Occupational Licensing of Building Trades: Case of Western Australia

Occupational licensing ensures that people in the building industry are competent and accountable for their work and that it is undertaken “right the first time.” Currently, there is a requirement within Western Australia (WA) for only electricians, plumbers, and painters to be registered with the Builders Registration Board, but considering the increasing incidence of defective work, occupational licensing of building trades has been espoused by the Master Builders Association. This call is also as a result of the Council of Australian Governments initiative to implement new measures to enable greater workforce mobility and reduce the regulatory burden for industry and workers possessing vocationally trained trade qualifications. In this paper, a sample of industry practitioners’ views on the benefits and disadvantages of occupational licensing, their experiences, and implications for the building in industry in WA is explored using focus groups and a series of in-depth unstructured interviews. It was revealed that in principle participants agreed that occupational licensing would go some way in improving quality and reducing defects and the incidence of disputes in the building industry. Benefits identified included improvements in safety, education, and skills, professionalization of building trades, and workmanship. There were some significant concerns raised by participants, which included cost of the system and the price increases that may be borne by consumers, the management, and enforcement of a system and the consequences of nonenforcement. The findings presented offer a learning opportunity for the wider international community, as each country has its own specific regulations and statutory frameworks in place. It is envisaged that the research will provide the impetus for examining the need to formulate policies for the licensing of building trades so as to ensure that quality is consistently provided to consumers.