We know how hard it is to run a civil construction business. We understand the pressures and demands on you and your business. We know you want the peace of mind that comes from having someone available who is on your side.
And so, we provide services that align with a civil contractor’s business needs.
How do we know this? Because we are controlled by you, our members, and are governed by a board of member-elected civil contractors.
One thing is certain… without us, you are alone.
The benefits
Contractors join CCF NSW for a variety of reasons. They want help and support, they want to find more work for their business; they want to be part of a network, they want to have their voice heard. Sometimes our members need us for a payment dispute, sometimes to get information on changing law on an employment dispute, a safety issue, an industrial relations problem. Sometimes to argue against some newly created red tape.
All of these reasons are valid, and all may change over time. It doesn’t matter what the reason is today, or tomorrow. What matters is that when our members need us – we are there for them… protecting, growing… giving a voice… being part of a community.
For a detailed explanation of the benefits we provide go to our member benefits page.
Free support hours
CCF NSW contractor members (except Base Service Level) receive an allocation of “free support hours” (FSH) each year of their membership. These hours may be used to seek assistance and support from our Compliance Support Unit.
You can use these hours on a variety of services:
- Legal: employee hire, fire, performance management and disputes *
- Legal: IR including enterprise agreements *
- WHS, environmental, quality and systems
- Workers compensation advice
- Payment claim advice
- General (not legal) advice on procurement, contract strategy and tendering
The number of FSH provided for each year is based on the category of your membership:
Level 1 membership 2 free hours
Level 2 membership 3 free hours
Level 3 membership 4 free hours
Level 4 membership 5 free hours
Level 5 membership 6 free hours
Level 6 membership 6 free hours
FSH you earned last year but that aren’t used are rolled over to this year. Unused FSH from two years ago do NOT roll over. So, it is in your interests to get us working for you now.
Once you use all your FSH, you can pay for additional advice at the members’ 50% discount rate. For the IR/HR services we will continue to help you free of charge, but our priority is on those that have not used their hours, and those on a premium service level.
*These services are only for category 2 to 6 ‘standard’ & ‘premium’ service levels.
Employment law & IR support
If you are a CCF NSW member you can receive free legal advice on IR and employment issues.
Service Level: We are keen to offer flexibility and choice in our service, and our Base Service Level is discounted by 10%. This means, however, that for Base we cannot provide support on employment and IR, even on Fee for Service basis.
Information
Staying connected and informed is a smart business survival and growth strategy.
CCF NSW delivers you civil specific information when you need it, and phased in a way that makes sense, membership includes our hard copy CCF NSW Bulletin Magazine, regular email alerts, and ability to attend our at-cost attendance at Member-only information events and conferences.
By receiving this civil industry-specific information you are not only staying up to date, you are constantly interacting with your peers in the industry – networking is an important way to protect and grow your business.
Networking
A lot of business is undertaken at our events. This is a people industry, and our 50-odd events each year provide a perfect opportunity to mingle with your peers, learn, and build your business.
Branding and Promotion
To maximise the value of your membership, we recommend you tell the world about it. As part of membership we offer (except for Base membership) free inclusion on our Find a Business online directory. If you want people to know about you, list for free… we do the advertising of the directory!
We strongly suggest you place your membership certificate into your tenders, and that you place the “CCF member” logo on your website, materials and machines. It sends a strong message.
The logo may be used while you are a financial member of CCF NSW.
Search for a contractor
Search for contractor members in your region, doing the work you need. Find a Business today.
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Search for associate members in your region, doing the work you need. Find a Business today.
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Fees
The membership fee is annual, and your renewal will always be the date you complete the online application. The fee is based on the category your business is, and the service level you want from us. Both are described below.
According to our constitution, these fees can rise only by a maximum of CPI each year, unless a general meeting of the members vote it so.
A once-off Induction Fee applies on joining to cover our cost of inducting you into the services you receive as a member. For example, key people within our team will contact you to ensure the steps are undertaken, and our compliance support unit will organise a site visit to ensure they understand your business needs (this visit is not part of your FSH).
Please note: We never discount our fees. This is because they are great value as they are and, as a not-for-profit organisation ‘owned’ by our members, we don’t inflate the prices first, so we can then discount them.
1. Your ‘category level’
We have six Categories of membership based on the turnover in NSW of the ABN applying for the membership.
This turnover is for the whole ABN/business, not just the civil infrastructure components – but only for the work you are doing in NSW. The ‘category level’ your business is, is therefore not optional.
We do not ask for evidence your Level is correct – just that you self-assess the right band. Our sales reps and member-elected Board will use the ‘number of workers’ along with their general knowledge of your business as a guide when assessing the application.
As your turnover changes, you can move Category Levels each year at your renewal time. Change within the year is not possible.
2. You choose the ‘service level’
While the membership category you fall into is based on your turnover and so is not changeable, we know businesses want choice in the Service Level they need from us.
You can choose between our premium, standard, or base level of Service. Each Level offers a different service package to suit your needs and budget.
Premium offers more, and at priority delivery, and comes with a 20% price loading to Standard. The base service provides a 10% fee reduction to standard but provides more limited service.
You choose your Service Level at the time you join and can then change each year at your anniversary. We remind you several months in advance to make the pick. You cannot change up or down through the course of the year.
Here is a brief explanation of the different levels of offerings:
- Premium adds onto standard by giving you the peace of mind and convenience of optimum, priority service with increased offers, priority order listing in the member directory, and priority event listing. FOR: faster service; increased offers; convenience; peace of mind.
- Standard gives you solid service including free IR/Employment legal, inclusion of free support hours and the member directory listing. FOR: solid service provision; IR legal included.
- Base gives you low-cost access to industry information, but no IR/employment legal support, no free support hours, and limited events. For: low cost; good information; access to events; but restricted service.
3. The Investment
Level 1 is not only based on turnover, its whether you have staff or not…if you have any staff other than a family partner, you cannot be level 1.
Taking the Next Step
We understand that joining is a bit of a leap of faith. You are hoping, and trusting, that we will do what we say, and that the value is there. But you are joining an industry body owned and governed by its members… established to support you, not generate profits.
Nonetheless, we get the concern
So, if you are still unsure, have a look at some of the comments of your peers; people who have already made the decisions, are reaping the benefits that their competitors are not.
“It’s not straight forward building civil infrastructure. The compliance requirements of government and clients are quite onerous. There is a lot of red tape and there a lot of competition. Something I’ve learnt in my 25 years in the industry is that smart contractors have an edge. When I started at Abergeldie 25 years ago, one of the first things I did was join the CCF. No matter how big or small you are, you always need help or advice at some stage along the journey.”
Mick Boyle, Executive Chairman,
Abergeldie; out of Sydney
“We use CCF for all industrial matters. We will use it for information. Anything that is new that comes out we use that as a tool for our business. CCF will be a big part of our business as time goes on.”
Scott Rogers, Director
Coastwide Civil; out of Shellharbour
“I went to a regional meeting once which the speaker potentially saved my business hundreds or thousands of dollars. CCF membership for us is critical, it’s one of the first things that we tick the box on each financial year. I’m happy to stay a CCF member for life.”
Duncan McCallum, Director
D & L McCallum; out of Junee
“There’s no question you have to just make that first step and just ask that first question, what can CCF offer in my business, and I can guarantee you that you’ll get 10 things come flying back at you.”
Rex Wilson, Director
TWSe; out of Blayney
If you are still not certain then don’t join yet. Rather, contact us and ask to speak with a membership specialist in your area. Just call us on (02) 9009 4000 or contact us.