This article is a proposed system I have thought up to create some structure to how workers in concreting might be assessed and paid.

The Existing Problem

Concreting in Australia is a unique beast. Pouring concrete is labour intense, time-constrained and the higher the level of finish quality demanded requires a minimum level of experience, skill, awareness and personal workmanship from most workers present during a concrete pour.

What Does This Mean?

If you don’t have people that know what they’re doing when it comes to pouring and finishing concrete things can go expensively wrong very quickly.

Sometimes concrete pours will have a lot of workers present, but that doesn’t mean high quality work will be output. Why? Because responsibilities often are not distributed evenly across the workforce at the pour, or the workers present simply don’t have the experience or skills needed to perform the skilled aspects of the work in a timely fashion. Quantity of workers sometimes doesn’t compete with quality of workers when it comes to concreting.

How Can We Rank Workers?

My proposal is to ‘rank’ workers based on their experience, ability and responsibilities, because concreting is ultimately about performing and delivering a result – not about throwing more time and unskilled labour at it. There literally is never enough time if the workers are not skilled enough.

The Ranking System

My proposal is to rank workers into 5 different levels, 1 to 5.

Level 1 – Inexperienced Labourer

An inexperienced labourer is usually going to be a very young person, high-school aged. This could be someone that has just finished school, someone that wants to work during school holidays, or someone that wants to leave school to pursue work.

Generally, this worker will be younger than 18 years old so is still a minor, and probably won’t have their own transport to get to and from work.

A Level 1 would be expected to:

• Be ready to be picked up for work when their lift arrives, AND/OR,
• Get themselves to the location their lift to work is leaving from
• Communicate ahead of time with whoever they are travelling with if they are unable to come to work
• Have a desire to learn and work while at work
• Be aware of what’s happening around them at all times
• Be willing to do new things they are inexperienced in, even if it’s difficult or they don’t like doing it
• Direct anyone that is not part of their crew to L3,L4,L5 worker for assistance or information

These expectations would need to be met rather promptly after initially being hired as the worker would be in a ‘probation period’ to see if they are suitable for the industry or not. I’d guess perhaps up to 3 months of full-time work would be the most you’d want to allow for someone to show they have the initiative and ability to perform as required.

They will usually need to be actively supervised throughout the day and instructed on what to do. You would not expect them to understand a general or specific Sequence of Work.

Level 2 – Experienced Labourer

An experienced labourer will be a person who has general experience working in construction, is familiar with job sites and is capable of doing general labour work with moderate supervision. They may not be able to carry out labour work for a sustained period of time, however.

They would be old enough and responsible enough to get themself to work each day. They would be familiar with general labour, not trade-specific, and therefore may not be familiar with trade-specific jargon or terminology.

In addition to having all previous level’s abilities, a Level 2 worker would meet the follow requirements:

• Willing and able to do general labour tasks when directed
• Unloading and loading of tools/gear as directed by supervising members of the team
• Assisting other workers (L3, L4) to improve flow of work and work efficiency
• [Subgrade] Raking/pulling back subgrade material for a screed-hand to an acceptable quality
• [Formwork] Strip formwork after slab pour, scrape form boards clean, load to vehicle(s)
• [RTB] Ability to unload gear at yard in neat, orderly and timely fashion unsupervised (examples: formwork boards re-stacked systematically ready for next use. braces, pickets, cleats etc. organized and packed ready for next use)
• Ability to communicate with others around them, direct them to L3,L4,L5 if required

They would require supervision less than a Level 1 worker, but you wouldn’t expect them to carry any responsibility for the outcome of the project. They should understand generally how the sequence of work carries out, but not specifically for your trade.

Level 3 – (Concrete) Trade Labourer

A trade labourer is someone that has trade-specific knowledge and ability and is able to do trade-specific and general labour work for sustained lengths of time.

In addition to having all previous level’s abilities, a Level 3 would be expected to understand and be able to do some trade specifics like:

• Know names of trade specific tools and materials so communication is easy and efficient
• Know the general sequence of work of concreting so that they can assist tradesmen (L4 & L5) without being told what needs to immediately happen
• Is physically skilled and capable at a number of trade specific tasks, for examples:
  • [Excavation] Cleaning out trenches correctly (corners chipped out correctly) and cleaning top of trenches
  • [Subgrade] Screeding subgrade material to proposed heights
  • [Formwork] Hitting in pickets and braces for formwork and fixing them off correctly
  • [Slab Prep] Laying and taping black plastic correctly
  • [Slab Prep] Bending slab tie bars correctly
  • [Slab Prep] Carrying, lapping, tying and chairing slab mesh/trench mesh correctly
  • [Pour] Raking/pulling back concrete for a screed-hand to an acceptable quality
  • [Finish] Running rolled edges and troweled edges correctly
• Ability to communicate with other trades and direct them to L4 or L5 if required

A Level 3 worker can assess the current state of the project and decide by themself what they can start doing in the sequence of work to help the progression of the project.

Level 4 – (Concrete) Trade Finisher

A trade finisher is someone that has trade-specific knowledge and ability and is able to do trade-specific and finishing work for sustained lengths of time.

In addition to having all previous level’s abilities, a Level 4 would be expected to understand and be able to do most trade specifics like:

• Concrete trade specific abilities include:
  • [Supervision] Direct and instruct workers in the crew that are lower than L4, utilise the lower echelon workers to create a sequence of work
  • [Set Out] Assist L5 worker(s) by double checking plans/measurements
  • [Set Out] Understand heights
  • [Excavation] Understand set out lines of work (building grid), correct painting of lines to direct machine operator where to dig
  • [Excavation] Use of laser level to direct or control machine operator’s works
  • [Formwork] Marking corner marks & lines
  • [Slab Prep] Ensuring quality control of works (correct cover, centre spacings of steel etc.) directing labourers to maintain level of quality in work
  • [Formwork] Setting up step down formwork
  • [Pre-pour] Measure and calculate the pour’s required concrete quantity and pass information on to whoever is responsible for ordering concrete
  • [Pour] Direct concrete truck drivers into job site as required, if required
  • [Pour] Making minimal to no concreting mess to surrounding structures and areas
  • [Pour] Screeding concrete to ASNZ3600 standards
  • [Pour] Flat and closed up placement of concrete edges where edges are inaccessible or difficult to access during the finishing phase
  • [Pour] Ensuring – during concrete placement – that small corners or areas have enough fall to allow water drain off while remaining aesthetically pleasing
  • [Finish] Ability to run and finish rolled edges to some degree while also finishing areas of the main slab
  • [Finish] Ability and knowledge to confidently achieve aesthetically pleasing finishes on concrete without supervision (for example, knowing how and when to apply sugar/retardant for washing off exposed aggregate)
  • [Control Joints] Knowledge and ability to mark out and cut sawn control joints, clean up afterwards as required
• Ability to communicate with other trades or clients on behalf of the job supervisor if they are not available. Communicate in a timely fashion with the job supervisor any relevant or critical information that may be learned.

An L4 worker should be able to work undirected. They have the ability to read plans to some degree and begin work on the job once the initial set out (grid lines) is complete. They are not totally responsible for the set out, however – they should be able to confirm or double check the set out and report any discrepancies to an L5.

Level 5 – (Concrete) Supervisor/Contractor

A concrete supervisor or contractor has a wide range of trade specific knowledge, experience and ability. They are able to physically do work as well if and as required, but their primary role is to ensure the project is built correctly and to organize the project ahead of the lower echelon workers to ensure works are carried out efficiently, safely and responsibly.

In addition to having all previous level’s abilities, a Level 5 would be expected to understand and be able to do more trade and business specifics like:

• Deal directly with clients or customers from the start of the business process
• Understand how to read plans so that all aspects of the required design is built
• Be able to price and schedule work from a plan, or from notes taken down from an on site visit
• Be able to correctly ascertain how much labour is needed for a project or a pour to be undertaken, and then arrange for that amount of labour to be present
• Co-ordinate with other concrete tradesmen that are hired to help with a project, so that the project is carried out as smoothly as possible
• Communicate with all workers, especially for pour days, so that workers know what is required and if there are specific parts of a job or pour that a worker needs to give most attention to (example: splitting up a pour into different areas and assigning ‘ring-in’ workers to each specific area to achieve an optimal finish
• Be responsible for a project’s set out, ensuring workers are given heights, lines and dimensions of what to build
• Ensure workers are paid in a timely fashion, communicate with workers if payment might be delayed
• Ensure workers’ government entitlements are paid as required (withheld tax, superannuation, insurances)

Level Payments

This system proposes that the pay rates for each level are based on a percentage of the top level pay rate.

L1 = 20%, L2 = 40%, L3 =60%, L4 = 80%, L5 = 100%

This allows a range of pay rates within each level, which can be utilised as a means of incentive for improvement in skill, knowledge and responsibility.

Example of Pay Rates in Dollars

Let’s say an L5 trade supervisor is worth $100 per hour. This gives a base rate of payment for the lower 4 levels:

L1: $20, L2: $40, L3: $60, L4: $80

Level 1 should always be considered as a “probationary” level where a young, inexperienced person is being trialled for suitability. They should not be employed at this level for long periods of time (a year or more). Ideally, if working full-time, after 3 months of work a person at L1 should either progress to L2 or be dismissed to find other work since they’re unsuited to the work.

Minimum Construction Wage

If you’re reading this and thinking that $20 an hour in construction is below the minimum industry rate — you’re right!

I know this, and I don’t care!

I disagree that a completely inexperienced kid should be getting paid something close to $35 an hour and be barely contributing to the progression and undertaking of a project. That’s nearly 50% of what L4 trade finishers earn that work along side them and shoulder most of the work and some of the responsibility for the work in addition to having to try to teach the L1, supervise them, pick their asses up for work etc.

The only way I’ll agree an L1 kid is worth $35 an hour is if an L5 supervisor is worth $175 an hour, and would you like to pay that for a concreter to come build something for you?

Apprenticeships or Traineeships

On the flip side of this, I also disagree with what young kids get paid while on traineeships or apprenticeships, especially for concreting. Being paid sub $15 an hour for a couple of years is ridiculous once a young person becomes competent enough, because if they’re competent they’re usually doing hard grunt work most of the time and they deserve decent money for that.

Additionally, these traineeships usually result in (from what I’ve seen) a kid with 2 years experience being handed a certification in concreting when they’re still very much incompetent to the degree that my system here, and the real world, would expect.

Ask any proven concreter that runs their own business if they think a kid could “be a concreter” in 2 or 3 years and they will almost always laugh and say no. It’s because there’s so much involved to be a contractor and you don’t learn all of that over 3 years, definitely not with how most concrete crews operate at present, where learning is not prioritised.

Level Progression

A worker in this system only progresses to the level above after they demonstrate the requirements of the higher level. This means they can’t be paid the payment rate for the level above them unless they meet the criteria for that level.

Worker Incentivisation

They can be paid a rate that is higher than the base rate for their level.

This incentivises learning, growth and continued effort in each level. 

This also allows for some flexibility for seniority (workers that have been in the trade for many years) at a per-level basis, which allows room for pay rises even if the worker stops progressing in ability or responsibility.

Worker Stagnation

If a worker reaches a point where they have maximised the payment at their ability level, they have to be informed that they can’t be paid any more until their ability improves. At this point their pay rate only increases if labour rates increase across the board (which is usually due to inflation or market demands).

What Do You Think?

Do you think this system would work? Tell me what you think in the comments. Can you see ways this system doesn’t work? Or ways it could be improved? Let me know below.