Australia’s first accredited Certificate III in Prefabrication Installation has been launched at Melbourne Polytechnic’s Future of Housing Construction Centre of Excellence.
The new qualification is designed to prepare students to install and assemble prefabricated and modular building components on construction sites. Its initial intake will combine online learning, workplace delivery and practical training blocks at Melbourne Polytechnic’s Heidelberg campus. The qualification is the first long-form accredited program delivered through the Australian and Victorian-government funded $50 million Centre of Excellence, which has been established to strengthen skills, research and innovation in modern housing construction.
Prefabrication is part of a broader shift towards modern methods of construction, in which building components are manufactured away from the construction site before being transported and assembled in place. The approach can include modular buildings, wall and floor panels, and prefabricated rooms or “pods”. Students completing the new Certificate III will develop the practical skills required to work with these systems, preparing them for roles such as prefabrication installer, modular construction worker, off-site manufacturing technician and construction trades assistant.
The development of this qualification also illustrates how technological and workplace change can require training that crosses established occupational and training-package boundaries. The new Certificate III incorporates units from the construction, manufacturing, sustainability, and resources and infrastructure training packages.
