Welcome to the Apprenticeship Training Trust
The Apprenticeship Training Trust's Mission is:
"To provide opportunities for people to train and become successful tradespeople"
The Trust presently offers apprenticeships in the Plumbing, Gas-fitting and Drainlaying industries.
The Trust is a "group training organisation" and currently employs 300 apprentices. Since it was formed in 1991 it has trained over 800 apprentices, many of whom have gone on to become registered tradespeople. Some have become Craftsman Plumbers and Gasfitters, started their own businesses and now have apprentices themselves, also through the Trust.
 The Trust employs the majority of the plumbing and gasfitting apprentices in Auckland. It continues to expand here, as well as in Northland and the Waikato /Bay of Plenty areas.
The Trust's programme is also now more readily available in the South Island following commencement of Plumbing, Gasfitting and Drainlaying training at CPIT in Christchurch.
Trust apprentices are employed by the Trust and seconded out to local "host" employers for whom they work on the job to gain practical skills and valuable work experience.
Trust apprentices enrol at either Unitec in Auckland or CPIT in Christchurch for their National Certificates in Plumbing and Gasfitting or their National Certificate in Drainlaying.
The Unitec and CPIT plumbing and gasfitting programs each involve correspondence study throughout the three and a half to four years of the apprenticeship. Each apprentice attends a series of two week block courses, including night classes, where they are trained, and then assessed, in the relevant knowledge and skills.
The Unitec drainlaying program involves 7 correspondence modules that need to be completed over a 12 month period, and this is followed by a 4 day practical assessment undertaken at Unitec.
Trust apprentices are paid throughout their apprenticeship, including the periods they are on annual leave, attending block courses and during other specialist training provided by the Trust.
Each apprentice is issued with a complete set of Personal Protective Equipment, including overalls, safety boots and helmet and ear defenders.
They are also provided with a Tool Account through which they can buy their tools and then pay for them by weekly deductions from their wages.
Host employers benefit by having the support of Trust staff, and none of the administratiive and others costs involved in actually employing the apprentice. For example, the Trust:
- Advertises, interviews, selects and places each apprentice
- Arranges their tools and personal protective equipment
- Trains the apprentice in occupational Safety & Health, including the Sitesafe Passport
- Arranges for all block courses as well as arranging and paying for all other specialist training
- Pays the wages, holiday pay, ACC and PAYE, and sends out wage slips
The founders of the Trust are professional business people who originally identified the need for industry training, firstly to prevent a future shortage of skilled tradespeople, and secondly to ensure that the industry keeps abreast of technological advances.
The Trust is proud of its achievements to date, and committed to the future of the industry
"Providing opportunities for people to train and become successful tradespeople"
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