Construction and mining play an important part in the Australian economy, with businesses of all sizes operating throughout the country, including some in the most remote outposts. Skilled professionals are employed to build houses and construct roads throughout the country. Many gain their practical skills through ‘real life’ vocational education and training (VET) courses.

In this blog post we look at some of the courses you can apply for at VET institutions in NSW. Some of the courses are meant for managers who already have some experience while others are for anyone interested in this field.

Construction Manager Courses

Diploma of Building and Construction (Management)

The average course fee is 7998 AUD/ year.

The average course duration is 15 months.

What it entails:

This qualification is designed to meet the needs of senior managers within building and construction firms.

Occupational titles may include:

• Project manager
• Construction manager
• Estimating manager
• Sales manager.

The construction industry strongly affirms that training and assessment leading to recognition of skills must be undertaken in a real or very closely simulated workplace environment and this qualification requires all units of competency to be delivered in this context. Completion of the general construction induction training program specified by the model Code of Practice for Construction Work is required for any person who is to carry out construction work.

Diploma of Civil Construction Management

The average course fee is 15,000 AUD/ year.

The average course duration is 12 months.

What it entails:

This qualification reflects the role of individuals working on a single or a group of civil construction sites, who perform tasks involving a high level of autonomy and require the application of significant judgement in planning and determining the selection of equipment, roles and techniques for themselves and others. They are required to develop site specific work instructions and practices to ensure the implementation of the site management systems, plans and policies. They demonstrate the application of a broad range of technical, managerial, coordination and planning skill.

Advanced Diploma of Civil Construction

The average course fee is 9972 AUD/ year.

The average course duration is 12 months.

What it entails:

This qualification reflects the role of individuals working as managers in civil construction who perform tasks that are broad, specialised, complex and technical and include strategic areas and initiating activities. They are responsible for the establishment of the site management systems, plans and policies and are required to demonstrate self-directed application of theoretical and technical knowledge and initiate solutions to technical problems or management requirements.

Diploma of Building and Construction (Building)

The average course fee is 8000 AUD/ year.

The average course duration is 18 months.

What it entails:

This qualification is designed to meet the needs of builders, including selecting contractors, overseeing the work and its quality, and liaising with clients.

Additional requirements to attainment of this qualification may be required.

Occupational title may include:

Builder.

The qualification has core unit of competency requirements that cover common skills for the construction industry. The construction industry strongly affirms that training and assessment leading to recognition of skills must be undertaken in a real or very closely simulated workplace environment and this qualification requires all included units of competency to be delivered in this context.

Diploma of Civil Construction Design

The average course fee is 6900 AUD/ year.

The average course duration is 18 months.

What it entails:

This qualification reflects the role of individuals working as designers or design paraprofessionals who support professional engineers. They perform tasks involving a high level of autonomy and requiring the application of significant judgement in planning and determining the selection of equipment/roles/techniques for themselves and others. They are required to develop site specific work designs to ensure the implementation of the client’s site requirements. They demonstrate the application of a broad range of technical, managerial, coordination and planning skills.

Advanced Diploma of Civil Construction Design

The average course fee is 22,000 AUD/ year.

The average course duration is 25 months.

What it entails:

This qualification reflects the role of an individual working as a senior civil works designer or a para-professional designer, who supports professional engineers. They perform tasks that are broad, specialised, complex and technical and include strategic areas and initiating activities. They are responsible for the design of complex projects to ensure the implementation of the client’s site requirements and are required to demonstrate self-directed application of theoretical and technical knowledge and initiate solutions to technical problems or management requirements.

Advanced Diploma of Building Surveying

The average course fee is 18,000 AUD/ year.

The average course duration is 24 months.

What it entails:

This is a qualification for building surveyors or certifiers who apply knowledge of compliance requirements and construction methods and materials to the implementation of statutory building surveying requirements or to the provision of advisory building surveying services.

The scope of work undertaken by building surveyors in Australia applies to all Classes of residential and commercial buildings as defined in the National Construction Code (NCC), up to three storey and not exceeding 2,000 square metres in floor area.

Building surveyors work in a highly regulated environment and require an understanding of relevant compliance requirements as well as traditional, new and emerging construction methods and materials. They make a significant contribution to the development and construction of the built environment, often working in collaboration with specialist consultants to assess and verify that proposed and actual building works are compliant and to ensure the safety of building occupants.

Electronics Trade Worker Courses

Diploma of Electronics and Communications Engineering

The average course fee is 15,688 AUD/ year.

The average course duration is 18 months.

What it entails:

This qualification covers competencies to develop, select, commission, maintain and diagnose faults/malfunctions of electronic components/sub-assemblies, apparatus and systems.

Advanced Diploma of Electronics and Communications Engineering

The average course fee is 17,950 AUD/ year.

The average course duration is 24 months.

What it entails:

This qualification covers competencies to design and validate/evaluate electronics and communication equipment and systems, manage risk, estimate and manage projects and provide technical advice/sales.

Diploma of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering

The average course fee is 21,500 AUD/ year.

What it entails:

This qualification covers competencies to develop systems; select equipment; and commission, maintain and diagnose faults/malfunctions of refrigeration systems and equipment that apply to commercial food storage and preservation and air conditioning and air distribution equipment and special applications. It includes regulatory requirements for purchasing and handling refrigerants.

A relevant contract of training through an apprenticeship or relevant employment may be required to enable the application of the required knowledge and skills to on the job work activities and environments. The achievement of the qualification meets the training components for the full national Refrigerant Handling Licence which is required to work on refrigeration and air conditioning equipment that carries the risk of a fluorocarbon refrigerant being emitted while decanting the refrigerant or manufacturing, installing, commissioning, servicing, maintaining or decommissioning refrigeration and air conditioning equipment.

These are some of the common courses available in the building and construction industry. Note however that we did not include certificate courses which are quite common and lead to electrician, plumber, painting, carpenter, tiler roles etc.