Matt Sim still remembers his first real building job: digging footings with a shovel, boxing up slabs, and climbing on roofs before he’d even turned 18.
“We did the lot,” he says. “Digging, framing, plastering, even the tiling. Back then, you didn’t just learn carpentry — you learned how to build a house from the ground up.”
Now the owner of MS Constructions, based on the NSW/Victoria border, Matt’s perspective is clear: that hard-earned, all-in experience shaped not just his skills, but his entire approach to building. And in an industry battling skills shortages, patchy training, and a generation of tradies under pressure to rush, his story hits home.
“You’ve got to know what good looks like — even if you’re not the one holding the trowel or swinging the hammer. That’s the difference between a chippy and a builder.”
Matt’s story is part of a growing chorus in The Good Builder community: builders who are going back to basics to grow better businesses. And for many, that means pouring back into apprenticeships.
The Full House Apprenticeship
In Matt’s early days, jobs weren’t easy to come by. He almost packed up for Cairns just to find a builder willing to take him on. Luckily, a local stepped up. The work was tough — “long days, lots of odd jobs” — but the variety gave him what most modern apprentices miss: a deep understanding of how every trade interacts.
“I worked with roof plumbers, did insulation, even helped cut out gutters on my boss’s house,” he laughs. “You learn the trade from the back end — how all the other pieces come together.”
It’s this broad base of knowledge, Matt says, that’s missing from many apprenticeships today. “Too many young guys are rushed onto one task — nail this, frame that — without seeing how their work connects to everything else.”
Passing It On
Now with his own team of apprentices, Matt is determined to change that. He’s restructured his business to spend more time on-site with them, even if it’s just for a few hours each week.
“They all learn differently. Some need more time, some need it explained another way. But if they’re keen, I want to give them everything I’ve got.”
And it’s not just about teaching trade skills — it’s about teaching standards. Matt trains his team to spot dodgy work from other trades before it becomes a problem. “They don’t just swing a hammer. They can call me and say, ‘That wet seal doesn’t look right,’ because they know what to look for.”
Why It Matters Now
With the building industry facing a critical labour shortage and increasing complexity on every site, builders like Matt argue that we can’t afford to let apprenticeship standards slide.
The best builders aren’t just tradespeople. They’re system thinkers, communicators, and quality controllers — and that takes time to develop.
“You don’t get that in a four-week crash course. You get that by being on site, learning from the old hands, and caring about the outcome.”
Matt also believes holistic training helps retain talent. When apprentices feel like they’re building something real — not just ticking off hours — they’re more likely to stay, and maybe even start their own business one day.
“If I can help one of my team run their own show in a few years, and do it right, then I’ve done my job.”
The Good Builder Take
Matt’s story isn’t nostalgic — it’s instructive. As builders, educators and industry bodies look for answers to the skilled labour crisis, one path is already clear: build better apprenticeships. Make them slower, deeper, and more complete.
Because the builders who last — the ones who deliver quality, train others, and hold the industry together — don’t come from short cuts.
They come from gutters. From grout. From grinding it out.
They come from growth.
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