Growing up, Michael Trentham spent most of his weekends and school holidays on construction sites with his builder father, pushing wheelbarrows of rubbish and carrying other people’s tools. Nowadays he owns his own construction business and he talked to TheVine about how he got there.

How did you become a builder? What study and/or training did you undertake?

I pretty much grew up on construction sites and absorbed a lot of knowledge that way. I knew I wanted to be a builder from a pretty young age, though it took longer to convince my dad I was serious about it. I had planned to study vet science at uni, so I worked really hard at school and was actually accepted into the degree, but I knew my passion was for building. My parents weren’t particularly thrilled when I deferred uni and went looking for an apprenticeship! They were happy when I eventually finished that and went part-time at uni studying for a business degree. I also did a Diploma of Building and Construction at Tafe. I think anybody interested in becoming a builder should do a course like that. An apprenticeship alone isn’t enough these days.

What would you say are some of the pros and cons of the profession?

The pros would be that I’m able to work for myself, that I’m able to help people see their dream homes become something tangible, rather than just a blueprint or a plan, and that I work outdoors. The cons can be the hours – your day tends to start really early and often finishes pretty late, despite the stereotypes that abound about builders knocking off at lunchtime! There are sometimes personality clashes, with both employees and clients, so people skills are important. Other cons can be the difficulties that sometimes arise in hiring sub-contractors, sourcing materials and having them delivered on time.

What qualities and attributes do you think make a good builder?

You definitely need to be good with your hands, capable of hard physical labour, and interested in the construction industry. You need to have good people skills and a bit of perfectionism doesn’t go astray either when it comes to doing the best job possible for your clients. Physical fitness and good health are necessary. And if you’re looking at running your own business, rather than being employed by somebody else, you have to have good numeracy and literacy skills.

What would you say to those interested in becoming a builder?

Be prepared to work hard! Your apprenticeship will be hard work, but worth it. There will definitely be times when you’ll want to chuck the towel in and just walk away, but it’s worth persevering. You have to be prepared to learn from your mistakes and willing to learn from those around you. Anyone who wants to own their own business should definitely look at doing some further study, whether it’s at Tafe or university. On-the-job training is great, but can only teach you so much.

What have the jobs you’ve held involved? What does your current job involve?

I’ve worked for a number of different builders and my responsibilities were always pretty wide-ranging, everything from actual hands-on construction work to stuff like sourcing and ordering supplies, getting rid of rubble and debris, and actual construction work. With my own business, I am involved in every facet of every job, so my job involves a lot of physical labour and a lot of mental labour, too!

What is a typical workday like for a builder?

It depends what sort of project you’re working on, really. A typical day when you’re building involves getting up early – I’m usually out of bed by 4:30am and onsite by 7am at the latest. My days usually consist of a mixture of behind the scenes business stuff and the actual hands-on stuff of building like mixing concrete, erecting frames and structures, scaffolding and so on. I tend to sub-contract certain parts of most builds, so I spend time consulting with my sub-contractors, too. Basically my days are a combination of actual physical construction work and then the stuff that’s more the organisational and administrative part of owning your own business.


By Heidi Maier