The ten year picture is the stronger half of the story. Project builders number about 130,000 today, and official projections carry that group up 22.2% over the decade, which brings in about 28,500 more people by 2035. Building associates are the smaller group at about 84,000, and the projection there runs up 14.2% over the decade, which works out at about 12,000 extra positions. Both of those are solid climbs for occupations of that size. A projection describes a whole occupation, and it doesn't promise anything to one person. Growth of that size does tend to keep entry level openings coming, and it often means more employers who will take someone newly qualified.
The 2025 shortage list is worth reading closely, because it lands on particular job titles rather than on construction as a whole. Construction project managers are rated short across the country. So are building inspectors, and so are surveying and spatial science technicians. Estimators are short everywhere outside the capital cities. Project builders and building associates aren't rated short themselves, so those roles get filled on ordinary terms. What the pattern usually rewards is choosing a specialty once you're qualified. The certificate and the diploma below are the usual starting point for that, and the specialist titles are the ones employers say they're struggling to fill.
Most people come into this part of construction through a certificate rather than a degree. On the register that entry point is CPC40120. The full name is the Certificate IV in Building and Construction, and enrolments in it reached 19,850 during 2025. Few qualifications in the country pull an intake that size. Open Colleges delivers it below, and the diploma sits one step above it. That diploma is the level employers tend to associate with running bigger projects. The ladder carries 20 qualifications in total, so there's room to keep going later. Start where the work you're doing now sits, and let the site decide when you move up.
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Do these courses lead to a builder's licence?
Licensing sits with each state, and the regulator decides how much site experience it wants alongside the qualification. Most licence pathways are built around the Cert IV. Open Colleges can tell you how their course maps to the rules where you live.
What's the difference between the certificate and the diploma?
The Cert IV covers running residential jobs, so contracts, costing, scheduling and compliance. The diploma goes further into larger and more complex builds. A lot of people finish the certificate, work for a while, and add the diploma when the jobs get bigger.
Is construction actually short of people?
It depends which job you mean. The 2025 list rates construction project managers, building inspectors and surveying technicians as short nationally, and estimators as short outside the capitals. Project builders and building associates aren't on it.
Can I study while I'm working full time on site?
That's the usual arrangement here. Both courses run entirely online, so there's no campus to get to and no fixed class time. How quickly you finish comes down to the time you can put in each week, and Open Colleges will talk you through the workload when you enquire.
Are the courses nationally recognised?
Yes, and it matters more here than in most fields. Each listing carries a national training code. An employer or a licensing body can look that code up and see exactly what you covered. Open Colleges was listing both in September 2026.