Glowing employer references, expert understanding of water infrastructure and thousands of proven hours working on water pipes around Wellington has helped Fulton Hogan’s Kini Pepe to gain Civil Trades certification and the confidence to take the next step in his career.

The Lower Hutt man gained his Civil Trades Certification in Pipeline Construction and Maintenance with an endorsement in Drinking Water on 20 February; laying the foundations for what he hopes might be a move into a team leader role in future.

“I’m always learning more and that’s why I love this job, now the door to career development is open to me with this certification and I encourage the younger workers to get their own certifications and build a future for themselves.”

The knowledge he has built up while achieving his certification has given him the ability to handle just about any water-service issue for Wellington Water – a job he does as a contractor for Fulton Hogan, handling 600 completed call-out tasks over 2023.

Kini sees his professional accreditation through the Civil Trades scheme as part of a process of natural progression that has seen him start as a labourer, become a service worker, and now a rover.

As a rover, Kini takes initial referral calls from Wellington Water when there has been a water leak or quality issue, conducts an initial assessment and marks out pipe locations, prioritising and co-ordinating Fulton Hogan’s water-care teams to address the issues.

“It feels good to get my Civil Trades certification and I challenge others to do it too. I also challenge myself to achieve more in my career and maybe lead a team one day.”

Kini originally started the certification process with his previous employer in 2021, with a break due to Covid, and then picked it up again with current employer Fulton Hogan over the past two years. Along the way he logged more than 6,000 hours of on-the-job experience as part of the certification process, as well as hundreds more and a lot of dedicated late-night studying as part of achieving his earlier New Zealand Certificate in Infrastructure Works (Pipeline Construction and Maintenance) (Level 4) with a strand in Drinking Water.

Having a good team of people around him at Fulton Hogan is important to him and he credits the support of his team leader and his colleagues with helping him to achieve his certification: “they’re like a family to me,” Kini says.

He says he enjoys sharing his own experiences with younger colleagues too, encouraging them to better themselves and develop their career prospects, especially those who start straight from school with minimal on-the-job skills.

He also enjoys communicating with householders, taking ownership of water supply issues and checking back in with householders personally after a job is done to ensure any problems are resolved.

“The work I do helps communities, water is a key thing for people.”

Kini is proud to show off his Civil Trades certifications to his family and have it as evidence of his hard work and dedication to his trade – it is the highest level of qualification he has achieved, he says.

His advice to anyone thinking of taking a Civil Trades certification is to grab the opportunity with both hands.

“Just go for it, don’t be shy, it’s an opportunity to look after your future and your family.”

About Civil Trades certification

Civil Trades certification provides professional recognition of a civil tradesperson’s competence and helps them take the next step in their career. It provides evidence of a person’s expertise and demonstrates to managers – and the world – that they have a high degree of practical experience.

Developed by industry, Civil Trades certification is open to anybody who has completed a Civil Infrastructure Level 4 qualification and has 8,000 hours (around four years) of practical experience.

Certification and job-specific endorsement can be gained in any of the following areas:

• Road Construction and Maintenance
• Pipeline Construction and Maintenance
• Road Surfacing
• Piling

More information about the application process can be found on our ‘Civil Trades Certification Applications’ page.