First placed Jonny Mills (left) with NZCB Rotorua regional president Erin Pope. Photo / Supplied
First placed Jonny Mills (left) with NZCB Rotorua regional president Erin Pope. Photo / Supplied
Rotorua building apprentices were armed with tools and battled it out with their skills during a regional competition.
Apprentice Jonny Mills has claimed the title of the Rotorua New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB) Apprentice Challenge champion for 2022, after competing against three other apprentices last Saturday and coming out on top.
The apprentices were put through their paces, given just eight hours to build a park bench that followed a specific design and met minimum safety standards.
The benches were assessed by a panel of expert judges who looked at technical aspects such as the quality of workmanship, measuring, cutting and assembly.
The judges also looked at other essential skills while working against the clock, including their ability to follow a detailed plan and safe working technique, with Jonny receiving the top score overall.
Jonny, 18, is undertaking his building apprenticeship at Riverwood Building.
As well as the title of regional champion, Jonny also won a $500 ITM voucher to redeem on trade tools and earned a place in the national final representing Rotorua.
There he will compete against 19 other regional winners from across New Zealand for the Ken Read Memorial Trophy and $25,000 of prizes.
The national final will be held at the NZCB Annual Conference in Hamilton in November.
Jonny says he was stoked and shocked to win the regional competition, as he has only been building for 14 months and hasn't been in the game for very long.
"There were a couple of difficult cuts that were the main hard things, and just trying to get on top of my nerves. It wasn't overly hard, just trying to make sure measurements and cuts were accurate."
He says he is loving his apprenticeship with Riverwood Building and it is going really well.
Jonny says building had been a hobby of his and growing up he was always building shelves around the house or cages for rabbits.
"I really like the challenge of making things look perfect."
He says looking ahead to the national competition he is pretty nervous.
"Like I said, I haven't been doing it for a long time. I'm nervous but really excited. It will be a cool experience."
Jonny says the Rotorua New Zealand Certified Builders (NZCB) Apprentice Challenge is a great opportunity for apprentices like himself to grow their work abilities.
NZCB industry pathways and apprenticeship manager, Nick Matthews, says the competition on Saturday highlighted the high calibre of passionate apprentices currently training in the industry, following a record uptake of building apprenticeships in recent years.
Placegetters, second Putaki Hicks (left), first Jonny Mills and third Jake McCowatt. Photo / Supplied
"Nationwide we're seeing increasing numbers of eager and talented apprentices entering the trade from a variety of backgrounds.
"The regional competitions have really set the bar for what excellence looks like ahead of the national final, with all competitors either employed by NZCB member builders or enrolled with ITAB (Industry Training Association Building).
"The future of the building industry depends on a robust pipeline of trade-qualified and well-rounded builders, and the NZCB Apprentice Challenge is one way we help to foster that.
"We also encourage NZCB member builders to take on apprentices to help to ensure there are highly-skilled builders coming through to meet increasing demand," says Nick.
"These events are a great opportunity to give the community an inside look at building apprenticeship training and what it takes to be successful in the trade, and to celebrate those apprentices that have excelled in their field."
The park benches built on Saturday will be auctioned on Trade Me from Monday, April 18, with all proceeds going to the Cancer Society of New Zealand.
