The body.....

No. Not Elle McPhersons amazing body.

Mine, or what I like to call the unit of failure.

You see in a week I have to have another repair job done on another part of me, This time my arm.
Well in fact my left elbow. Tennis elbow decompression.
I have had to many Cortisone shots to hide the pain and the damage.

As a builder, we use our body as everything from a digger to a forklift, let me explain.
We dig footings, lots of footings. Most houses would have a total of about 75m to 90m approx of lineal length. X's that by a conservative estimate of say 18 to 20 homes that's 1.8 kilometres of footings dug.

Then think of the lifting, a sheet of Gibb is about 15 to 18kg. 100 sheets in average house that's 1800kg, Then X's that by houses built, holy shit that's 36.000KG!
That's equivalent to lifting a fully laden concrete truck!
Then Joists, Bearers, trusses etc etc etc....

So the body takes a beating, Shoulders, Knees, backs, elbows......
I have been building since I was 16 years old. I'm now 42. That's 26 years.

Okay so some benefits are your stronger, fitter, you work in the sun, fresh air and you the customer get a lovely quality built house.

Its not so bad,
Its just the fact that when you get up in the morning things take a while to warm up.
My knees pop, And I mean so loud my wife hears them in the lounge.
My shoulders need to be gently told they need to move.
My ankles crack when I take a step.
My Back needs to be slowly straightened so it doesn't cramp.

I have had repairs to most joints in my body, My doctor says my knees will be shot by the time I'm 50.
But do I care, No,

I have built houses that look amazing
I have seen more sun than the average office worker ever will.
I don't breath recycled air.
I have created homes for people to live in and call their home.
I have travelled the world because of my skill.

Would I do it all again the same. Yes I would, Because I'm a builder, And I build shit you cant.

Builder.

Points, But not for scoring a try.....

As you all know, I'm a builder.

A damn good one, I have nearly 26 years experience in the trade.
I have built Homes, Offices, Hospitals,Garages, South Pole stations,Play grounds,Fences, Retaining walls....

You get the idea.
Now to do this I completed a Building course, an Apprenticeship, Then sat Trade Certificate Carpentry and Passed.
So, I was a Qualified Builder.

Then along came The Cowboy's, Guy's who liked the fact that you could build a house, make load's of money, Rip off the customer with a crappy build and move on. And who had no qualifications at all.

Insert leaky building syndrome here >

Everyone got shitty, Builders, Government, Local councils, home owners.
So the Government came up with a brilliant idea. Register all builders, Make them prove they're Qualified.
Then make them gain points, by reading. Not by building.
Great Idea. Get rid of the cowboy's!

Licensed Building Practitioner.  Mr Mcleod you wish to be registered
Me.   Yes, Yes I do.
LBP.  Are you Trade cert Qualified?
Me. Why Yes, Here is my certificate.
LBP.  Great! Can you prove you can build a house correctly?
Me.  Yes, Just built one, All done and to code. Nice 4 bedroom. Double glazing blah blah blah....
LBP. Can you prove you built it?
Me. Ahhhhh yeah, I did it.
LBP. Can anyone else?
Me.  My wife, she watched the whole thing, My Friends. Isn't my trade Certificate enough proof.
LBP. No. Has to be another builder, Sorry we will need to assess you.
Me.   Assess me? How.
LBP. I am sending you a document you must read and understand, then I will ask 10 questions about it.
Me. About construction?
LBP. No, about the regulations of building a house.
Me.   ?????????????????????????????????Bloody hell???????????????????????????????????

So to get my license I didn't have to build a damn thing. I have to answer a quiz. And every two years I have to gain 24 points. Points are collected by reading building magazines (yes Builders can read) And by attending trade displays or shows.
1 point for an hour of reading.
1 point for each hour of learning.

BUT NO POINTS FOR BUILDING A FREAKING HOUSE!  Really? the main thing we do, signed off by council and yet we're not allowed to use this as a great way to say "look what I built, A compliant house to code"
It's a great scheme, executed poorly, a bit like the search for WMD's in Iraq. Look's good on paper But nothing is there.

Don't get me wrong, Great that the cowboys have gone, but the point system is a little like the Duckworth Lewis in cricket, you think you have it in the bag, But your not quite sure........

Builder.