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'One size' definitely does not fit all...
You know what’s a pain in the butt? Having to squeeze a curvy-licious booty into work pants made for men. Or, trying to use a power tool that has a handle designed for premier league basketballers and not the hardworking hands of women in construction.
Toolfit is an online start up business aiming to empower women of all shapes and sizes in construction and manufacturing industries, by providing a range of ergonomic and versatile professional tools, workwear and resources.
If you’re finding the ‘one size fits all’ label on ‘regular' tools and workwear to be at times uncomfortable and inefficient, then this survey is for you!
By participating in this speedy 3 minute survey, you’ll go into the draw to win one of two $50 vouchers.
Survey Link
Employees' perceptions of working from home during and post the COVID-19 pandemic: a study of the Australian construction industry.
Researchers at UNSW are conducting a project about employees’ perceptions of working from home (WFH) during and post the COVID-19 pandemic in the Australian construction industry. If you'd like to help them with their research, please click the button below to take part in the survey and learn more about it.
Online Survey Invitation
The Value of Mentoring Programs in the Fight for Gender Equality
(within the Australian Construction Industry)
Imogen Bowers is currently undertaking research with UNSW Faculty of Built Environment on female underrepresentation within the Australian construction industry. She is conducting a research study that aims to unpack female underrepresentation within the construction industry and examine the positive impact mentoring programs can have on female representation and career development. If you would like to contribute to Imogen’s research, please click here for the online participant information sheet, and the button below to complete a short survey.
Survey Link
Exploring Effective Measures for Improving Productivity and Profit Margins of Australian Construction Firms Survey
Anna (Meiqiong) Zhong is NAWIC student member and she is currently completing an MPhil research degree in construction in the Faculty of Society & Design, Bond University, Gold Coast. Anna is conducting research around exploring effective measures for improving productivity and profit margins of Australian construction firms, given the flat-lining trend of margins in the sector. If you would like to contribute to Anna’s research, please click the button below to complete a short survey.
Survey Link
Barriers for Females Survey
Hongsong Min is a fourth-year student in the UD01 Bachelor of Urban Development (Honours) (Quantity Surveying and Cost Engineering) degree at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Hongsong is conducting research around Barriers Females Face When Pursuing Senior Leadership In Australian Construction Industry. If you would like to contribute to Hongsong's research, please click the button below to complete a short survey.
Survey Link
Courses
New NCC CPD course on Performance-based engineering solutions
Where design goals or site conditions require a more tailored design, engineers may not be able to comply with the NCC Deemed-to-Satisfy (DTS) Provisions. In these cases, a Performance Solution is needed.
The Australian Building Codes Board’s (ABCB) new one-hour online continuing professional development (CPD) course helps build an understanding of performance-based design solutions. Performance Solutions allows engineers to explore innovative design elements, save costs, and use standards not referenced by the NCC.
This course has been developed for engineers to provide an industry relevant and engaging learning opportunity.
With the complex nature of engineering, it is essential that engineers recognise the Governing Requirements when developing a Performance Solution to comply with the NCC.
The course details `where and when’ an engineer might use a performance-based approach. There are examples and case studies provided along the way to highlight key ideas. It also outlines how to use the Performance Solution process, A2.2(4), which came into effect from 1 July 2021.
You’ll gain knowledge of how to prepare a performance-based design brief, how to undertake appropriate analysis and evaluation of results, and then how to bring everything together in the final report.
How to purchase the course:
The course is available at an introductory price of $44 for a limited time only. Once purchased it will be available in your NCC CPD member profile, ready for you to complete at a time and pace that suits you.
Call to action: View course.
New NCC CPD course helps practitioners understand what standards to use - and when
Did you know, the latest edition of an Australian Standard is not necessarily the edition you need to comply with for National Construction Code purposes? The Australian Building Codes Board’s (ABCB) new NCC CPD course on understanding standards and other NCC referenced documents will help clarify what you do and do not have to comply with, and much more.
One of the most frequent questions building practitioners have about the National Construction Code (NCC) is which version of a standard should be used for compliance purposes. This gets even more complicated when you start to factor in amendments to standards, secondary references, and whether the whole or only part of a standard is called up. With over 150 primary referenced documents called up in the NCC, and significantly more secondary references, it’s likely you’ll need to comply with at least one referenced document in some part of your work.
The ABCB’s new continuing professional development (CPD) course, Understanding standards and other NCC referenced documents, will help practitioners find clarity on this and many other common questions about the role of standards in achieving NCC compliance. This one hour online course has been developed by the ABCB in partnership with industry, government and subject matter experts. It is part of a suite of CPD courses being delivered by the ABCB to assist construction industry practitioners better understand and apply the NCC provisions. Taking the time to understand exactly how a referenced document is applied can save problems later. Don’t get caught out. If you want to know what to look out for, this NCC CPD course on understanding standards and other NCC referenced documents will help.
How this course will help practitioners
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Knowing which standards are mandatory and which are not is crucial. This course helps practitioners understand which parts of a standard do and do not have to be complied with for the purposes of the NCC, even if those parts are written using mandatory language.
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Examples are given to provide a practical understanding of course content. This includes an explanation of how referenced documents are used for verifying compliance under Deemed-to-Satisfy or Performance Solution pathways.
The course has an engaging, multi-media format and allows participants to work through the content at their own pace.
Call to action: View course.
QBCC Continuing Professional Development Pilot Project
Pilot program proves popular
Keeping workers’ trade skills up-to-date is critical for business. Being on top of relevant legislative changes, trends and standards is as important as updating practical skills. The Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) is running a voluntary pilot program for continuing professional development to fill this need. The Compulsory ContinuingProfessional Development (CCPD) Program aims to help increase the knowledge and understanding of safety standards and financial reporting in the building and construction industry across the state.
Currently there are no mandatory compulsory continuing education requirements for building and construction industry licence holders in Queensland.
The CCPD pilot program is a chance for those taking part to refresh their knowledge on legislative obligations of QBCC licence holders and influence future programs, as participants’ feedback will be used to shape future offerings. Those participants who attend and successfully complete all the assessments will also gain CCPD points, which may be retrospectively credited towards potential future professional development programs.
The CCPD pilot program course delivery started in April this year and runs until October with two different courses to improve QBCC licensees’ understanding of some of their legislative responsibilities. Demand was high for the free courses, with all places filled within days of registrations opening.
The two subjects currently being trialled are:
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Minimum Financial Requirements (MFR) and Annual Financial Reporting Obligations
The course provides a concise overview of MFR, critical concepts and easy-to-understand
guidance on how to meet MFR and annual reporting obligations. The course is targeted to
licensees in MFR categories of Self-certifying 1, Self-certifying 2 and Categories 1, 2 and 3
only.
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Safety Obligations (sections 48 and 54A of the QBCC Act)
Participants will be provided with a concise understanding of their obligations under
sections 48 and 54A of the QBCC Act, how to notify the QBCC of safety incidents and is
suitable for all licensees.
Date of webinar/2021
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Course time
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Course type
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21 September
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2:00pm – 4:00pm
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MFR & Annual Financial Reporting
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5 October
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1:00pm – 2:00pm
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Safety Obligations
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12 October
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6:00pm – 8:00pm
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MFR & Annual Financial Reporting
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19 October
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6:00pm – 7:00pm
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Safety Obligations
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Please click on the below links to register for these courses:
MFR & Annual Financial Reporting
Safety Obligations
The preferred course attendance dates can be selected from these course registration pages.
For more information and to keep informed go to the QBCC Continuing Professional DevelopmentPilot Project.
Please contact the [email protected] for clarification at any time.
Step up your skills with ABCB’s new NCC CPD course on stairways
National Construction Code (NCC) compliant stairways are important for safe movement to and within a building. To help construction practitioners who design, build and verify stairways, the Australian Building Codes Board has released a new one-hour continuing professional development (CPD) course on stairways in buildings. The new course looks at both residential and commercial buildings, and includes:
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stairway features such as barriers, handrails, slip resistance and fire isolated stairways
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steps to verify on-site compliance, including allowable construction tolerances
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key terminology and clarifying common misconceptions
It also walks through a scenario showing how requirements can vary based on the nature, volume and frequency of likely usage.
The ups and downs of stairway compliance
The purpose of this course is to help you to meet the minimum NCC safety requirements for stairways. But it’s important to take a step back and recognise why compliance is important in the first place. Housing density in Australia is increasing, resulting in more multi-storey houses, town houses and apartment buildings. With more multi-storey buildings with stairways, the risk of slips, trips and falls increases, as well as a greater potential for falls from heights. Stairway safety is crucial to minimise the risks from slips, trips and falls – these types of accidents can be a large and costly public health problem. If you are working in residential or commercial construction, chances are you or your staff are building a stairway in at least one of your projects.
Why complete this NCC CPD course
CPD is a great way for you to go up in your career (pardon the pun). However, after long days in the office or on the job site, it can be difficult finding the time. NCC CPD courses provide a flexible learning experience with a mixture of written, video and interactive material. This course explores scenarios you may face in your day-to-day work so you can actually apply what you learn from the course. The courses are also mobile friendly – so checking your knowledge on the job is only a few clicks away. This course takes roughly one-hour to complete, however you have the flexibility to stop and start it and complete it at a pace that suits you.
Available online now at a special introductory price.
Visit the ABCB's NCC CPD website here.
ABCB's NCC CPD course builds design practitioners' understanding of fire safety
The Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB) are pleased to announce the release of a new NCC Continuing Professional Development (CPD) online course that provides guidance and understanding of the NCC requirements and associated design principles for fire safety.The development of fire safety regulations of the built environment to minimise the impact of fire is an evolving process. This means practitioners need to regularly maintain and refresh their knowledge of the National Construction Code (NCC) fire safety provisions so they can stay-up-to date with change and innovation.This new Fire Safety course is primarily targeted at design practitioners, however, it may also be relevant to other practitioners using the NCC and working with fire related matters. It has been recognised by the Australian Institute of Architects as Formal CPD through its Refuel CPD Program.NCC CPD forms part of the Australian Building Codes Board's response to the Shergold and Weir Building Confidence Report (BCR). Fire safety was one of the key motivating factors behind the Building Ministers commissioning the BCR to examine ongoing issues with defects, non-compliance and barriers to innovation.
One of the foundational principles of the NCC fire safety provisions is to ensure that occupants can safely exit the building in the event of a fire. The course content explains the key factors that contribute to achieving this, such as protection from heat and smoke, risks to the integrity of the building and requirements for structure and materials. The 2 hour course aims to help practitioners feel confident in designing innovative buildings, and demonstrate to clients and colleagues that their talents are backed by appropriate learning and credentials. It incorporates substantial and relevant detail across 6 chapters. It includes, for example, explanations of design features that support fire safety. The relevant standards are also detailed to enable participants to cross-reference with regulatory guidance materials and previously acquired professional knowledge.
This course helps practitioners have a thorough understanding of how their work must address both active and passive requirements. It will also aid the documentation process by ensuring they have knowledge of which parts of the NCC are relevant to each specific measure or approach. Because building use, building form and building context all play a role in determining the level of risk, the course explains how practitioners can determine which provisions need to be applied for a specific project.
To find out more about the Fire Safety course, visit the NCC CPD website.
Parker Brent
Parker Brent is a Registered Training Organisation that delivers the Certificate IV and Diploma of Building and Construction (Building) courses. Classes are run in an online environment for two nights per week from 5.30pm to 9.30pm.
- What kind of experience would they need?
Experience in the Building and construction Industry- residential and commercial construction in order to be able to deliver Certificate IV and Diploma of Building and Construction qualifications. They would also need to have the TAE40116- Certificate IV in training and assessment qualification in order to be able to deliver and assess Students that are from 18 years old and above. As well as the ability to engage, inspire and support students throughout their studies. Prior experience in training is an advantage but not essential.
- Duration of the online course
CPC40110 Certificate IV in Building and Construction (Building) is 34 weeks for 2 nights per week from 5.30pm to 9.30pm via ZOOM platform (real time learning).
CPC50210 Diploma of Building and Construction (Building) is 50 weeks (1 year) for 2 nights per week from 5.30pm to 9.30pm via ZOOM platform (real time learning).
- Training for the individual
Parker Brent provide 3 workshops per year for all trainers and assessors to attend for Professional Development
For more information and queries please contact Vanessa Lastrina (Training Manager) at [email protected] and call on 03 9088 6300.
ASI - Australian Institute of Steel
The light gauge steel framing industry is currently experiencing record demand from construction of new homes and community buildings. There are great career opportunities open for detailers in this exciting growth industry. If you are motivated by the opportunity to design and fabricate buildings using the latest in 3D modelling and BIM software models, this webcast seminar will be of interest. You can expect to gain an introduction to the use of Light Gauge Steel (LGS) for the fabrication of frames and trusses, and the associated detailing processes used in building design.
The seminar is presented by industry experts, and includes an opportunity to ‘meet’ some early career detailers that have recently started working in the industry. The overall seminar package consists of 2 x 45 minute pre-recorded presentations (parts 1 & 2), a virtual tour, followed by a pre-recorded Q&A session up to 60 minutes long as follow
NAWIC members receive a discounted rate! Click here to find out more!
Resources
Gender Decoder
This site is a quick way to check whether a job advert has the kind of subtle linguistic gender-coding that has this discouraging effect.
Gender Decoder
NAWIC 2021 AGM
AGM General Notice
Appointment of a Proxy
NAWIC 2020 Annual General Meeting Minutes
Financial Statements For the Year Ended 30 June 2021
Chair's Report 2021
Treasurer’s Report FY 2020/2021
NAWIC 2021 Annual General Meeting Agenda
General Notices
Inquiry into procurement practices