Experts: Lithuanians remain the nation of builders
The old joke of Lithuanian being the eternal builder of his own house – gradually becomes cult. With the coming start of the biggest construction exhibition in the Baltic States "Resta 2014", we inquired whether the myth of Lithuanians being a notion of builders could be justified. It would seem that specialists in the construction industry refer to Lithuanians as builders’ nation quite seriously.
"Lithuanians are just a nation of basketball players. Some of representatives of this sport, playing in foreign countries, are famous not only for their skills on the basketball court. I have heard stories of doors breaking in the basketball players’ homes and they do not hire fixer, but rather fix it themselves. Thus, foreigners are surprised that good basketball players are also good construction specialists", - humorously noticed the President of Lithuanian Builders Association Dalius Gedvilas. He also noticed that construction industry has notably feminized – women pay ever more attention to constructions, technologies.
Architect Audrys Karalius stated that the builder’s genes manifest themselves in Lithuanians not only while doing construction-related works, but also while making the house project bet.
"All Lithuanians are remarkable, therefore, they prepare their house projects inexpensively "no matter where", and later they just edit the projects with their wives on a kitchen table using a marker so that it "meets their needs". This "to meet their needs" should have been included into the list of national heritage and sent to A. Gelūnas to UNESCO, as this represents our modern identity. Lithuanians are physiologically unable not to improve the project "to meet their needs" when they are building, and if Lithuanian is a professional builder, then watch out…" – noticed the architect.
However, Lithuanians acquire professional builder’s knowledge not only from friends or on the Internet, but also at schools. Annually Vilnius Builders Training Centre (VBTC) admits significant numbers of young people, willing to study different crafts demanded in the construction industry. The director of the Centre Juozas Baranauskas notes that the builder’s craft gains popularity among students who graduated from prestigious universities and colleges, whereas back in the day, mainly young people with basic and secondary education selected the profession.
"The image of builder’s profession in Lithuania is deteriorating, as the Government did not really invest into constructions. However, the image of builders from Lithuania grew in England and other Western European countries, as they are good employees", - stated D. Gedvilas.
According to him, universities training construction specialists tend to focus on theoretical knowledge, but often forget improvement of prospective graduate’s practical skills. Thus, a number of graduates discontinue their work in the construction industry.
Prospective builders learn more of practical skills at vocational schools and specialized training centres. The head of VBTC noticed that majority of specialists in the construction industry see the demand to improve their practical knowledge. "We have a number of students who sought theoretical knowledge on the Internet, but then decided that it is too difficult in the labour market without practice. So they come for the practical skills offered by the specialists at our centre", - J. Baranauskas shared his experience.
When asked how to distinguish a good specialist from "self-trained-on-the-Internet", or the "eternal" builder, J. Baranauskas replied: "Of course, one could ask for documents to prove the builder’s qualification, or simply ask about previously completed contracts, ask for references".
The visitors will also be able to learn what future builders are capable of in the exhibition "Resta 2014". VBTC along with partners are going to organize a competition during the exhibition. Future builders from 10 different cities are going to compete in the contest of finishers-insulators. For two days, 10 teams of two members will compete in installing 5-6 m2 of drywall structure. Later they are going to insulate it and cover with decorative plaster. The team to finish the task the quickest and produce the best quality result will be awarded with prizes established by our sponsors.
Novelties interesting not only for rookies but also for the most experienced builders will be presented in the biggest construction industry-focused exhibition in the Baltic States "Resta 2014" in the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre LITEXPO on 24-27 April. Everyone planning repairs, renewal of engineering systems, or purchase of a new home. The accent of this year’s exhibition is water: use and management of water at home and on the urban scale, new water technologies and innovations.
Almost 600 participants from a dozen different countries are going to present their novelties here this year, the exhibition will occupy all the exposition area of the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre LITEXPO – more than 30 000 m2.
For more information contact:
LITEXPO press-centre
Tel. 8 620 81798
Email: r.keliuotyte@litexpo.lt