Article Published April 13, 2004 - Construction in Vancouver
- Page S6
In all the publicity that surrounds the 2010 Winter
Olympics, they don’t want to be forgotten. “They” are the trades men
and women who install electrical and mechanical systems, manufacture
and install millwork, install flooring, and glazing, spray foam, hang
drywall, lay bricks, set tile and a myriad of other things. They belong
to an informal association called the Council of Construction Trade
Associations (COCTA). COCTA membership is not by company name, it
is by industry Association. Members, therefore, include groups such
as the Electrical Contractors Association of BC, the Mechanical Contractors
Association of BC and the Roofing Contractors Association of BC. In
all, there are 12 trade associations who make up the council.
Recently they announced a new initiative they are
calling the BC Construction Action Team. In part, this is the trade
contractors’ response to another group - the 2010 Construction Leaders
Task Force or Olympic Dream Team. This is a group of 19 of the province’s
largest and best-known general contracting firms, hoping to advise
parties involved with the Winter Games on matters impacting the construction
industry.
“The important distinction between the two groups
is that it is the trade contractors and their tradesmen who are on
the front lines, building the buildings, the roads, the bridges the
sky trains and everything else that needs building,” says Richard
Campbell, Executive Director of the Electrical Contractors Association
of BC. Given that it wouldn’t happen without them, COCTA believes
some recognition is well deserved.
In the majority of cases a general contractor who
wins the right to build a new structure does very little of the actual
construction work with his own employees. Nearly all of it is contracted
out to what would be called “specialists” in other fields. In construction
they’re called “trade contractors” or just simply “the trades”. The
12 associations that comprise COCTA represent almost 1,000 individual
British Columbia contractors and suppliers and many thousands of employees.
It is estimated that construction in the province employs between
20,000 and 25,000 women and men at any given time. trade contractors
employ the majority.
Certainly not all trade contractors are members of
associations. In the roofing field, for example, only 60 firms belong
to the Roofing Contractors Association of B.C. On the other hand those
60 firms do some 80 per cent of the roofs in the industrial, commercial
and institutional field. This situation is by no means unique and
applies to other COCTA member trade associations as well. Hundreds
of other, small firms in the province confine themselves to residential
work or very small commercial work. It is fair to say that the “cream
of the crop” of trade contractors are members of trade associations.
One key reason for this is that most associations have fairly stringent
membership requirements. There are many other companies who do not
belong to associations, primarily because they do not meet the requirements,
which are fairly significant.”
Among those requirements are the ability to be bonded,
proof of adequate insurance and ongoing education and training programs.
The roofers’ association, for instance, maintains a training facility
in Langley that is recognized as among the best in North America.
Speaking for the electrical association, Richard Campbell, Executive
Director says, “There seems to be a difference in philosophy between
contractors who belong to trade associations and find value in membership,
versus contractors who prefer to go their own way. Generally, among
association members, there is a commitment to quality in every aspect
of their operations. Many of them also strive to protect and improve
the industry through active participation.”
A challenge in the coming years will be to
maintain these standards with the growing demand for well-trained
and skilled workers. Fortunately, through the efforts of trade associations
and other industry-led organizations, more high school students than
ever are showing an interest in trade careers. The provincial government’s
decision to scrap the Industry Training & Apprenticeship Commission
and replace it with an Industry Training Authority has been met with
mixed reviews from the trades. While the electrical, mechanical, sheet
metal, roofing and one or two other trades continue to prefer traditional
apprenticeship training programs, a few other trade groups are benefiting
from the lowering of training barriers that existed previously.
Dana Taylor, executive vice-president of the Mechanical
Contractors’ Association, points out: “Although there are some 200
trades in various industries in the province, the 23 construction
industry trades, have historically accounted for some 45 per cent
of provincial trades training dollars.” “The Industry Training Authority
(ITA) will have its work cut out for it in determining whether shotgun
training dollars have actually hit their mark.”
