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Builders and tradesmen are providing free help while banks are offering loans on good terms. The Sun (2011)The kitchen brand have pledged thousands of pounds to link up local tradesmen and youngsters looking for an apprenticeship.tradesmeninternational.com The Sun (2013)They were local farmers and tradesmen. Times, Sunday Times (2013)To find good tradesmen, get personal recommendations. Times, Sunday Times (2012)Thankfully, local tradesmen and women are riding to the rescue.elwoodstaffing.com The Sun (2014)It was the time at which work would stop and the tradesmen and workers of the town would be returning home to their families. Iain Gale Man of Honour (2007)We will refurbish the house, employ local tradesmen and let it out so that others can enjoy the area too.


Times, Sunday Times (2008)His tip is to line up good builders and tradesman when you buy, rather than waiting until you own the property. Times, Sunday Times (2014)So how can homeowners find a reliable tradesman, ensure that the job is done well and seek redress if things go wrong? Times, Sunday Times (2008)So if you're a tradesman or woman who makes a difference - we want to hear from you! The Sun (2008) Shop where tradesmen shop. Times, Sunday Times (2009)Use a firm based near the property, as it will have access to local tradesmen, which can keep cost s down. Times, Sunday Times (2012)And if you decide to follow the DIY route, there is the vexed issue of finding reputable tradesmen. Times, Sunday Times (2016)I WISH housebuilding firms would stop complaining about the shortage of skilled tradesmen nowadays.


Thirty-eight per cent of Australian employers admit they're finding it tough filling job vacancies due to a shortage of talent, with the tradies leading the way in positions that are proving to be the most difficult to fill. The 11th annual Manpower employment outlook survey showed lack of applicants (21 per cent), lack of experience (23 per cent) and lack of hard skills (20 per cent) are the key reasons why many businesses are struggling to fill positions.indeed.com Top of the list of industries suffering are trades, followed by engineers, management and executives, and sales reps. The World Economic Forum has predicted 35 per cent of core skills that are considered to be vital for employment will change in the next three years.


Natasha Hawker from Employees Matters told the Huffington Post Australia it's not panic mode yet, but employers are definitely frustrated by the shortage of quality candidates. Hawker said that there are a number of factors at play. Firstly, there are not enough skilled workers and many people are moving into industries that didn't exist before. The mining boom was previously blamed for the shortage of tradies, with so many of them being employed by the mining companies, leaving a gap elsewhere. This time, the building and construction boom across NSW and Victoria is to blame. The Housing Industry Association said most shortages fall into the categories of bricklaying, ceramic wall and floor tiling - that's because so many people are renovating their homes. There are also shortages of electricians, plumbers and joiners. Karen Gately, leadership and people management expert, told HuffPost Australia all industries move in ebbs and flows, in terms of growing their own talent. Gately believes a major issue is that Australians aren't investing in certain professions in our communities as our focus is on higher education.


Sean Ouellette noticed in late 2016 that construction workers were getting hard to find. Ouellette, vice president of operations for KAST Construction in Tampa, the firm behind many local projects including One St. Pete and the Hyatt Place hotel. He and KAST are hardly alone. Eight out of every 10 firms are having trouble finding enough skilled labor, according to a nationwide survey from the Associated General Contractors of America released Wednesday. Just as many expect hiring in the next 12 months to be as hard or even harder than the previous year. The shortages span the trades, with pipelayers, sheet metal workers, carpenters, concrete workers, pipefitters and welders in particularly high demand. Companies big and small are feeling the pinch.


RELATED: Floridas construction employment still hasnt recovered from Great Recession. Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, which surveyed more than 2,500 companies. The market is just as tight in Florida, and will likely get tighter. Eighty-two percent of the states firms expect to hire additional hourly workers in the next year, compared to 76 percent nationally. They also plan to hire significantly more office personnel than the national average, as well as more salaried workers. The labor shortage has increased competition, with more than half of the Florida companies saying they are losing workers to other firms. They are also having a harder time finding adequately trained workers, the survey found.


The shortage comes even as construction employment remains below pre-Great Recession highs. Locally, construction jobs peaked in June 2006 at 95,300 before plunging to 50,100 in early 2011. Today theyve rebounded to about 76,800, still 20 percent off the highs. So why arent there enough workers? After the recession, many people in the construction trades switched to more stable industries, ones less susceptible to booms and busts. Those that remained are aging, and the physical demands can make it hard to hang on for a few more years near the end of a career. A lot of workers retired in recent years, without enough replacements, especially from the millennial generation.


The recent crackdown on undocumented workers, and more controls on legal immigration, also appears to have limited the pool of available workers. And construction struggles to shed a reputation for being dirty and dangerous, which only makes it tougher to attract workers when unemployment is so low, both in Florida and the nation.indeed.com The labor shortage has prompted three-quarters of Florida firms to increase pay. They have also provided more bonuses and expanded benefits. More than half have started or increased in-house training. Same goes for engaging in career-building programs with colleges and technical schools. They are also hiring more interns, paying more overtime, and a few have changed their hiring standards to entice workers to sign up.


Nearly 60 percent said they had increased the price of their bids to make up for higher labor costs. Projects are also taking longer than anticipated, which has prompted more than a quarter of the companies to include longer completion times in their bids. Ouellette estimated that KASTs labor costs have jumped 20 percent in the past year and a half. The shortage also puts a premium on good planning. Higher wages are just part of the pricing equation. Many new construction workers, whether they moved from another industry or just graduated high school, cant get as much done as their experienced counterparts. Steve Malaney, who runs Oregon-based P&C Construction. To help fill the labor gap, more companies in Florida and the nation are using drones, robots and 3-D printers. Others rely more on virtual construction tools like sophisticated modeling that allows them to reduce onsight work time.


Landlord Household Insurance, Landlord Rent Guarantee & Legal Expenses Insurance, Tenants' Contents, Commercial Property Insurance and Landlord Advice. Plus owner occupier insurance. If you elect to rent your property through a letting agent on a full service agency agreement, most of your problems of finding good tradesmen are solved because the agent will handle this for you. However it is an expensive option and these tips are for those landlords that either choose a let only agency agreement or choose to let their property privately. If you are using an agent on a let only basis and have a reasonably good relationship with them, it's a good idea to ask for a few recommendations of reliable plumbers and electricians.


When you call the tradesmen mention that you are a client of the particular letting agents and they have recommended them. Always get estimates of course but bear in mind that it is often very difficult for builders to give a really fixed price for maintenance and repairs. These are very useful as , although the tradesmen do have to pay to advertise in them, they usually have to supply a couple of references from previous customers. In the case of reputable guides, the owners will remove a listing if there are enough justifiable complaints agains one of the tradesmen and women listed. One that I tend to rely on is Which Trusted Traders, as their vetting procedures are very strong.


However you will need to be a member of Which to be able to use this guide. Not all plumbers are the equal and all have their own areas of expertise. If you are having problems with your gas central heating system, particularly if it can be isolated to the boiler, you should always use a GasSafe registered heating engineer. If the problem is definitely with the boiler itself it's a good idea to check the make and model number before you call. It's also a good idea to call the boiler manufacturers or visit their website to see if they have a list of specialists in your area. If you need an unvented system installed or serviced, by law you must use a plumber who has the necessary unvented certificate.


In these systems you will have a boiler, a hot water copper cylinder (usually in the airing cupboard), a cold water storage tank and a header tank – both in the loft. These often employ a Combi (combination) boiler which is fed directly from the mains. It does not require any storage, although they are sometimes teamed with a sealed hot water storage tank, again usually in the airing cupboard. The advantage of these systems is that they save space, but the disadvantage is that if the water is cut off the central heating will stop and there will be no water to wash with or flush toilets. The most sophisticated and best systems employ the use of hot water stored under mains pressure in a large cylinder - a major brand is the Megaflo. Since recent legislation, if you are carrying out any new installation you must ensure that they are Part P qualified and make sure you always obtain a certificate once the work is completed.


With the explosion in digital tools available for free on the web or at a low cost, it appears as though every profession on the planet now has the option of assistance from the digital world. Tradesmen have always been a tight knit community with a preference for good, manual graft over keyboard tapping or fiddly apps, but now even the trade industry is having to take note of what downloadable tools can offer to businesses. For a young tradesman looking to kick-start their own independent business there are a multitude of tools that can save them money, supply valuable services and massively improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their work. Get rid of annoying paperwork floating around site.


No-one likes having tons of important paperwork floating around their site in danger of being lost or spoiled. The iQuick Contract Maker allows you to quickly and easily create a legal contract on site or during meetings with customers, making the relationship between tradesman and client stress-free. The app includes a basic contract template and the ability to send the completed e-mail to their customers on the spot and to your own e-mail address. What’s even better is that it will only cost £1.99, saving you money on expensive Contract writing programs that wouldn’t allow you to operate on the move!


Android- An alternative suitable for Android Device is the Contract Maker Pro. Reviews for the app have been mixed, but for every negative review there seems to be a positive one. Regardless, at a price of £6.16 the app is a cost effective way to meet your contractual demands on the go. The app offers seven contract templates, a touch screen signing option and the ability to email your contracts to clients or to other devices. Desktop- The Federation of Master Builders does provide a selection of downloadable contracts, ranging from Commercial and Industrial to Minor Building Work contracts. Obviously these are available to download to your desktop, yet their compatibility for mobile devices are limited- no option of using the contracts on the go.


Small Builders for home builders and commercial contractors is building software that can be accessed instantly on your mobile, tablet, and of course your desktop computer. Manage all of your invoices on the move! Debitoor is a free invoicing application that can be used on laptop, tablet or mobile interfaces.clicksafety.com Once again, this app allows you to get rid of the annoying paperwork, letting you produce invoices, keep track of your cash flow and manage customer information all from one handy app. The additional features offered by Debitoor make the app even more appealing, offering you the opportunity to add your businesses logo to the template, as well as providing a reminder feature that sends you reminders whenever customer payments are due.


Debitoor comes in two formats, one paid and one unpaid. 5 a month upgrade offers quotes, document handling and reminders. Keep track of project time on site and keep your clients in the know! For tradesmen, time is everything. From managing multiple sites and projects, to meeting their customers’ expectations and requirements; time management is crucial for not only building and maintaining a reputation, but for ensuring you are working efficiently and effectively. PAYMO lets you manage this on both desktop and mobile devices, allowing you to clock in the hours spent on the project before converting this into an online invoice at the click of a button.


The ability to export and share this data means that any customer queries about time management can be answered with well-structured data, providing clarity for both the customer and the tradesman. The free option offers unlimited clients and projects but only one invoice a month. 14.85 a month and offers unlimited invoicing and 15GB of data storage. The triumvirate of project management, time tracking and online invoicing is guaranteed to make a tradesmans projects easily manageable and centralised all into one tool, whilst still staying friendly to your budget. Let your clients know you’re no cowboy builder. In an age of cowboy builders and trade horror stories, customer confidence in the honest tradesman is at an all-time low. The TrustMark App looks to bridge the gap and assure customers that they will be in reliable hands, as well as protected by evidence should anything become disputed or end in disagreement.


The TrustMark app is a recording device that records your conversation with a tradesman, whilst prompting you to ask the right questions at every stage, as well as allowing you to add images and text. Whilst this app may prove useful for finding another tradesman when you need some additional help on a project, the key benefit of Find a Tradesman is for the public. Provide estimates and invoices at the click of a button- get there ahead of your competition and provide an estimate on the spot. Why make your customers wait for a quote when you can produce one on the spot and be the first to get one in their hands?


The Contractor Estimating and Invoice Tool allows you to do just that, creating professional looking estimates, invoices, records and payments on your mobile at the click of a button. The estimates and invoices can be built with your company’s logo and you can build a list of regular items used during your projects, saving even more time. What’s even better is that this app is cost free, completely mobile and one of the highest ranked of its kind. The app is also on its way for Android devices, so if you’re an Android user, then hold tight! Developed by UDA Construction, the OnSite Mobile apps range have really got the market cornered for premier apps for tradesmen.


They have a variety of options to choose from, ranging from a free subscription to a limited data range and on to subscription services that offer you a wider selection of options. Every single one of these apps will lead to improved rates of productivity and efficiency- the apps take everything mobile, allowing you to work on the move at any location. All of these apps then synchronize with a Construction Online that brings all the apps together on one location on your desktop. Here is the range of apps offered by OnSite. Ok, so these downloads may not provide you with invoicing services, quoting templates or other professional services on the cheap but what the hey. You never know what a tradesman might happen to need on his phone when on the job. Handy Level- Forgotten your spirit level?


No need to worry, this handy app has a built in spirit bubble and is downloadable to your mobile.tradesmeninternational.com The Level is free but can be bought as part of the bigger iHandy Carpenter toolkit for only put you back £1.49. Plumbing Formulator- The Formulator app contains over 120 formulas that are useful for plumbers. The program can calculate the area of pipe walls, pipe weights and provide conversions at the click of a button. A handy guide for the plumber on the move at a relatively low cost. The Construction Calculator- No tradesman wants to spend his time try to convert measurements from metric or imperial and back again.


The Construction Calculator works as a your standard industry calculator but allows you to work in yards, feet, fractional inches and millimeters, converting between all types at the click of a button. My Measures & Dimensions PRO- A handy app for storing and sharing dimensions on the iOS platform. With MMD Pro you can take photos and add the dimensions into grouped folders, giving you a future free of hastily sketched drawings, instead providing you with a professional and efficient approach. The ability to share these images over iCloud, DropBox and Google Drive means that customers and fellow tradesman alike can be privy to the images you produce. Having access to all these tools and apps is great for prompting productivity, but the construction site can be a rough and dangerous place for your dainty iPad or smartphone.


Guarantee your expensive devices safety with a variety of tough cases and mobile devices designed to withstand tough conditions. JCB have developed a range of mobile devices all designed to withstand the rigour of life on site, with their latest addition bringing smartphone technology to the JCB rugged, tough casing. Steatite Rugged Systems is another company that offers devices built to withstand bad treatment- the primary focus is on Windows tablets, toughened and protect by big, bulky exteriors. If you don’t want to go the whole hog and out your device in tank like armour, there are stylish alternatives built to slide onto your existing device, such as these iPad and iphone cases.


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