Trainees to build house in just three days

Territorians have the opportunity to watch a house being built from the ground to lock-up in just three days next week.


Students from the Marrara Christian College’s Fabrication and Construction Trade Training Centre will build the revolutionary flat-pack wooden house over three days at the training centre at the school.

The quick build home uses a unique panelised building system by Carter Holt Harvey which allows a home to be constructed on site by trainee construction workers under supervision and is perfect for remote communities where labour and accommodation costs can be high.

Marrara Christian College Trade Training Centre Manager Richard Hart said the new building system enhanced the training centre’s capacity to offer real jobs to young construction trainees.

“The time and skills required to construct residential homes using conventional building systems is one of the most important challenges facing the housing market today, particularly in remote communities,” Mr Hart said.

“Traditional on-site construction methods are constrained by the availability of trades, coordination of the delivery of products and services to the house site and weather related delays.

“With this new wood panelised building system, we can build a house from the ground to lock-up in just three to five days using construction trainees under the supervision of qualified tradesmen.”

The Marrara Christian College Fabrication and Construction Trade Training Centre trains students still attending school to receive a vocational certificate in construction, building and metal fabrication industry, while earning money at the same time.

The business opened a new training centre in Darwin in June this year to provide training for up to 50 students each week in the metal building and fabrication industry. There are 32 trainees and three apprentices completing their competency training with up to 20 qualified tradesmen and trade assistants.

The trainees are Year 11 and 12 students drawn from all senior schools in Darwin, along with others from as far as Arnhem Land and the Kimberley region in Western Australia. Around 65 per cent of students are Indigenous.

Mr Hart said the new panelised building system would enhance the ability of the centre to offer building solutions across northern Australia while at the same time training young Territorians for a career in the construction industry.

Members of the public are invited to watch the house under construction from Tuesday to Thursday (October 5-7) next week.

The home will be constructed at the training centre at the school in Amy Johnson Avenue. Visitors should follow the signs to the centre from the school entrance.