Calling all Qld-NT High Achieving Women in Construction
Posted by: Stacey Rimene | Comment (1)
Nominations for the 2012 Crystal Vision Awards for National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) QLD/NT are open, so get your entries in by Friday 10 August. This year’s theme, Women on the Rise, celebrates the significant achievement made by women within construction and the increasing success being demonstrated by them within the industry. There are 13 different award categories available. The awards will be presented at a gala dinner on Friday 19 October 2012 in the Plaza Terrace Ballroom at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
As the 2012 winner of the Arup Award category for Achievement as a Business Woman (Small Business), I encourage all women in bricklaying to nominate themselves for an Award. The Crystal Vision Awards program runs in all States and details are available at the NAWIC website. It’s important to be proud of what you have achieved in your work. By recognising the skills, courage and innovation possessed by you, nominating yourself also sends out a positive message and inspiration to the next generation of young women who want to move into the construction industry or move up within it. It encourages more women to think about construction as a viable and rewarding career choice, and as you and I both know bricklaying is definitely this!
The award categories epitomise NAWIC’s core objectives of encouraging and supporting women along with recognising that within the industry lies a vital, dynamic and progressive group of women dedicated to the betterment of construction. Now in its fourteenth year, The 2012 Crystal Vision Awards will be judged by a panel of industry experts independent of NAWIC and will cover 13 categories:
| 1. | BMD Constructions Crystal Vision Award for Advancing and Furthering the Interests of Women in the Construction Industry |
| 2. | Hutchinson Builders Award for Achievement in Design |
| 3. | Arup Award for Achievement as a Business Woman (Small Business – 250 staff or less) |
| 4. | Cement Australia Award for Achievement in Marketing, Community Engagement and Communication Excellence |
| 5. | Civil Contractors Federation Award for Achievement in Construction (Civil Works) |
| 6. | Department of Housing and Public Works Award for Achievement in Construction (General Building) |
| 7. | John Holland Award for Achievement as a Business Woman (Large Business- 251 staff or more) |
| 8. | Queensland University of Technology Award for Innovation |
| 9. | Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services (Office for Women) Award to a Young Achiever |
| 10. | Construction Skills Queensland Award for Contribution in Building and Construction Trades |
| 11. | Leighton Contractors Award for Achievement in Sustainable Development |
| 12. | Construction Training Centre Award for New Beginnings Recognition |
| 13. | Achievement in the Construction Industry by an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) Woman. |
It is good to know that ABBTF support the NAWIC awards and their Victorian Manager Jane Alexander is a past recipient of a high commendation in Victoria.
Stacey Rimene, General Manager, BBC Homes
Blending the Brickwork is Your Responsibility – Be Proud of it!
Posted by: Ian Fitzgerald | Comment (1)
If you wish brickwork and in particular face brickwork to remain a major part of the construction industry in the future, you need to take the responsibility for it. Ignoring your responsibility for quality blending puts the future of bricks at risk of being rendered useless!
Don’t judge a book by its cover they say, but most of us do! Drive past a house with bad face brickwork and we judge the whole house by the poor face work. In the history of masonry and brickwork, while strength of a construction was of paramount importance, beauty ran a close second. Masons and bricklayers in the past were held in high regard in their communities and societies due to the quality and feature work of the many hundreds of year old commercial buildings, churches and castles still standing throughout the world to this day. However, most clients today view the aesthetics of good brickwork as their main focus, which put the pressure squarely on you!
It’s your responsibility as bricklayer to listen to manufacturers and suppliers’ advice and information on blending of brick into a face wall to ensure good looking brickwork. They provide quality materials but the final standard of the workmanship requires you to deliver a professional quality job to the owner and client - not just working to a mediocre standard, based on a rate of pay at the time! You are building for the OWNER not the builder.
Pride and quality in your work should be your main driver - blending the bricks in the wall is part of your job responsibility as a true master craftsman. You don’t just lay bricks for a living and you can’t blame someone else if you don’t listen to the blending advice provided by manufacturers.
Imagine you were building the construction you’re working on now, for your own home or business and ask yourself ‘Would I accept the quality of this work being produced?’ When buying items for yourself, big or small, cheap or expensive, you always expect perfection! So why should you not afford your clients and owner the same expectation?
Apprenticeships and formal training play a very important role in developing a quality bricklayer. I am a qualified Bricklayer and have endeavored to follow the principle of setting and working to a high standard of quality workmanship throughout my career and I recommend the same approach to you.
‘Blending in’ will help keep the trade and brickwork alive in the future. Pride People! PRIDE!
Ian Fitzgerald, ABBTF WA Field Officer
