Home Building Tips for Builders in NSW
CPD - ARE THERE ANY BENEFITS?

Completing CPD activities can sometimes become annoying each year, especially when it takes you away from running your business and making a living.  However, builders in NSW are not alone.  Almost every type of profession in Australia is required to undergo CPD, including doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers, and financial advisors.

If you are going to select and undergo a CPD activity to comply with Fair Trading’s licensing requirements, make sure you benefit from it.

Like many people say: ‘If you have to do it, make sure you get the most out of it’.

CPD should not involve learning about an area that doesn’t directly relate to you or your business.  CPD should be about learning how to:

• Run your building business more effectively
  
  
• Comply with the law
  
  
• Protect your business
  
  
• Use tactics to maximise your business’ income
  
  
• Become a better builder
  

Feedback from builders

Feedback from builders that have completed our CPD activities show that many builders have improved their business operations after completing our CPD activities, including follow-up advice, in the following ways:

	Knowing what parts of a standard home building contract to negotiate upfront, in order to protect your business
	Using security of payment laws to quickly recover a debt (or even using these laws to successfully defend a claim)
	Structuring your arrangements with subcontractors so that the builder is not exposed
	Having safe systems of work in place in order to comply with OHS laws
	Preparing strong documents in CTTT matters to create the best possible case for the builder
	Using legal tactics to resolve home building disputes when they arise
	Learning effective project management techniques to ensure a project runs smoothly, from beginning to end
	Understanding how to advise your client on maximising building sustainability, so as to increase the credibility of your reputation and secure future projects through ‘word-of-mouth’ advertising
	Learning tips for preparing tenders, to win jobs and increase your business’ turnover

As you can see, although CPD activities can sometimes be annoying, by getting the most out of it, you can very well become a much better builder and improve your business operations.

Don’t walk away from a CPD activity and simply think ‘I’m glad that’s out of the way’ - walk away with something valuable that you can immediately input into your business and make yourself a better builder and business person.