BlueScope Steel  has joined hands with HIA to offer special training in steel construction to new apprentices.  

Given the increasing popularity of steel construction in the building industry, the apprentice training day teaches apprentices about the benefits of working with house framing made from TRUECORE steel.  

The first training day was held on 30 September 2010 at the HIA NSW headquarters in North Ryde with a total of 90 HIA apprentices taking part in the inaugural session.  

The participating apprentices were educated on the benefits of working with steel and the session was led by BlueScope Steel along with various industry professionals.  

James Courtney, renowned V8 Supercar Champion was also on hand to motivate the new apprentices about overcoming challenges in order to achieve success, using his own personal experiences as key examples.  

Apprentices were educated on the qualities of steel such as strength of the product, pre-fabrication advantages, minimal on-site waste and lightweight properties.  

Bill McDonald from McDonald Jones Homes, a NSW project home builder was one of the keynote speakers.  

A specialist in steel-framed houses, Bill spoke about his experience working with steel and its role in his successful home building business.  

Ken Watson from NASH (National Association of Steel framed Houses) also spoke about the devastation caused by bushfires and how steel could be used as a building material for houses in bushfire prone areas.  

With the aid of an informative video, he demonstrated the performance of steel using a purpose-built steel framed house in a simulated bush fire.  

Representatives from Supaloc also demonstrated their engineered steel framing system, and explained the advantages of their simplistic assembly, which uses a series of patented connection systems and is manufactured using CAD-driven machinery.    

The training day concluded with BlueScope Steel taking the apprentices to inspect a few residential steel frame houses being constructed by McDonald Jones Homes at Kellyville.  

BlueScope Steel has also set up a special website to provide information to tradespeople on working with house framing made from TRUECORE steel.