Apprentice Carpenter

Six storeys up on a windy Brisbane jobsite, an apprentice carpenter is plumbing a roof truss into a temporary brace while the foreman checks the line below. The chippy on the ground waves a thumbs up. The truss is locked. The Certificate Three in Carpentry is thirty four units. Twenty seven core and seven elective. The apprenticeship runs four years and is competency based, which means a fast learner can finish faster than the rest, although most stay the full four. Time is split between block release at TAFE and full time work on a residential or commercial site. The first year is mostly setting out, framing wall plates from a chalkline, nailing studs at four hundred and fifty millimetre centres, and cutting roof rafters to angle on a drop saw.