science as applied to buildings and public works. Formerly Sanitary Inspectors were recruited mainly from the ranks of registered plumbers, but this is no longer so, as the scope of the work has widened greatly and now includes much more than ability to examine and supervise plumbing and drainage work.

Sanitary Inspectors A minimum of two years’ postprimary education or a pass in the Intermediate Examination of the New Zealand Education Department is required as a preliminary. This must be followed by at least two years’ (part time) theoretical training at an approved technical school or under an instructor approved by the New Zealand Examination Board of the Institute. Chemistry and physics (including practical work in these sciences) form part of the syllabus of instruction. Practical training is also required, and the prescribed examinations must be passed before a certificate can be issued. The practical training may be gained : — (a) By serving at least a year as an Assistant Sanitary Inspector under an approved local authority ; or (&) By working under a Sanitary or Health Inspector and receiving practical instruction in the duties of a Sanitary Inspector for at least three hundred working-hours over a period of at least one year. ' (Note. —For men who have had practical experience as tradesmen in plumbing or other approved building craft during at least three years, the minimum requirement is fixed at two hundred working-hours of practical instruction over a period of not less than six months) ; or (c) By serving as an assistant in the office of an approved Sanitary Inspector for at least two years and by receiving during that time adequate practical instruction in carrying out the duties of a Sanitary Inspector. Candidates for the examination must be at least twenty years of age, and the entry fee is £6 6s. The syllabus of the examination comprises elementary physics and chemistry as applied to public health ; the provisions of relevant Acts, regulations, and model by-laws ; methods of inspection and administration ; water ; food ; air, ventilation, warming, and lighting ; building construction and sanitation ; drainage, sewerage, and sewage disposal; collection and disposal of refuse ; prevention of infectious diseases ; flies, pests, and vermin ; disposal of the dead ; port sanitation; statistics and office routine.

Openings for Sanitary Inspectors will never be numerous, and the likelihood of a vacancy occurring with any particular local body depends largely on the age of the Inspectors already employed. Local bodies governing an area with a population of over 15,000, however, have power to employ suitable men as trainees, and in order to provide facilities for ex-servicemen to be trained the Rehabilitation Board has agreed to subsidize the employing local body up to the extent of 50 per cent, of £5 ss. weekly for the first year and to the extent of 40 per cent, of £5 ios. weekly for the second year of training. It must be emphasized, however, that openings of this kind will be few. Examination in Sanitary Science as applied to Buildings and Public WorksThe preliminary education here required is one or other of the following : — (а) School Certificate (including Chemistry and Physics). (&) Examination of the Royal Sanitary Institute qualifying for appointment as a Sanitary Inspector. (c) University Entrance. As before, the theoretical training covers a period of two years, and practical training is required as well. A syllabus giving full details of the above examination can be obtained from the Department of Health, Wellington. Wages for Plumbers Minimum award rate is 2s. gd., plus cost-of-living bonuses. Keen men can advance to foremen at £6 10s. to £3 a week.

Bricklaying Apprenticeship There is a five years’ apprenticeship for boys, but for adults a three-year training-period is sufficient. Prospects in the Trade At the present time, with the wide choice of lighter work offering, there are few, if any, boy apprentices. The majority of men in the trade are over military age, and some retired tradesmen have returned to fill the gap left by bricklayers serving overseas. The present scarcity of apprentices, the post-war Government building programme, and new confidence in the. well-built brick dwellings’ earthquake-resisting capacity all indicate that there will be plenty of employment in the trade after the war, both for servicemen returning to it and for others who may choose to become apprenticed to it. But while the prospects are good, a great deal depends on being apprenticed to a builder who will teach the trainee how to lay bricks and will not merely engage him to carry them. The work is heavy and unsuitable for disabled men, but at the same time it provides outdoor occupation and variety for those who find it difficult to return to routine work under a roof. Wages Minimum award rate is 2S. io|d., plus cost-of-living bonuses. Because of the shortage at present, bricklayers may receive anything up to 4s. an hour.