KEY POINTS:
TRAINING PLACE
What: National Certificate in Flooring (level 4).
Training: Flooring Industry Training Organisation (ITO).
Contact: Phone: 06 326 8770 or 0800 777 055, Fax: 06 326 8744, Email: nzfto@ihug.org.nz, Website: www.flooringito.org.nz
Starting salary: Starting hourly rate once qualified: $18-$22 per hour.
Vinyl, carpet, wood, marble, parquet, concrete - a great floor finish makes a big difference, whether as a renovation for a run-down older house or as part of a new home or office environment.
There is strong demand for qualified floorers who are trained in providing a quality finish.
The New Zealand Flooring Industry Training Organisation (ITO) oversees apprenticeship training that leads to a level four National Certificate in Flooring.
Apprentices aged 16 to 22 do a modern apprenticeship, while older apprentices do a contemporary apprenticeship.
The training is the same but the younger apprentices are helped by a co-ordinator who acts as a mentor throughout the apprenticeship.
Apprentices qualify in areas such as floor preparation; fine sand and finishes; sales, service and support; vinyl and linoleum; soft coverings; substrate penetration and wood overlay installation.
Most of the training is received in the workplace.
However, compulsory annual two-week block courses are held at the National Flooring School which is based in Christchurch and usually involve eight to 12 apprentices. The practical block courses are where skills learned on the job are assessed.
The NZ Flooring ITO arranges travel and assists financially, while accommodation is arranged by the National Flooring School.
QUALIFIED TRADESPERSON
Daniel Adams (22)
Combined Floors
Floor preparation technician
Just completed two-year apprenticeship
Combined Floors provide floors for domestic and commercial places. I really fell into this trade. I tried carpentry and then boat-building after I left school. I was halfway through boat-building when I cut the tendons in my hand and had to stop. After my hand healed, I heard about the flooring trade and decided to look into it.
I decided floor preparation was a good niche to specialise in because it is becoming more important and there are new standards and technical approaches.
I got a job at Combined Floors and, after three months, I was signed on to an apprenticeship. In the first months, I learned the basics of carpet laying and decided I wanted to prepare floors rather than put stuff on top. I'm the first apprentice to qualify in floor preparation, although I do some laying as well.
The work is varied and includes everything from concrete grinding, sanding and levelling floors to water-proofing and things like level access shower floors.
We're often dealing with problems that come up after removing existing covering. Problem floors are good for an apprentice because you're seeing floors that need attention which means you learn quickly what is right and wrong.
As an apprentice I went every year to Christchurch for a two-week block course. We were billeted with families so we learned to socialise with different people and weren't hanging around just with the boys. This made me concentrate a lot more on the course.
The course is 60 per cent theory and covers things like measuring and quantifying and doing estimates. We're assessed at the end of each course.
In the workplace, my apprenticeship co-ordinator visited once every three or four weeks, checked my record book, set me new goals and discussed my progress with my supervisor.
If we haven't shown competence in an area, we can't get signed off.
It is great and now I've got my own apprentice, which I really like.
SUPERVISOR
Karl Cottingham
Combined Floors manager
The best apprentices are ambitious about getting a trade behind them.
You can tell within a couple of days whether they have the right attitude. Someone dragging their feet when sweeping the floor doesn't have it. We saw Daniel was ambitious and at the stage in his life where he wanted to get on and do his best. He has done well and given us 100 per cent.
New apprentices aren't efficient to start with, especially when we are on-site and have a big workload.
We can give them a lot of practical knowledge but they need the course backing that up. The course steps them up a gear, gives them more knowledge, which means we start getting something useful out of them.
The apprentice's record book helps us prepare them for the course work. It is also a good way to reflect on what we are doing and how they are improving.
I go down and assess apprentices on the last day of each course. The biggest problem I see is that some employers don't give them enough instruction and practice before they get there.
If you're hard-working you can make a lot of money once you're qualified.
