Elevate Your Building Game by Taking Responsibility for Your Actions.

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Join us on this solo episode of Level Up as Duayne unlocks the secrets of taking responsibility for your actions within the construction industry.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Taking Responsibility in Construction Industry
• 10:07 Building Better Outcomes With Responsibility

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:26

I talk about this stuff all the time. It's a vicious cycle. You're either doing it right or you're not. Don't think that what you've always done is correct. That's all bullshit. I could actually go on for days about this subject. G'day guys, welcome back to another episode of Level Up. This is going to be another cracker. Today we are back in the shed for another individual podcast. So look, firstly, thank you so much for everyone that's listening, for sharing, for commenting and making this podcast Australia's number one construction podcast. So continue to do that Like, share, follow, all those types of things. I know we're not getting to every single tradie and builder in the industry, so I really need your help to do that and, yeah, help my mission to create a new building industry.

Speaker 1: 1:15

Today's topic is about taking responsibility. This is something that I take I've always taken incredibly seriously. I take my job, whether it was back in the day as an apprentice, or when I became a carpenter and a contractor, or even now as a builder. I take it extremely seriously that it is my responsibility to make sure that everything that I do on my jobs is correct. So I guess to and look, I've got very strong opinions on this, so you might agree with me, you might not. Let's go back to like. We'll start with trades as a tradie. You have to take like, you've got to take your job seriously and being a tradie isn't just turning up and having the tools and doing a day's work on the job. You have to know more about the products you're using. You have to understand, you have to read specifications, you have to make sure that the products you're using are fit for purpose. You have to know look, I'll try and refer this to a few things. But, like, if you're a let's, I'm going to pick on plumbers for a minute. If you're a plumber, you have to make sure you're using the correct glues, the correct primers, you're installing the pipe work correctly and as per the drawings. I see so many posts on social media that I bite my tongue and don't post on, but I'd love to hear some more feedback on this one.

Speaker 1: 2:52

But, like, plumbers need to like, if you're doing a drain and you're doing an under slab and it's, it's a fill site, depending on the class of fill or the class of soil, are you strapping the pipe work and leaving the straps up through the ground so they can be connected to the, to the mesh, when the concrete is prepped, the slab? Are you putting in um the correct swivel and expansion joints in all the under, all the underground pipe work? Are you putting slip joints on your stormwater, like? Are you actually looking, um, at the back page of the engineering on the sites that you're working on and seeing what class of soil it is and and seeing how much slip and how much movement? Like there's different types of expansion joints and swivel joints and slip joints? Are you using the correct ones for the site that you're working on? Like? Ultimately, yes, the builder should give you the correct information to make sure you are using the correct items. Or you know, or you know that you've got the soil test, you've got the engineering and all those types of things.

Speaker 1: 3:55

But, seriously, as a plumber, it is your responsibility to make sure you have all the correct information to carry out your work correctly, and that includes knowing the soil type, having all the design plans, having all the engineering so you can make sure you know if, if the underslab uh pipework needs to be strapped, if, if the correct side of the size of um expansion joints and stuff needs to be used. So I don't know who can we pick on next. Like we'll go back to carboners. Like if you're a carpenter. Like it's not just a matter of turning up, um, if you're cladding and smashing the cladding on. Like if you're a carpenter. Like it's not just a matter of turning up, um, if you're cladding and smashing the cladding on. Or if you're putting the building paper on. Like you have to know and understand the rules and regulations. Like what are the requirements for the building wrap, how much laps it meant to have, how much folds it meant to have? Is it like?

Speaker 1: 4:49

I learned only in the last year or two that building paper is supposed to wrap into and around the framed window openings before your windows go in? And I was always taught that we just papered the whole building and then we went around with our standing knives and cut the window and door openings out and then shoved our windows in. That is not building code. There is so much stuff that we need to know and reality is you don't know what you don't know, and if you're just doing things the way you've been taught, you need to do some homework and make sure that what you're doing is correct. I think a lot of trades hide behind the fact that it's ultimately the builder that wears all the responsibility for a lot of this stuff we're talking about. So, and I think that's a horrible way that our industry operates like every single person doing the work should be responsible for their work, but until there's rule changes that, like, people are definitely going to continue to hide behind that.

Speaker 1: 5:48

But, like concreters, like, do you understand the engineering? Have you got all the? Like? Do you understand why the engineer has a certain amount of cover concrete cover over the mesh or over the over the bars? Do you understand why you need to use a certain size chair to hold the mesh or the bar up?

Speaker 1: 6:09

There is so many things that I see in real life on job sites and, like I said, I see a lot now these days with social media and people doing posts, and I have to bite my tongue because I look at it and I think, like, holy shit, like that, that is not code, that will not pass. So look it's, it's one of those things you need to take your job seriously. And so that that's the trades and obviously it's all of them, it's it's every single one of you landscapers, plumbers, electricians, carpenters, cabinet makers, toilers, like, like, our trades are fantastic. Our plumber does an incredible job, our plasterer is always educating himself and I really I love that so many of our trades bring bring things to our attention like will, let us know if there's been a code change or a real change, or they've inspected our job and and something there might need to be an expansion joint, where we didn't think there was all those types of things. It's having that incredible collaboration and building an incredible team that works together and ultimately delivers the client a lot better product.

Speaker 1: 7:16

But when it comes to being the builder which is the main reason I wanted to do this topic today I firmly believe that so many builders do not take their role seriously enough and, like I said at the beginning, I take my job incredibly seriously and there's no. You can't just make excuses that, oh, that your tradie didn't do it right or your tradie should have known better, excuses that your tradie didn't do it right or your tradie should have known better. As a builder, it's our responsibility to supervise and make sure that every single trade does their job correctly. Every single material is fit for purpose, every single material is installed as per manufacturer's specifications, and you can't throw your hands in the air and just say, oh, there's way too much to know, I can't know it all. And that comes back to dealing with quality trades that are as passionate about their quality. Trades that are that are as passionate about their job as you are about yours. And look, so much of everything in our industry is driven by dollars, like so. Many builders aren't pricing their jobs correctly and then, to try and make some money through the job, they price around and shop around for cheaper trades and then they end up with trades that aren't doing the work correctly and then, ultimately, the only person that comes back to bite in the ass is a builder. So I talk about this stuff all the time. It's a, it's a vicious cycle that, yeah, my mission to create a new industry is definitely helping break. But as builders and trades, we all need to take our jobs a lot more seriously and make sure that we're doing things correctly.

Speaker 1: 9:00

And, like I said, there's no. It's black and white. You're either doing it right or you're not. There's no. Oh, that's just what I've always done. Oh, that's what I was taught. Oh, that's what he showed me. Oh, that's what the rep said. Oh, that's like. That's what he showed me. Oh, that's what the rep said oh, that's like that's all bullshit.

Speaker 1: 9:17

But everything these days is on Google. You can look up specifications, you can look up building codes. There's incredible apps out there that help with all this sort of stuff. So, put in the time and put in the effort and spend a bit of time like do some homework. I know, just in the last couple of days I've had this incredible app brought to my attention called tools, and I've been flicking through it and just checking it out and having a play with it and, seriously, in two days there's been so many things that have popped up in that app that I'm like, holy shit, that's different. It's not quite what we're doing, but, um, yeah, we'll change our way to make sure we do that from now on, and I've seen a few things in there that I'm going to bring to attention of a couple of my trades that we're not doing it wrong. It's just through this app.

Speaker 1: 10:07

I believe there's a better way we could be getting better outcomes. So, yeah, put in the time, put in the effort, like you don't. Every trade and every builder's responsibility is to deliver their clients the products that they should be getting installed as per the manufacturer's specifications, and the project should meet building code. If that isn't your minimum requirement, then honestly, my belief is that you shouldn't be running a business.

Speaker 1: 10:42

I hope I haven't upset too many people with today's podcast, but look, as always, like, share, comment, follow. I could actually go on for days about this subject, but yeah, let us know what you think and we look forward to seeing you on the next one. Are you ready to build smarter, live better and enjoy life? Then head over to livelikebuildcom. Forward, slash, elevate to get started. Everything discussed during the Level Up podcast with me, dwayne Pearce, is based solely on my own personal experiences and those experiences of my guests. The information, opinions and recommendations presented in this podcast are for general information only, and any reliance on the information provided in this podcast is done at your own risk. We recommend that you obtain your own professional advice in respect to the topics discussed during this podcast.