Behind the scenes: a day laying drainage with our apprentice

There’s a version of an apprenticeship where you spend the first year carrying gear and cleaning up. That’s not how we run it.

Our apprentice [TEAM MEMBER — NAME/ROLE TO CONFIRM] spent this week on a bush-block site laying stormwater and sewer drainage: measuring and cutting PVC, checking falls with the level, bedding pipe in gravel and backfilling. Supervised, checked, and signed off by a licensed plumber, but doing the work.

Why it matters

Drainage is the foundation of everything else on a site. Get the falls wrong and the house has problems forever, no matter how good the bathrooms look. Learning it early, on real jobs, is how you end up with plumbers who understand the whole system rather than just the shiny end of it.

The reward

There was also a box of chocolates and a bag of lollies at smoko, delivered by the client. Small things. They matter on a cold morning in a trench.

We also had crew on a harbourside job this month, digging in stormwater lines with the Harbour Bridge in the background. You can see both jobs in the videos on our home page.

Thinking about a plumbing apprenticeship in Sydney? We’re hiring. Read about joining the team.