While the Brisbane Olympics aren't due to start anytime soon, there's a good reason the International Olympic Committee (IOC) selects host cities between seven and eleven years before the games begin. 

In addition to the construction of the Olympic Village, which is a massive undertaking, the Olympic team is building a new 63,000-seat stadium. After the games, it will replace the Gabba as the home of cricket. Additionally, many of the venues selected to host events will receive upgrades to prepare them for the Games. 

Commercial Trades Shortages

Australia is already experiencing a commercial trade shortage — a challenge that is set to intensify when Olympic construction gets underway. According to the experts, more than 120,000 construction workers are required to deliver the Olympic project on time and around 8,000 of those are plumbers. 

However, there's a shortfall of 50,000 construction workers due to trade shortages and many professional bodies are urging the government to close the gap. With the cost of training an apprentice rising and very little incentive to do so, many plumbing businesses are struggling to usher in a new generation of plumbers due to high costs and the potential of losing apprentices to competitors or larger companies.

This opens the door to risk. While many handymen will try to pass off their plumbing skills as legit, there will also be qualified plumbers who inflate their skills to capture big contracts. Don't fall prey to opportunists! 

Tradies don't come cheap, but when they have the necessary skills, the price reflects the workmanship. Commercial plumbers do commercial jobs, and working with a residential plumber without commercial experience could lead to costly errors, whether it leads to a large repair bill, invalidates warranties, or worse, invalidates an insurance policy. 

While there are plumbers who work on both commercial and residential plumbing projects, you must ensure you enlist a qualified, experienced commercial plumber to tackle commercial jobs.

Engage a Commercial Plumbing Contractor

With the commercial trade shortage set to grow, it's even more important that you hire the right person for the job. If you have a commercial plumbing project coming up, start your search for commercial plumbers now and always partner with a member of the Master Plumbers' Association of Queensland (MPAQ) to ensure you hire a contract plumber you can rely on. 

MPAQ plumbers are held to the highest standards, so not only can you safely rely on high-quality workmanship and the best materials, but you know they've been fully vetted by the strictest professional association.