Aussie Painting Contractor November 2017

Introducing the extraordinary

Graphenstone!

Ensuring success in

Business Partnerships The art of mastering any

Daily Practice Good paperwork and

Getting You Paid!

www.aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au

CONTRIBUTORS • Angela Smith • Anthony Igra • Caroline Miall • Jim Baker • Leo Babauta • Martin Singh • Monroe Porter • Robert Bauman • Steve Schifferes

EDITOR Nigel Gorman EXECUTIVE EDITOR Caroline Miall GRAPHIC DESIGNER J. Anne Delgado

From the Editor Hi Everyone, Another month done and dusted and from most reports everyone is flat out till Christmas. Good news.

This month there have been a few things that have stood out in our industry. Firstly, a number of people have called us with reports of ink bleed on some plasterboard products. We contacted the manufacturer and will follow up as it appears the wrong ink has been used. We are still awaiting official comment from them. If you have this problem, please contact us.

The Queensland Government have brought in new legislation to the ‘Security of Payment Act’. We have been pushing for changes that we believe will assist all contractors to get paid on time from builders in the future. I spoke with the Ministers Office today for an update.

See inside for details.

‘What are microns?’ This is a question that was raised on our Facebook Group and the responses were surprising; so much so that we have rerun a recent article about the topic; How Many Coats? Data sheets hold a massive amount of information that all painters need to know. We discovered that there is a huge difference between manufacturers recommended spread rates, due to film thickness. One company’s premium interior low sheen has a recommended spread rate of 16m2 per litre whilst another has a spread rate of 11m2 per litre. The prices per drum were within 5% of each other. That’s a difference on spending almost 30% more in your product for the same job!

Have a great month, and drop us a line. If there’s anything interesting going on, let us know.

Until next month, Happy Painting!!

Nigel Gorman

nigel@aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au

07 3555 8010

Contents Business Partnership Vehicle Signage is useless

6 9

when done the wrong way… what does yours say about you?

Is Your Business Performance Fair, Good or Great?

Palaszczuk Government

12

15

when done the wrong way… what does yours say about you?

The Incredible Progress of DAILY PRACTICE

20

How inequality became 25 the big issue troubling the world’s top economists Glossary of Paint & Painting Term Tropical Thunderstorms are set to grow stronger as the world warms

How paperwork gets you paid

37

Queensland Building Plan41 provides a blueprint for industry confidence

42

30

Avoiding the “Salesman” Disease

34

Industry Idiots

46

Important Contacts

47

Graphenstone ecological 18 paints and solutions developed to change the face of sustainable design

Opinions and viewpoints expressed in the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine do not necessarily represent those of the editor, staff or publisher or any Aussie Painters Network’s staff or related parties. The publisher, Aussie Painters Network and Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine personnel are not liable for any mistake, misprint or omission.

Information contained in the Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine is intended to inform and illustrate and should not be taken as financial, legal or accounting advice. You should seek professional advice before making business related decisions. We are not liable for any losses you may incur directly or indirectly as a result of reading Aussie Painting Contractor Magazine. Reproduction of any material or contents of the magazine without written permission from the publisher is strictly prohibited.

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Busin How many business partnerships have you come across; excluding those in a relationship with each other? Now how many do you know that have not succeeded? You will find it very rare to see a good working partnership. Personally, I have come across many that have failed. The reason being is they inevitably run into problems with each other’s expectations. Why? Because we all see things differently in what we want to achieve and what targets should be met.

A ‘Business Partnership’ is generally formed from a friendship. So what could possibly go wrong? It is very natural to feel excited when taking the step to go into business. There is a lot of emotion, the adrenalin is running high, you are about to be your own boss, so all you want to do is get started and make lots of money. By jumping in too fast and not doing your homework first, you can easily overlook the problems that could arise. For starters, it is difficult to evenly split the workload of running a business. You may not think so at first because, ‘Heh! All we have to do is go to work, paint a house, send off the account and get paid’. ‘Simples’ as Sergei the Meercat would say’ WRONG! What about all the behind scenes like the everyday bookwork and quoting for instance. This is normally a one person job, so the other would therefore be working on the tools.

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ess Partnerships Will that person feel they’re working harder? On the other hand, will the person doing the bookwork be upset because some of the work is performed after hours? There can also be conflict when one partner is faster than the other or one that wants to work longer hours. On another factor, one partner may want to expand the business which may require injecting money into it where the other is content with staying small and the way it is. Also, who will be responsible for answering the phone calls and organizing the jobs? Things like this can easily lead to one partner feeling they are doing more than the other thus, resulting in conflict, tension and resentment.

A successful partnership needs clear communication and a lot of forward planning. So some of the questions you should consider asking yourselves before going into partnership are: • What hours are you going to work and if weekends are involved? One partner may have a young family and can only work a normal week.

• Whose job will it be to do the bookwork and the quoting?

Even if you employ people to do these tasks there will always be other jobs that need attention.

If only one of you is taking on this task and it’s undertaken

at their home, make sure an agreement is made to compensate for the electricity used, office space, internet charges and wear and tear on floor coverings and furniture.

• If one of the spouses is working in the business as well (maybe doing the office work) make sure a wage is agreed to beforehand.

• Where will all the equipment, tools and material be stored?

If it is at one house only, then there could be some extra work involved for the loading up of the vehicle, shed maintenance, electricity, maybe water (if you wash out your brushes at home) and generally keeping the area tidy.

• Make sure you have a business partnership contract in place and be careful if you are using personal assets to fund the business. Include how much each is putting in and how will it be paid back?

• How long do you want the business to run for? Is it short term or long and in the case of one partner wanting to leave the business, how will the other be paid out?

• Discuss what size you want the business to grow to and

how many people do you want to employ?

• If you have different skills, do you value the time equally? For instance, eight hours of quoting and office work compared to eight hours of actual physical work.

Questions like these need to be discussed and put down in writing and signed by both partners.

This is to alleviate any problems in the future. Having this in place will form the foundation of a successful partnership. When you’re working together, you need to know what to expect from one another. If you can see from this exercise that your expectations are not aligning on a lot of points, then you may need to consider other options rather than going into partnership. The last thing you want is your friendship with each other to be at risk.

Jim Baker www.mytools4business.com 2017 November Issue | 7

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Vehicle Signage is useless when done the wrong way… what does yours say about you?

The number of times I’ve heard a painter say “Vehicle signage is useless” is frightening…

Then I ask them, “so, what’s on your truck or van?”

To which they reply, “Oh, you know… I have a mobile number and the name of my company.”

Which, might I add, I discover is the font size of a book AND their company name doesn’t even tell me what trade they service. Or worse still, they have NOTHING on their vehicle.

No wonder their vehicle isn’t bringing any new leads!

Vehicle signage is one of the simplest and cheapest forms of marketing for any trade business owner.

You drive either to and from your site every day and park outside the job, or you’re driving around the local area from job to job. It’s clearly a great way to attract a new customer (a lead) as long as they are in the market for your product/service.

What’s even better is the fact that you design it once, pay for it once, and it continues to reap rewards as long as you keep it looking good!

First things first is getting your vehicle signage RIGHT… A customer will form an opinion about you and your painting business within the first 30 seconds of seeing your vehicle. So the design of your signage (and cleanliness of the truck/van) is super detrimental in showing your customers you are professional.

To help you with the design of your painting business vehicle signage… there are 5 key elements to consider: 1. Solid background as the base which is easy to clean (we have crisp white vehicles to ensure they

stand out. You may have black or other. Basic block colours are better) 2. Use of company colours for brand consistency (ours being orange/blue) 3. Large font phone number (think… customer at a glance while driving needs to see the number, and be able to take a pic while at the traffic lights, or they need to remember your company name) 4. Large noticeable company name (brand recognition) 5. Key communication as to what the business does (Painting)

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Secondly, there are certain steps you can take to make sure you get the most out of your signage…

1. General driving around your local area will increase brand exposure. At least this way your local customers know your business even exists!

A casual trip to the shop to pick up dinner could be enough to make the phone ring with a lead.

2. Driving to and from work, if you are on different job sites, or outside of your local area. Again, like the point above, this will increase exposure of your business.

3. On a job site, ensure to park your vehicle at an angle and location where your potential customers can read your branding and take note of your company name and phone number.

4. Find out the date for the local fair and arrive early to park your vehicle in a prominent thoroughfare location. Even stick your magnets to the side of the car or business cards in the window jam for those passer-by’s interested in taking one away.

5. Park your vehicle over the weekend on the side of a busy road in your local area, remembering to angle the vehicle so that the writing is easily read by passer-by traffic. Consider parking closer to a large set of traffic lights, so that stopped traffic have no choice but to stare at your vehicle and absorb your message!

6. Use the professional images on all your marketing material. The image visually communicates the professionalism of our business.

It is also used to trigger recognition if any of your prospects have seen the vehicle driving on the road.

Vehicle Signage, if done the RIGHT way, will bring you a steady flow of customers. Especially in a local area where you drive ALL THE TIME. It’s like keeping your company name ‘top of mind’.

When a prospect needs a painter they will call YOU! Just remember with a branded vehicle comes the responsibility of being professional all the time – no speeding, tooting your horn unnecessarily and driving like a clown. They WILL remember you.

Interested in learning more ways to gain more leads in your painting business? Check out Episode 7 of The Tradie Show where we discuss ‘6 Low-Cost Marketing Ideas for Trade Based Business’.

Angela Smith

Co-founder – Lifestyle Tradie

“Helping Trade Business Owners Fast-Track Financial & Lifestyle Success”

10 | Aussie Painters Network

2017 November Issue | 11

Is Your Business Performance

Fair, Good or Great?

Over the past few months the focus of our articles was on the analogy of balancing the “Three-Legged-Stool” and how it applies to your business. We’ve discussed which business area each of the three legs of the stool relates to, ie Sales & Marketing, Production and Finance.

We’ve covered in detail: • how an activity time audit can help you free up more time to work ON your business • why doing a time audit and reviewing your goals are important to determine what you should be delegating or outsourcing • the importance of reviewing your personal and business goals and reflecting them in your business plan • the best way of doing a financial health check for your business • why creating a marketing plan is an investment in your business, and not an expense • the need to embed the new direction of your business into an operational plan that’s fully costed.

Implement & Monitor With all these elements now in place, there is only one more thing left to do: implement and monitor. If you don’t implement what you’ve planned, you’ll get nowhere fast… and if you don’t monitor what you’re implementing, you won’t know how you’re travelling and if you are achieving your goals and milestones that you’ve set.

The best way to do this is to create a monitoring tool that allows you to compare your performance in the three areas of Sales & Marketing, Production and Finance.

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The simplest way to do this is by using a spreadsheet that you should update each week with the performance data from these three areas. It needs to show: • How many orders in $ value you have placed, based on how many leads you’ve received (Sales & Marketing); • How many $ worth of product or services you have produced and delivered (Production); and • How much money you have collected for your orders – Cash In (Finance) These 3 aggregate numbers will show you right away if all three legs of your business are in balance, or if you need to spend more time in one (or two) of the three areas to return it back to balance.

Let’s look at an example:

1. Say you’ve created a successful marketing strategy and are bringing in 10 leads per week. You know that your gross margin is, say 53%, and when you convert all leads into sales you generate a turnover of $12,000.

2. Suddenly you’ve got orders from new customers to fulfil on top of your usual production quota. Your current output is only $6,000. Unless you don’t put in extra resources into your production, this area will be lagging behind the sales turnover figure. You know this because you have been monitoring your production output in dollar figures every week.

If you can’t meet production targets now with the extra business you’ve generated because you simply can’t mobilise enough resources at short notice, you can decide to bring in less new customers in the next few weeks. You can easily do this by increasing your gross margin as this usually decreases the number of jobs or orders coming in while maintaining your marketing profile. More importantly, this will give your production area a chance to catch up, while you are still generating turnover.

3. Finally, by monitoring cash income you can immediately see, if you have a problem keeping up with your business and production expenses. If your production $ figure is high and it is not reflected in your cashflow, you know you need to spend more time managing your debtors, ie checking which invoices have not been paid and systematically follow them up to encourage payment.

By tracking the performance in these major business areas in dollar figures, it’s easy to see at a glance, when you present these figures graphically, where the imbalance is. Only then, and armed with this knowledge are you able to make sound management decisions that are based on good, solid numbers.

Unintended Consequences When it comes to upholding your reputation though, the consequences of a “Three-Legged Stool”- type imbalance can be devastating. Your new customers may become impatient because you have not fulfilled their expectation of a timely delivery, as you can’t keep up with production or service delivery. They needed your product or service at a particular time for it to make a difference to them. Now they have to put up with your delay, and what can hurt your business most is when they start talking to others about their experiences with your business.

Last, but not least, having a well set up monitoring business performance tool is something a potential buyer of your business will be looking for, if you’re in the market to sell. If you have any questions on monitoring your business performance, gross profit margins for your industry, or are just looking for a template that works, feel free to arrange a FREE No-Obligation Meeting with me. Call my office on 07 3399 8844, or you can also visit our website at www.straighttalkat.com.au and complete your details on our Home page to request an appointment.

Copyright © 2017 Robert Bauman

Call Us: (07) 3399 8844

www.straighttalkat.com.au 2017 November Issue | 13

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Palaszczuk Government

makes history with nation leading subbies payment reforms Today marks a new era for the state’s building and construction industry, with the Palaszczuk Government’s historic subcontractors payment legislation passed through the Parliament.

Minister for Housing and Public Works Mick de Brenni said the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Bill 2017 would bring security and confidence to the Queensland’s $45 billion construction industry.

“For far too long, subcontractors have had to shoulder most of the financial risk on building projects, but that changes today,” Mr de Brenni said.

“These reforms help ensure that subcontractors in the building and construction industry are paid in full and on time, every time.”

“With these reforms, Queensland will have the strongest protections for subcontractors anywhere in Australia.”

Mr de Brenni paid tribute to the extraordinary contribution of the Speaker Peter Wellington.

“It’s almost unheard of for the Speaker to vacate the chair in order to speak on a bill, and entirely unprecedented for an independent Speaker give such passionate support for a policy of the Premier and her government,” Mr de Brenni said.

“We are where we are today because of the dedication the Speaker Wellignton has shown in standing up for his constituents after the 2014 Walton’s collapse, which sent so many subcontractors to the wall.

“I want to thank him for his tireless advocacy and for his support for people who make up Queensland’s building and construction industry.”

The reforms have been roundly applauded by the building and construction industry.

Master Electricians State Manager Gary Veenstra said their members were relieved to know that the Building Industry Fairness Bill had been passed.

“I never thought I’d see the day, honestly. Subbies have spent so many nights sitting up late, going over the books, wondering how they going to pay their staff,” Mr Veenstra said.

“I can’t tell you how much it means to subbies that this government has passed legislation to make sure that subbies and their workers are going to get paid.”

National Fire Industry Association CEO Wayne Smith said their members had been asking for payment security for as long as he could remember, but the Palaszczuk Government was the first wth the courage to address the issue.

“This is a turning point for the building and construction industry,” Mr Smith said.

“When I’ve spoken to members up until now, they’ve said that even when they do chase big builders for payment, it’s complicated and difficult and in then end it’s not worth it. So knowing that we’ll be able to use a simplified, faster dispute resolution process is just going to free up people’s time, they can get their money and get back to work.”

2017 November Issue | 15

“We are so glad to have a government and a Minister who really listened, who worked with us on these reforms.”

Airconditioning and Mechanical Contractors Association Executive Director Graham Mackrill said subcontractors have never had robust protections anywhere in Australia.

“This legislation is historic – it will create the kind of environment that will make people want to do business in Queensland,” Mr Mackrill said.

Master Plumbers Association of Queensland Executive Director Penny Cornah said the Building Industry Fairness Bill would bring balance for subcontractors.

“Plumbers will no longer be used as a line of credit by unscrupulous operators,” Ms Cornah said.

“Payment certainty allows businesses to employ more apprentices and em-

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ployees, knowing that they know they will be paid what they are owed.”

Mr de Brenni said the comprehensive package of reforms were the result of extensive consultation, and would deliver a range of measures to secure payment for subcontractors.

“Project Bank Accounts are part of this comprehensive package of reforms, and PBAs will prevent builders who want to use subcontractor payments as a line of credit from using funds from one project on another project,” Mr de Brenni said.

“We listened to industry, and our new laws mean that we will have the ability to expand the use of PBAs down to sub-subcontractor level if needed.”

“We will use PBAs on all Government projects valued at between $1 million and $10 million from 1 Janu-

ary 2018, and will look to extend them to private sector projects over $1 million after 1 January 2019.”

Mr de Brenni said Queensland’s $45 billion building and construction industry employs almost 220,000 people and this is expected to grow to $52.3 billion and 230,000 people in 2018-2019 – a rise of $7.4 billion.

“Queensland deserves a strong, viable and productive building and construction industry,” he said.

“These measures are part of a comprehensive suite of reforms developed following extensive consultation over the past two years.

“They are considered, they are comprehensive and they will protect the lives and livelihoods of Queenslanders.”

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Graphenstone ecological paints and solutions have been developed to change the face of sustainable design.

The use of graphene is, today, a reality that will make possible new materials and more sustainable designs. Thanks to Graphenstone, the coating and paint industry meets for the first time, the only 100% natural paint in the world with graphene technology.

In the words of its President, Antonio León: “Our products are being applied in several projects and reconstructions worldwide, which means that more and more companies, institutions and families, will improve their quality of life and with energy savings in the coming years; a trend that continues growing with us. In short, we are creating more efficient buildings.”

Graphenstone products applies to interior and exterior walls, allow them to breathe and absorb CO2 due to its mineral base (limestone), as well as acting as a thermal and acoustic regulator.

Graphenstone coatings are formulated with a high quality

18 | Aussie Painters Network

lime base. This purity and high pH prevents mould growth and bacteria reproduction on its surface.

Graphene fibres act to improve flexibility and strength. Graphenstone paints have a guaranteed life of 10 years.

Graphenstone is the ultimate ecological range of products, composed of natural elements that purify the air we breathe inside our homes. It is suitable for people suffering from chemical intolerance and respiratory issues like Asthma. Graphenstone is recommended for indoor enclosures, hospitals, nurseries, schools, or rooms for infants and children.

The health benefits resulting from the use of Graphenstone materials for individuals living in eco-sustainable homes include: • improves air quality of indoor environments; • limits pathogens;

• prevents mould growth, fungi, and bacteria; • guarantees safe domestic environments; and • increases comfort and quality of life.

A paint with fantastic properties and now readily available through a selected network of distributors in more than 35 countries worldwide.

Graphenstone is the first paint approved by Global GreenTag as Level A in its GreenRate scheme and has also been certified as Asthma Friendly by Sensitive Choice Australia.

Furthermore, is the only paint in the world with Cradle to Cradle GOLD Certification. This makes the paint an ideal solution for GreenStar, BREEAM, WELL, LEED or Living Building Challenge projects.

www.graphenstone.com.au

The Incredible Progress of

DAILY PRACTICE

Lately in my life, I’ve been repeatedly reminded of the power of practicing something regularly.

Daily is best, I’ve learned, but several times a week works well too.

You’d be surprised how much progress you can make with even a small amount of practice, applied regularly.

Some examples in my life recently: A daily yoga practice of 10 minutes: I am not an experienced

yogi, I’m very inflexible, and becuase I only practice yoga sporadically, I don’t really make any progress. But recently I committed to practicing yoga for just 10 minutes a day (a few sun salutations, mostly) … when I started, my shoulders would get exhausted in downward dog fairly quickly. But now, I’m able to hold the poses for longer without tiring as much! I’ve really seen some solid progress with just 10 minutes of daily practice. Of course, that’s not the point of yoga (it’s a mindfulness practice), but it’s still amazing to see that kind of progress.

Running 3-4 times a week with Eva: Eva and I started doing a half-

marathon training plan by No Meat Athlete about 6 or 7 weeks ago.

We do 3-4 runs a week (depending

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on our schedules), and when we started out, we were both pretty out of shape. Eva had to stop a couple times even on a 2-mile run, and I was far from my peak running shape. But six weeks into it — just doing short runs — we can see a huge difference. At no point did we push ourselves too hard, but just doing it regularly really made a solid amount of progress.

Chinups with my son 3 times a week: In the last couple of weeks, my 13-year-old son and I decided to do a chinups challenge. Three times a week, we do five sets of chinups during the day. When I started out, I could only do 10-11 chinups per set, but now I can do 16-17 each set. In less than two weeks. That kind of progress is encouraging.

Studying go for just 10-20 minutes a day: I’ve been study-

Daily focus sessions by a client: I have a coaching client who

ing the ancient Chinese game of go this year, and I’m still very weak at it. Honestly, if I had more time to study, I might be much stronger.

But instead, I’ve been just doing about 10-20 minutes of studying a day, and I’m still making noticeable progress with my calculating ability. Still not strong, but I’m getting stronger slowly, just putting in a minimal amount of study time.

does daily focus sessions, training himself to focus on something longer. He just does 15-minute sessions every day, which isn’t a lot.

But he’s seen his ability increase noticeably, even when he’s not doing a focus session.

Just a small amount of daily practice, or at least a few times a week.

It’s powerful.

Here’s what I’ve learned: If you’re studying something, you forget less. It’s great to study for a couple hours, but if you don’t study for a few days after that, you’ll start forgetting. Daily study sessions, even if they’re short, interrupt the forgetting process.

Therefore it’s more efficient, as you don’t slip backwards but keep making forward progress.

If you are weak, you get stronger without injury. It’s hard to get stronger when you’re weak (at yoga, running, chinups, whatever).

But small regular doses will get you stronger, slowly. If you give yourself big doses, hoping for faster progress, you’re more likely to get injured, burn out, or get demotivated because of the difficulty level. Slow and small is better.

Progress isn’t noticeable in the first week, but it is after a couple of weeks. If you’re just giving yourself small training or study doses, you won’t see any difference at first.

That’s OK, keep doing it. After a couple of weeks, you’ll notice some solid progress, and a month into it, you’ll see major improvement. Keep at it.

Small doses make it easy to do daily. If you want to train for an hour a day, that is only sustainable for awhile. Eventually you’ll run out of energy, or things will get busy and you won’t have the time for your hourlong session. Maybe you’ll miss 2-3 days in a row — now you’ve lost motivation, and you’re discouraged. It’s better to do it in small doses, because it’s easier to get started when you know you’re just doing 10-15 minutes, and it’s easier to find the time and motivation for small sessions.

Make sure it’s fun. Doing a chore is boring and hard, and you’ll put it off, even if it’s just a 10-minute session. Instead, don’t make it a chore that you have to get through. Make it a game that you look forward to doing. Or a mini-meditation session that brings peace to your life, a time to relax. Or a moment of magic and loveliness. Create an activity that you’ll look forward to.

Bring the magic of small, regular practice to your life.

My Habit Mastery Course If you’d like to get better at habits and daily practice, please join my new video course, Habit Mastery, which is designed to help you practice and level up your habit skills.

It’s a 12-week course with two video lessons a week, daily practice, and interviews with 11 other amazing habit experts.

This is one of the best things I’ve ever created, and I really hope you’ll join me.

The course includes weekly Q&A where I answer your habit obstacle questions, a Facebook group for support from fellow participants, and 7 bonus ebooks. All of this for $299. The course will start on Monday Oct. 23 (but you can start anytime) … and it will run for 12 weeks.

What will we cover in this course?

Basically, the goal is to get you from one level of mastery to the next:

a bit lost in sticking to anything over the long term. We’ll have you practice the basics and some key skills to overcome the most common beginner problems.

Intermediate to Advanced: You have successfully created some habits, but often have them fall apart when things get disrupted, and struggle with more difficult habits. We’ll have you practice advanced skills, and your habits will get more solid overall.

Advanced to Habit Master: You are pretty good at creating habits, but are in a place where you’re trying to optimize your day, and are dealing with the more dynamic aspects of habit creation. Also, you’d like to tackle some of the hardest habits — mental habits. You’ll practice these and be amazing at everything.

Of course, it will all depend on how much work you put into it, but with the video lessons, daily practice, Facebook support group and ability to ask questions … we believe you’ll be in the optimal conditions for getting good at habits.

Read more here, and please consider joining me.

----------------------------------------------

Leo Babauta

a successful ‘simplicity’ blogger and author from California, the creator of top 25 Blog,

ZEN HABITS

Beginner to Intermediate: You struggle to create habits, and feel

2017 November Issue | 21

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2017 November Issue | 23

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How inequality became the big issue troubling the world’s top economists Every three years, all Nobel Prize winners in economics are invited to gather in the tranquil setting of the German island of Lindau to meet a selection of bright young economists and discuss the state of their profession. But this year such tranquility was challenged by worrying political developments across the globe. Perhaps unexpectedly, one of the central themes of the meeting became what to do about inequality.

While not all laureates would go as far as Jean Tirole, the 2014 Nobel Prize winner, who said that economic inequality itself is a form of “market failure”, it is clear that the political and social effects of grow-

ing inequality are drawing increasing attention from those at the top of the economics profession.

In a panel discussion on inequality, James Heckman, the 2000 Nobel laureate, pointed out that inequality had grown faster in the US and the UK than other Western democracies. Heckman said that changes to the tax system that favoured the rich had to be a key part of the explanation. He was also worried about the decline in social mobility, particularly for those on low pay.

sharply over the last few decades, had also increased inequality. He argued strongly for wage subsidies to boost the income of the working poor, and increased subsidies for childcare to help more single parents enter the labour market.

Heckman also pointed out that the low income of many single-parent families, whose numbers have increased

2017 November Issue | 25

Towards a Universal Basic Income Peter Diamond and Sir Christopher Pissarides, who shared the Nobel Prize in 2010 for their work on labour markets, both told me that they now favoured a universal basic income (UBI), which would give a minimum basic income to all citizens regardless of their economic status. Pissarides argued that the rapid spread of robots and AI is a threat to large numbers of lessskilled jobs. Without some government intervention, this will widen inequality, he believes. He would support UBI as long as it was carefully calibrated to be below the minimum wage to avoid disrupting the labour market.

Diamond told me that the growing inequality in the US was now as issue that had to be faced. In a recent paper, he demonstrated just how much the US was an outlier across a wide range of measures of inequality, including income, wealth, poverty and social mobility.

Diamond believes that the debate on inequality can help focus discussion on policy failures: from the lack of investment in education, research and infrastructure, to the failure to compensate those who bore the cost of globalisation through job losses in heavy industry. He also argues that direct transfers, including introducing child benefit to everyone who

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has children and a UBI, would help tackle poverty. While he does not think that the goal of policy should necessarily be focused on redistributing wealth, he believes that the economic challenges in the US require a higher level of government spending, and therefore higher taxation on the better off.

Both Diamond and Pissarides are prepared to consider higher taxes on wealth as part of the policy mix. Focusing on the US, Diamond favours a substantial increase in inheritance tax. From a UK perspective, Pissarides argues for some increased taxation of housing. He is in favour of taxing the capital gains from the sales of houses, rather than (at present) only taxing housing when it is inherited. He believes this could also have a beneficial effect on house prices, which are becoming unaffordable for many young people.

The paradox of global inequality While much of the meeting focused on inequality in rich countries, the question of inequality in developing countries was not ignored. Eric Maskin, the 2007 Nobel laureate for his work on mechanism design, pointed out the paradox that while global inequality between countries was narrowing, due to the rapid economic growth of China and India, it was “deeply troubling” that inequality within developing countries was increasing.

Maskin suggested that this was in contradiction to the widely held economics theory of comparative advantage. This is the idea, put forward by economist David Ricardo in the 19th century, that the wages of unskilled workers in poorer countries rise as they enter global markets. Maskin suggested that this no longer holds as we now have an integrated global labour market – not a national one – with global supply chains and communications networks enabling companies to ignore national boundaries.

One of the purposes of the Lindau meeting is to encourage younger economists to think radically about what new areas of research they should focus on. It may be that these discussions will inspire the next generation to develop new policies to tackle the challenge of poverty and inequality.

Economics has often been characterised as the “dismal science” for its failure to engage with real-life issues or prevent crises like the 2008-09 global financial crisis. If this new approach takes hold, this could radically change.

STEVE SCHIFFERES

Professor of Financial Journalism, City, University of London https://theconversation.com/how-inequality-became-the-big-issue-troubling-theworlds-top-economists-83171

2017 November Issue | 27

28 | Aussie Painters Network

2017 November Issue | 29

Glossary of Paint & Painting Terms

Ss

SEEDING The undesirable formation of relatively large particles in a coating, due to agglomeration of the pigment or gelation of the vehicle.

SEMI-GLOSS FINISH A painted surface that gives a level of gloss between an eggshell finish and a full gloss.

SETTLING The sedimentation of solid constituents, such as pigments and extenders, from a coating material while standing in a container.

SHEEN A finish that appears to possess gloss when seen at glancing angles to the surface, but which, when viewed at an angle normal to the surface, appears matt.

SKINNING The formation, in a container, of an oxidised film on the surface of a paint.

CONTENT/SOLIDS The mass, expressed as a percentage of the original mass of coating material, which, under specified conditions, remains to constitute a dry film.

SOLVENT A liquid, single or blended, which is volatile under normal drying conditions and in which the binder is completely soluble.

30 | Aussie Painters Network

SOLVENT CLEANING Removal of oil or grease from a surface prior to painting by the action of a suitable solvent.

SOLVENT BORNE MATERIAL A material that is dispersed or dissolved in suitable organic solvents.

SOLVENTLESS PAINT An organic coating material containing no volatile thinner.

SPAR VARNISH A very durable varnish for exterior exposure. Such a varnish must be resistant to rain, sunlight, and heat.

SPATTER PAINT A coating system that produces a textured surface, usually in the form of large spots or droplets and usually includes a ground coat of the same material or colour.

SPATTERING ‘ROLLER’ Roller spattering occurs when a roller throws off small droplets of paint during application.

SPECIFICATIONS A penetrating composition that changes the color of a surface, usually transparent and leaving practically no surface film. Also, a discoloration of a coating produced by outside agencies.

SPIRIT In the paint industry, this term is somewhat loosely used, but generally refers to commercial ethyl alcohol normally sold as industrial methylated spirit.

SPIRIT LACQUER A lacquer based on a solution of resin(s) in industrial methylated spirits.

SPIRITING OFF The final operation in a French polishing process by which the last traces of vegetable oil are removed by drawing a rag, dampened with methylated spirit, rapidly and repeatedly over the surface.

SPLIT SPRAY An undesirable asymmetrical spray pattern giving rise to the application of bands of paint of uneven thickness.

SPOTTING IN The correction, after flatting down, of small defective areas in sprayed coating spot finishing materials.

SPRAYING A method of application in which the atomised coating material is directed on to the substrate to be coated.

SPREADING RATE The area, in square metres, covered by one litre of paint at a nominated dry film thickness.

STABILISER A substance added, usually in small proportions, to retard undesirable chemical or physical changes.

STAIN A solution or suspension of colouring matter in a vehicle, designed to colour a substrate oil stain by penetration without hiding it. True stains are classified as water stains, oil stains and spirit stain spirit stains according to the nature of the vehicle.

plication by systematically dabbing the surface with a stippling brush.

(2) Producing a speckled or textured effect, either by applying spots of a different colour or by disturbing the surface of the paint coat, such as with a stippling brush or rubber stippler.

STOPPER A stiff paste used for filling holes, cracks and similar defects in surfaces.

STOVING The process of drying and hardening a coating material by heating either: (a) by a convection oven in which the heat transfer takes place largely, but not exclusively, by convection; or (b) by radiant heat, in which the heat transfer takes place largely, but not exclusively, by radiation. This is often known as infra-red stoving.

STREAKING The formation of irregular lines or streaks of various colours in a paint film caused by contamination or improper incorporation of colourant.

STRIPPING The removal of old paint, distemper or other coating materials with or without the aid of solvents or heat.

SUBSTRATE The surface to which a coat or paint or varnish is applied.

STARVED SURFACE A substrate that by virtue of its surface structure causes a visibly deficient film of a coating material to the extent that it is not sufficient to provide a uniform continuous coat.

SUGAR SOAP A product that, after mixing with water, gives an alkaline solution for washing down sound paintwork before painting.

STEAM CLEANING Removal of surface contaminants by the action of steam jets.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

STIPPLE ‘ROLLER MARKS’ Roller marks or “stipple” is an unintentional textured pattern left in the paint by the roller.

STIPPLING (1) Evening out a coat of paint and removing brushmarks and other imperfections immediately after ap-

Any Terms that are identified within the painting & decorating industry as “defects” images; possible cause; solution and prevention methods are provided.

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More of “S” next month...

Glossary of Paint & Painting Terms 2017 November Issue | 31

䤀渀猀甀爀愀渀挀攀 昀漀爀

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䌀漀渀琀愀挀琀 䄀甀猀猀椀攀 倀愀椀渀琀攀爀猀 一攀琀眀漀爀欀 昀漀爀 洀漀爀攀 椀渀昀漀爀洀愀琀椀漀渀

TROPICAL THUNDERS TORMS are set to grow stronger as the world warms

Thunderstorms are set to become more intense throughout the tropics and subtropics this century as a result of climate change, according to new research.

Thunderstorms are among nature’s most spectacular phenomena, producing lightning, heavy rainfall, and sometimes awe-inspiring cloud formations. But they also have a range of important impacts on humans and ecosystems.

For instance, lightning produced by thunderstorms is an important trigger for bushfires globally, while the hailstorm that hit Sydney in April 1999 remains Australia’s costliest ever natural disaster.

Given the damage caused by thunderstorms in Australia and around the world, it is important to ask whether they will grow in frequency and intensity as the planet warms.

Our main tools for answering such questions are global climate models – mathematical descriptions of the Earth system that attempt to account for the important physical processes governing the climate. But global climate models are not fine-

34 | Aussie Painters Network

scaled enough to simulate individual thunderstorms, which are typically only a few kilometres across.

But the models can tell us about the ingredients that increase or decrease the power of thunderstorms.

Brewing up a storm Thunderstorms represent the dramatic release of energy stored in the atmosphere. One measure of this stored energy is called “convective available potential energy”, or CAPE. The higher the CAPE, the more energy is available to power updrafts in clouds. Fast updrafts move ice particles in the cold, upper regions of a thunderstorm rapidly upward and downward through the storm.

This helps to separate negatively and positively charged particles in the cloud and eventually leads to lightning strikes.

To create thunderstorms that cause damaging wind or hail, often referred to as severe thunderstorms, a second factor is also required.

This is called “vertical wind shear”, and it is a measure of the changes in wind speed and direction as you rise through the atmosphere. Ver-

tical wind shear helps to organise thunderstorms so that their updrafts and downdrafts become physically separated. This prevents the downdraft from cutting off the energy source of the thunderstorm, allowing the storm to persist for longer.

By estimating the effect of climate change on these environmental properties, we can estimate the likely effects of climate change on severe thunderstorms.

Stormy forecast My research, carried out with US colleagues and published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, does just that.

We examined changes in the energy available to thunderstorms across the tropics and subtropics in 12 global climate models under a “business as usual” scenario for greenhouse gas emissions.

In every model, days with high values of CAPE grew more frequent, and CAPE values rose in response to global warming. This was the case for almost every region of the tropics and subtropics.

These simulations predict that this century will bring a marked increase in the frequency of conditions that favour severe thunderstorms, unless greenhouse emissions can be significantly reduced.

My colleagues and I previously proposed that high levels of CAPE can develop in the tropics as a result of the turbulent mixing that occurs when clouds draw in air from their surroundings. This mixing prevents

artificially increasing the strength of the mixing between clouds and their surroundings. As expected, this change produced a large increase in the energy available to thunderstorms in our model.

Another prediction of our hypothesis is that days with both high values of CAPE and heavy precipitation tend to occur when the atmosphere is least humid in its middle levels (at altitudes of a few kilometres). Using real data from weather balloons, we confirmed that this is the case across the tropics and subtropics.

What this means for future thunderstorms

Change in frequency (in days per year) of favourable conditions for severe thunderstorms for 20812100, compared with 1981-2000 averaged across 12 climate models under the RCP8.5 greenhousegas concentration scenario. Stippling indicates regions where 11 of the 12 models agree on the sign of the change. CREDIT, Author provided

the atmosphere from dissipating the available energy too quickly.

Instead, the energy builds up for longer and is released in less frequent but more intense storms.

Previous studies have made similar predictions for severe thunderstorms in eastern Australia and the United States. But ours is the first to study the tropics and subtropics as a whole, a region that is characterised by some of the most powerful thunderstorms on Earth.

As the climate warms, the amount of water vapour required for cloud formation increases. This is the result of a well-known thermodynamic relationship called the Clausius-Clapeyron relation. In a warmer climate this means the difference in the humidity between the clouds and their surroundings becomes larger. As a result, the mixing mechanism becomes more efficient in building up the available energy. This, we argue, accounts for the increase in CAPE seen in our model simulations.

What drives the increased energy?

Different climate models, constructed by different research groups around the world, all agree that global warming will increase the energy available to thunderstorms – a prediction underlined by our new research. But we need to understand why this happens, so as to be sure that the effect is real and not a product of faulty model assumptions.

In our new study, we tested this idea in a global climate model by

The models predict that the energy available for thunderstorms will increase as the Earth warms. But how much more intense will storms actually become as a result?

The answer to that question is currently uncertain, and answering it is the next job for me, and other researchers around the world.

But it is clear that through our continued greenhouse gas emissions, we are increasing the fuel available to the strongest thunderstorms.

Exactly how much stronger our future thunderstorms will ultimately become remains to be seen.

MARTIN SINGH

Lecturer, School of Earth, Atmosphere and Environment, Monash University https://theconversation.com/tropical-thunderstormsare-set-to-grow-stronger-as-the-world-warms-85745

2017 November Issue | 35

36 | Aussie Painters Network

How Paperwork

GETS YOU

I know a contractor who was asked to do so much additional work that the value of the variations exceeded the original contract price.

When it came to payment time the client flat-out refused to pay any of the variations at all. It was then that the contractor produced every single variation request, where the work was detailed, numbered, and signed off by the client’s foreman.

The client was furious, and grudgingly paid the whole amount, clearly realising that the weight of evidence was on the contractor’s side: it would be pointless to dispute it.

Another contractor had his client claim that he never gave any instructions to carry out some part of the work. The contractor produced emails showing a direction was given.

I know another who was accused of providing damaged product. But this contractor was able to produce photos of the product when it was delivered, and the signed receipt from the site representative. It was in perfect condition, clearly proving that the damage occurred after delivery. The matter went to adjudication and the contractor’s evidence was so conclusive that the client realised that payment was the only option. A cheque for the $60 000 came the next week.

It’s time to get excited about paperwork.

These are just a few of examples of how paperwork gets you paid.

Some people only associate paperwork with delays, red tape, and wasted time. Chances are those same people are locked in payment disputes over what was promised, agreed, or quoted and are unable to prove their case.

The fact is that solid paperwork is probably the most effective weapon in defending a payment claim.

Good paperwork means that there isn’t this great void where neither you nor your client can prove what was promised, agreed, or quoted.

Let’s look at this in more detail.

Paperwork is Contemporaneous Evidence! The important feature about paperwork that is created or completed around a disputed is that it becomes ‘contemporaneous’ evidence; coming from the word ‘contemporary’. Good contemporaneous evidence will carry significant weight in proving what happened, what was promised, agreed, or quoted. In adjudication, the adjudicator will place weight

on this kind of evidence in making a decision if he/she is satisfied as to its quality and credibility.

Far too many disputes come down to the contractor’s word against the client’s. The easy way to tip the balance in your favour is by including simple record-keeping habits into your work.

Variations/Site Instructions (Time required: 30-60 seconds) If you are given a verbal direction to carry out additional work make sure it ends up in written form. If the client refuses to document the direction, then the contractor should document it in his own ‘Site Instruction’ form and issue it to the client. I recently prepared an adjudication application where there were nearly 60 directions for additional work. Even though the client’s foreman failed to complete a variation advice as required by the contract, the contractor documented each one himself on his own paperwork: The details of the work done, who requested it, and dates and times were all recorded. The result was that he was awarded all these variations because the adjudicator was satisfied that these ‘Site Instructions’ were valid contemporaneous evidence that work was requested and done.

2017 November Issue | 37

Photos/reports (Time required: 30-60 seconds) Stop talking on your mobile! Take pictures with it! In disputes around defective work or damage, take a pile of photos right there and then. If possible have the work inspected by an expert who can prepare a report shortly after.

Often disputes around defective work occur months before a payment dispute. Only then does the client raise the defect as a reason for non payment. If the contractor can produce photos and reports about the work from the actual time, this is excellent evidence as to what was or was not defective.

I recently prepared an application where the Respondent refused to pay by alleging that much of the fitted equipment was damaged by the contractor. However the contractor had taken so many photos at the time, together with a detailed report, that clearly showed that the damage was caused by another trade. This type of evidence was impossible to argue with and the contractor got paid.

Site Diary (Time required: 60 - 90 seconds) A site diary is useful because it typically captures a whole raft of information. Besides details of work done or directed, it also records weather, any delay details, conversations, staff onsite/offsite, and more. This is a single record of each day that can take as much information as you want to include.

If you can make completing a site diary page a daily habit then you will be able to produce evidence regarding the dispute, and if you can show that this has been a daily habit for a long time then the weight given to your site diary will drastically increase.

38 | Aussie Painters Network

Emails/Faxes (Time required: up to 20 minutes) Any project will leave behind it a paper-trail of faxes, letters, and emails. Keep all of these in a file in chronological order.

They can show what happened and when. Furthermore, if a dispute comes up onsite make sure you confirm the details in a fax to your client that day. Remember, verbal recollections of events aren’t worth the paper they’re written on!

evidence. Good paperwork is very hard to argue with, and provides adjudicator’s with sound material upon which to make their decisions about what actually happened in the dispute. Good paperwork helps you prove and support your case for payment.

Minutes of Meetings (Time required: up to 30 minutes) Site meetings occur regularly on most projects, especially meetings that are supposed to resolve disputes. Most times the client will not provide any record of the meeting, what was promised or agreed. So this is the contractor’s chance to step into that void. There is nothing stopping you from writing up your own record/minutes of the meeting and sending them to the client. Again you are creating a record of events and undertakings that can be useful evidence in the future.

It means you should start to get very excited about keeping great paperwork! Take a look at the estimated time you need to invest. Most of the time it would not reach 10 minutes a day. Now is 10 minutes a day worth it to protect your ability to recover payment and settle payment disputes? Of course it is! Never again will you rely on your word against the client’s. There will be overwhelming evidence on your side.

The Power of Paperwork

The power of good paperwork lies in its credibility and the weight that a court or adjudicator will place on it. Good paperwork will very often beat hearsay, statutory declarations, someone’s recollections, and will often catch out ‘invented’

So what does all this mean for me?

Make paperwork a daily habit right now, and rejoice while you’re doing it. Don’t see it as red tape; see it as money in the bank.

Because that’s exactly what it is.

Anthony Igra

For more great articles and video information about dealing with payment problems go to www.contractorsdebtrecovery.com.au

or call us on 1300 669 075

眀眀眀⸀氀攀愀搀⸀漀爀最⸀愀甀

2017 November Issue | 39

40 | Aussie Painters Network

Media Release Minister for Housing and Public Works and Minister for Sport The Honourable Mick de Brenni

Queensland Building Plan provides a blueprint for industry confidence A bright future is ahead for Queensland’s $45 billion building and construction s ector with the Palaszczuk Government releasing the new Queensland Building Plan (QBP).

“It includes important areas of reform such as Queensland’s nation leading work to deal with non-conforming building products like dangerous cladding.

“And we have made sensible changes to the relevant code to cut redtape for solar hot water installation—saving Queenslanders up to $200 on a system.

“Our historic reforms that will help subcontractors get paid in full, on time and every time were passed Minister for Housing and Public through the Parliament earlier this Works Mick de Brenni said the QBP week. is a blueprint for ongoing confidence and growth for the industry. “We are also undertaking significant reforms to streamline and modern“The Queensland Building Plan is ising the licencing system to keep the result of almost two years of Queenslanders safe. consultation with industry and the “We will be progressing reforms to community,” Mr de Brenni said. improve access to adult change fa“We’ve already progressed many of cilities in public buildings, supportthe significant reforms proposed in ing greater dignity for people with a disability and their carers. the QBP.

“This is a comprehensive plan to secure the future of the sector and I would like to thank everyone who has had their say on the proposed reforms.”

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The Queensland Building Plan can be found at www.qld.gov.au/buildingplan

2017 November Issue | 41

Avoiding the

“Salesman” Disease The Death of a Salesman is a 1949 Pulitzer Prize winning play written about the tragic life of Willy Loman the salesman, an average guy who chased the American Dream as a way to overcome his weaknesses and insecurities. His denial and false sense of success leads to tragedy and ultimate suicide. There are many similarities between Willy’s demise and contractor companies who destroy themselves or at best experience a lifelong series of business ups and downs.

Before going further, I want to make it clear that I consider myself a good salesman and am offended by the stereotype used to portray salespeople. Good salespeople are problem solvers, good listeners and a vital part of the business process.

Unfortunately, it is the pigeonholing of the sales profession as pushy characters that leads to this misbelief just as a few bad contactors ruin the industries reputation. However, Willy does possess several of the characteristics that destroy many a contractor business. Let’s discuss some of them.

“One more job and it will all be ok.”

The ideal salesman was once de-

42 | Aussie Painters Network

scribed as someone who, if he was tarred and feathered and run out town, would think he was leading a parade. Having a positive attitude and enthusiasm can be a positive trait. However, there is a thin line separating optimism and denial.

Optimism is the hopefulness and confidence something will work.

Denial is the refusal to acknowledge facts and conditions keeping something from working.

Think of a contractor that failed.

Normally, the company had a great deal of work and was busy. If your company is not making money where your business is now, it is doubtful one more job or next year it will be better. One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over in hopes that it works. To succeed, businesses much fix the core business issues in their way and not just blindly try to do so by selling more.

“We can do this job.” Taking jobs outside of your core competency can be devastating. Contracting is not an endeavor where taking the job and figuring it out later works very well. Characteristics of a typical bad job include an unknown

customer, job location, type of skills required to do the job, the size of the job, etc.

It’s hard to tell why contractors take work they should not do. I think the fear of running out of work, being in too much of a hurry and Willy Loman’s type of denial all play a role in the situation. A little checklist can help you avoid bad jobs.

• Have you checked credit and talked to other subs about this customer?

• Did you get bad vibes from this customer when you met?

• Did you google the customer to see what he or she does for a living and search lawsuits?

• Is this job substantially larger than your standard job?

• Do you have the cash to carry the job’s payment schedule if it is delayed?

• Does this job contain some type of work you really are not accustomed to doing?

• Does the job have a demanding schedule?

• Are there other factors such as other subs, weather, materials that could impact the job?

As a contractor, you are always taking risks but make sure the “salesman disease” does not put you into denial regarding those risks. Don’t take an out of town difficult job for a litigation attorney, to be done in the middle of the winter, with a picky architect, a lot of material to buy upfront, a demanding schedule and a customer who came across as demanding and wonder why you are in trouble.

“Don’t worry we will get it done.”

Outselling your financial and production capabilities can be disastrous. If you are having trouble finding employees at your current level, what makes you think you will be able to

do so if you double your sales? There is a limited number of good craftsman including subcontractors and dramatically overselling that capacity can have a devastating impact. If you do 100k a month and it takes 30 days for people to pay you and you go to 200k a month, you need another 100k in cash to keep things going.

“The customer is always right; we will take care of it”. If you are dealing with unscrupulous customers or someone who is demanding unreasonable specs and performance, such folks can eat you alive. You must clearly negotiate what you will do and that they will be satisfied and pay you. It is doubtful you

are going to make this person happy and at this point it is all about damage control.

In closing, there is nothing wrong with being a good salesperson. However, good salespeople are not in denial and will not make the sale at all costs. Building business requires more than sales.

Monroe Porter is president of PROOF Management a firm that teaches seminars and runs networking groups for painting contractors. Several Aussie painting contractors travel to the US each year to participate in his programs.

www.proofman.com

2017 November Issue | 43

Trace My Business Keep a record of ALL your clients • • • •

•

Where the referral came from

The quote success and failure rates

•

Suburb comparisons

The different advertising campaigns

•

(what (wh works and what doesn’t) First projects vs repeat business

New vs existing revenue and projects

•

Yearly and overall client revenue

•

Growth analysis

Projects, who referred them, and the referrals they subsequently provided

Written and Developed by Jim Baker

吀栀攀 瀀漀爀琀愀戀氀攀Ⰰ 椀渀攀砀瀀攀渀猀椀瘀攀 洀攀琀栀漀搀 琀漀 瀀爀攀瘀攀渀琀 瀀愀椀渀琀 眀愀猀琀攀ⴀ眀愀琀攀爀 瀀漀氀氀甀琀椀渀最 琀栀攀 攀渀瘀椀爀漀渀洀攀渀琀⸀

䴀礀 䠀漀甀爀氀礀 刀愀琀攀 䌀愀氀挀甀氀愀琀漀爀

眀眀眀⸀洀礀琀漀漀氀猀㐀戀甀猀椀渀攀猀猀⸀挀漀洀 2017 November Issue | 45

The Industry

Idiots

46 | Aussie Painters Network

Important Contacts Aussie Painters Network www.aussiepaintersnetwork.com.au

Ph. 0430 399 800

National Institute for Painting and Decorating www.painters.edu.au

Ph. 1300 319 790

Australian Tax Office www.ato.gov.au

Ph. 13 72 26 / Ph. 13 28 65

Award Rates www.fairwork.gov.au

Ph. 13 13 94

Fair Work Building & Construction www.fwbc.gov.au

Ph. 1800 003 338

Mates In Construction www.matesinconstruction.com.au

Ph. 1300 642 111

Workplace Health and Safety Contacts Comcare WorkSafe ACT Workplace Health and Safety QLD Victorian WorkCover Authority WorkCover NSW SafeWork SA WorkSafe WA NT WorkSafe WorkSafe Tasmania

www.comcare.gov.au www.worksafe.act.gov.au www.worksafe.qld.gov.au www.vwa.vic.gov.au www.workcover.nsw.gov.au www.safework.sa.gov.au www.commerce.wa.gov.au/WorkSafe/ www.worksafe.nt.gov.au www.worksafe.tas.gov.au

1300 366 979 02 6207 3000 1300 362 128 1800 136 089 13 10 50 1300 365 255 1300 307 877 1800 019 115 1300 366 322

www.actcancer.org www.cancercouncil.com.au www.cancercouncilnt.com.au www.cancerqld.org.au www.cancersa.org.au www.cancervic.org.au www.cancerwa.asn.au

(02) 6257 9999 (02) 9334 1900 (08) 8927 4888 (07) 3634 5100 (08) 8291 4111 (03) 9635 5000 (08) 9212 4333

Cancer Council Australia ACT NSW NT QLD SA VIC WA

2017 November Issue | 47