Aluminium boat builder qualification requirements in Australia?

Just wondering if anyone on Seabreeze knows anything about the legal requirements for someone to produce / construct aluminium boats to be sold to the public? Are the laws different from state to state? I know in the heavily regulated domestic building industry if you are not trade certified or licensed to undertake certain works you can end up in a lot of trouble! I have tried to research the info online with very mixed results!

Doesnt the product have to pass a marine inspection .I would say trade qualification was irrelevant a welding certification may help.As youre probably aware just because youve got a trade cert doesnt mean youre any good.

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ok said..
Just wondering if anyone on Seabreeze knows anything about the legal requirements for someone to produce / construct aluminium boats to be sold to the public? Are the laws different from state to state? I know in the heavily regulated domestic building industry if you are not trade certified or licensed to undertake certain works you can end up in a lot of trouble! I have tried to research the info online with very mixed results!

No qualifications needed sadly. The only issue is the builder is responsible for a few issues, like builders plates, and build quality, but only along the lines of if there's ever an issue and the boat somehow is found to be faulty, then the builder would/could be liable.

It's a bit of a farce. In QLD a while back, as a joke and to show just how silly the system is, the QLDBIA registered a wheelie bin, and took it boating..
As for state to state, much of the management is moving under AMSA so trying to nationalize the industry some.

Out of interest though, anyone who imports a boat from overseas, is also responsible legally for that vessel, for the life of it, so again, if say someone imported a big brand name from somewhere and a huge flaw was later found, the importer would/could be held responsible also.

Hope that makes sense..

Well..... curly one

You are protected by consumer law however the perception and understanding of it is extremely subjective.....

Example ,,, you buy boat and go out first time as the law varies from state to State in regards to "insurable conditions" if you take your new boat out in over 15 knots and bigger than 1.5 to 2 metre seas/swell and a weld cracks it may not be covered under insurance........
However ,,, you return to dealership with said boat on trailer with three cracked welds,,,, 90% of places will repair for free as soon as possible particularly if the vessel is within warranty period ( generally 3-5 years)
Consumer law protects the purchaser for the period of warranty however only for "fair wear and tear"

Ie: you punch a hole in it driving into reef or a jetty you pay.......

If a vessel which is welded has two welds which let go this is not cause for a replacement boat it gets fixed,,,, if however every weld is cracked you as the customer unfortunately would have to take it to an engineer/shipwright or subject matter expert and have the welds evaluated this is a few hundred to several thousand dollar exercise ,,, should the welding be found not to be in line with Australian standards ( which let's Be honest many imported boats are not) than repair or replacement has to be granted.... providing you are in warranty period and you have not taken vessel out in conditions not out of warranty coverage....
where it becomes a nightmare is even though the vessel was not welded to Australian standards and you have proven this ,,, the length of time that you are covered for must fall into this period .........

very subjective

As a side note a trade cert is not a requirement to weld however without one you can be deemed unable to weld or lack of formal qualification no matter how good a welder you are and the duty of care will fall on you as the welder even if you have done the welding under a business or as an employee ( duty of care laws changed last year and as such whilst no one has really been convicted as yet it is coming in the marine industry,,, several people in mining have been convicted where historically it would of been the mining business which was hunted down)

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ok said..
Thanks for the responses. I'm currently going through the lengthy process of QCAT to receive some money back from the boat builder.
The boat is of poor design, construction and weld repairs have failed miserably. I am not the only one who has had this happen on the exact same model of boat.

Its a a shame that cowboys n criminals can get away with it for so long and innocent members of the public loose thousands of dollars

Aussie built ?

Like to see photos of the welding failures(know just a little bit about it)

Stitch welds too far apart dont appear to be staggered (both sides of fillet alternated positions).
Welds have probably sucked back the parent metal on opposite side effecticely reducing thickness.
Large distance between stitches hull plate will flex betweem them eventually cracking the weld.
4mm on a welded hull bottom is bad news .Very hard not to overheat the material even if your welding skills are good.
Looks like they've welded and sanded those cracked areas far to much eventually plate becomes brittle and thin and cracks.
I wont mention the weld apearance.

. Trade has become unskilled with the use of expendable argon bottles and a Chinese
mig welders. But in saying that when I have sex I like deep penetration. I don't receive the biggest reach around on single phase as heat distributes quickly. Its circuit breaking my head in.