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bricklaying in Perth advice !!!


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Hi there;

 

My partner has completed Level 2 Bricklaying in the UK. We are wondering if this is an acceptable level in WA or does he need to complete Level 3 in order to get a bricklaying job in WA.

Any advice on what he can do to put him in a better position of getting a bricklaying job when we move.

 

Thank you

 

Claire xxx

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Guest Paul Cable

hi claire

i am a bricklaying contractor in perth it wont make any difference about getting a job here . we generally just start a bricklayer and if his good we keep him trade qualifications are rarely asked for also those qualifications are not really recognised here

hope this is a help

all the best

paul

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thanks Paul for the reply. over here he hasn't actually had any working experience due to the lack of jobs and also as part of his course they don't actually go on site which is crazy !! would there be anything u recommend for him to do prior to moving or shall he just contact people once we are there.

 

 

claire

 

 

 

hi claire

i am a bricklaying contractor in perth it wont make any difference about getting a job here . we generally just start a bricklayer and if his good we keep him trade qualifications are rarely asked for also those qualifications are not really recognised here

hope this is a help

all the best

paul

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Hi Paul not a bricky but a chippy, kitchen fitter do you know any contractors that need chippys or fitters or could you advise me how to go about getting set on, there seems to be loads of bricky positions at the mo so i,m guessing that the need for chippys will follow and improve ive herd so many different stories about the work situation for tradies at the mo

 

Cheers

Gary

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Hey don't want to upset anyone here ............. but just doing a level two in brickwork - at college does not make a bricklayer. He needs to get experience as he will be thrown off first job he goes on. Take it from me who did level 3 twenty years ago and run my own building company.

Really do think this Is is a major prob for tradesmen if you go over to Oz with paper and you cant do the job ....... as I believe the UK used to provide the very best in the building trade.

 

 

Anyhow not being a hater ..... just feel , getting your guy on a sites in the uk first would greatly help ;o)

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Hi Paul when you off to Perth

 

From what I've seen when I've been over to Perth I agree that the best comes from the UK but have herd so many stories about lads struggling to find work because of the experience thing The ozzys only seem to do half days and I've herd companies will only employ English because they grafters and are certainly more reliable, so getting a bit confused to why it seems so hard for some people to find work Think I've got to go with the attitude that If i can find work in the UK in the current situation I should have no problem finding work in Perth(right or wrong)who knows

 

Gary

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Hi Paul when you off to Perth

 

From what I've seen when I've been over to Perth I agree that the best comes from the UK but have herd so many stories about lads struggling to find work because of the experience thing The ozzys only seem to do half days and I've herd companies will only employ English because they grafters and are certainly more reliable, so getting a bit confused to why it seems so hard for some people to find work Think I've got to go with the attitude that If i can find work in the UK in the current situation I should have no problem finding work in Perth(right or wrong)who knows

 

Gary

 

Hi Gazza, I would be a little careful thinking that UK trades are better than the Aussies. They have some very good trades here, obviously some not so good ones also. I spent over 25 years in UK construction, and there were some shocking tradesmen there also. The reason UK trades may find it hard at first could be fore a few reasons, number one being you will not have the network of contacts that you have established over your working life, another is that local experience is an advantage, things can vary from minor to major diffrences. For carpenters and bricklayers there simply isn't that much of it, bricks are nearly only used on houses, very little in commercial. As for carpenters even less wood. Plus kitchen manufactures fit kitchens, cabinet makers fit cabinets, often door manufacturers fit doors and so on. Timber skirtings are hardly used and rooves are often steel. You also have to understand thatPerth is a big city compared to most UK cities, with 2 million people - but ...there Perth is nothing outside Perth in terms of population centres, so a lot of people can be chasing the same work. That is not to say you won't find a way of earning a good living, you may just have to diversify or specialise.

Edited by Greg
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I think the thing about Ozzies working half days and companies wanting British workers is a fairy story. In my experience in the last year we struggle to get good jobs upon arrival and do the crap for less money! This is not my personal experience but from speaking to other tradesman who have arrived in the last year. I am a spark and had to do a years deskilling i mean gap training. I know 2 carpenters who have arrived in the last 6 months and they are both earning really poor money. It was easy to get work a couple of years ago but things have slowed and more people have arrived believing well paid jobs await only to be met with the harsh reality of life on the breadline and watching your savings dwindle. Plenty of young lads here on WHV working cheaply too hoping to get sponsorship.

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I think the thing about Ozzies working half days and companies wanting British workers is a fairy story. In my experience in the last year we struggle to get good jobs upon arrival and do the crap for less money! This is not my personal experience but from speaking to other tradesman who have arrived in the last year. I am a spark and had to do a years deskilling i mean gap training. I know 2 carpenters who have arrived in the last 6 months and they are both earning really poor money. It was easy to get work a couple of years ago but things have slowed and more people have arrived believing well paid jobs await only to be met with the harsh reality of life on the breadline and watching your savings dwindle. Plenty of young lads here on WHV working cheaply too hoping to get sponsorship.

 

I'd agree with this.

 

I did my apprenticeship in Plastering in the UK, came here to Perth and struggled hugely at first. The Aussie's are extremely hardworking in the plastering trade here, and if anything, I've found its the british plasterers that come here and can't cope with the hard work and the way that thing's are done here.

 

Yes, the working hours here can be short, and it may seem like people only do half days, but when your on site at 4.45 am and working hard, breaking a sweat by 5am, you won't feel like doing too much more by the time it's lunchtime.

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I'd agree with this.

 

I did my apprenticeship in Plastering in the UK, came here to Perth and struggled hugely at first. The Aussie's are extremely hardworking in the plastering trade here, and if anything, I've found its the british plasterers that come here and can't cope with the hard work and the way that thing's are done here.

 

Yes, the working hours here can be short, and it may seem like people only do half days, but when your on site at 4.45 am and working hard, breaking a sweat by 5am, you won't feel like doing too much more by the time it's lunchtime.

 

"Aussies only work half days?" haha, let me tell you youll never work harder than you do in Australia, ive been a bricky for 23 years and worked all over the UK and Germany and i can tell you Australia is a hard days work, up at 4 am, and its about 30 degrees then, start at 6ish with a break (smoko) at about 11 for half an hour then work through till about 3.30, dont get me wrong i loved working here and met some good friends but it is a challenge. The heat is intense, the flies are a pain in the ar*e and everybody is hoping for the fremantle doctor to turn up, all i can say is get plenty of suncream, plenty of water, buy yourself an eski and a fly net and a sombrero and good luck. And to the original poster asking about qualifications....dont worry about qualies if your good at your job youll be ok, check on gumtree for work and watch out who you work for, give it 12 months then try going it alone.....good luck

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I don't mean the ex pats only work half days I will rephrase some ozzys only work half days I've seen it for myself I did a few days work with my brother-in-law who,s a bricky and Ive seen it happen ,turn up have 3-4 hours ,send labourer to bottle shop then pack up when booze gone and I,m not saying its going to be easy either its been warm working ere over the last month or so and its no ware near as hot as it gets there

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I'd agree with this.

 

I did my apprenticeship in Plastering in the UK, came here to Perth and struggled hugely at first. The Aussie's are extremely hardworking in the plastering trade here, and if anything, I've found its the british plasterers that come here and can't cope with the hard work and the way that thing's are done here.

 

Yes, the working hours here can be short, and it may seem like people only do half days, but when your on site at 4.45 am and working hard, breaking a sweat by 5am, you won't feel like doing too much more by the time it's lunchtime.

 

 

Hhi 00mj81....I've sent you a PM

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  • 4 weeks later...
"Aussies only work half days?" haha, let me tell you youll never work harder than you do in Australia, ive been a bricky for 23 years and worked all over the UK and Germany and i can tell you Australia is a hard days work, up at 4 am, and its about 30 degrees then, start at 6ish with a break (smoko) at about 11 for half an hour then work through till about 3.30, dont get me wrong i loved working here and met some good friends but it is a challenge. The heat is intense, the flies are a pain in the ar*e and everybody is hoping for the fremantle doctor to turn up, all i can say is get plenty of suncream, plenty of water, buy yourself an eski and a fly net and a sombrero and good luck. And to the original poster asking about qualifications....dont worry about qualies if your good at your job youll be ok, check on gumtree for work and watch out who you work for, give it 12 months then try going it alone.....good luck

 

whats the work situation really like in your opinion for bricklayers? My oh is a bricklayer with 17 years experience, we're based in Glasgow and to be honest he must be one of the lucky ones as he's never been out of work, even in the slow down in the last few years. We're considering coming out on a regional 489 visa to avoid the ielts test but it would restrict us to working in certain designated postcodes. I've read so many conflicting stories on here and different forums saying work can be easily found but some say the opposite. Just looking for another brickies thoughts on it? His longer term goal would be to start up himself, my bro in law is also a bricky and they work together here.

 

cheers.

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Coming up to my husbands 7th summer here bricklaying and I can honestly say he has never worked as hard in his life as he has here. He comes home physically exhausted and often with heatstroke in January/February even though he is so careful and drinks so much water and covers up. You see bricklayers here who look 10 years older than they are with the sun damage. Working outside here is not something anyone should do for a long time, it is really not healthy. If you talk to any brickie that has worked here for a few years they want out of it. Bricklayers get treated very poor here, no protection at all and often get finished without any warning when work dries up, which it does. Lots of drugs on sites, my husband caught someone one day doing drugs and had to finish him. Drinking is also a huge problem, again he has had lads work for him that have had an eskie full of beer and then drive home.

Expect to earn around $300 a day at the moment but you have to cover tax, gst, holiday pay, sick pay, super and insurances out of that. Also, most advertisers ask for WA experience and often put the phone down on you if they hear you are British...had months of it when we first got here. If you set up a team the pay is better but you will have to take out workers compensation cover which was around $800 a month when we had it, loads don't have it but it is just not worth the risk and the huge fines if you have a subcontractor who is injured on site because they will claim.

To be honest he loves his job and could never think of doing anything else other than building but we are thinking of going back to the UK so he can go back to extensions, loft conversions etc. no satisfaction in just building houses and loads of backpackers doing it now who aren't qualified. He has never been out of work as much as here. Bit of a kick in the teeth when you spent years on a YTS wage to learn the trade and have qualifications but they all seem to stand for nothing here. He has just got out of it and doing something a little different until we head back to the UK, he actually doesn't fall asleep at 8pm now!

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hi just seen your question, at the moment there is lots of work for bricklayers in and around Perth, loads of houses going up everywhere and they cant get bricklayers to build them. There is a waiting time on some slabs of about 4 weeks to get brickwork started. Your other half would probably expect to earn about $270 a day and that would go up the longer hes there, its a bit different there with the profile system they use but at the end of the day a brick is a brick and he will be fine. Once hes got some experience of WA house building he could start his own team and then he can earn a bit more. Be careful about the visa you go for tho, im not 100% but I think theres some commotion about 489 because theyre bringing in school fees of about $4000 a year per child but check it out

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hi all

 

thanks for your replies. some really interesting information there. i agree that just because he has a level does not make him a brickie, and considering he has done no on site work at all. not even from college. he could of done level 3 however the fees went up to a ridiculous amount and he still would not even enter a site. it would benefit him doing some on site work beforehand however with us trying to save it is hard for him to quit the job he has now. all complicated !

 

thanks

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  • 1 year later...
Hi I'm 27 same boat from Liverpool got nvq2 need more experience . Do you have any jobs I'll work hard and for less. Jus nothing going here .

 

No work !!! Get to the midlands guys .... it is booming , i have never been so busy and money going up all the time ! confidence is definatly coming from the south and people are spending again ( happy days ) .

 

Or , you could go to OZ ;o)

 

Enjoy

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  • 1 year later...
Hi I'm 27 same boat from Liverpool got nvq2 need more experience . Do you have any jobs I'll work hard and for less. Jus nothing going here .

 

l will give same advise for you 2 lads who not got much experience, if you do come here get a brickie labourer job and then show the guy that you want to be a brickie then you will get the experience you need very quickly and it does ya boss a favour because you're doing 2 or the price of 1 but obviously the better you get then you will get paid more labourer $180 day brickie $300+ day. Don't waste your time blagging it you will only lose a chance to learn from someone when you get found out in 5 minutes. Good luck

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