The abolition of the master craftsman requirement in the tile, slab and mosaic laying trade was a wrong decision at the expense of this sector and consumers. This is the assessment of the Central Association of the German Construction Industry (ZDB) and the Construction, Agriculture and Environment Industrial Union (IG BAU) after almost ten years of experience with the amendment to the Crafts Code (HwO). The quality of the once flagship trade has fallen drastically and training performance has collapsed.
The number of tiling companies has increased more than fivefold since the HwO amendment came into force. While there were around 12,000 registered tiling companies in Germany in 2004, there were over 68,000 on December 31, 2012. Before the HwO amendment came into force in 2004, the number of master craftsman examinations passed in the tiling trade was constant at around 550 per year; now there are only just under 100 master craftsman examinations, a drop of 80 percent. Training performance has also fallen by more than half: Whereas just under 4,500 tilers were still being trained across Germany in 2002, this figure had fallen to just over 2,000 in 2012. The reason for this development was the abolition of the master craftsman requirement for tilers on January 1, 2004 due to the HWO amendment. Anyone who wants to can become self-employed as a tiler without proof of qualification. This leads to a race to the bottom. Even flourishing companies would be forced to lay off long-standing employees. The only option left for them is to become self-employed – usually as a one-man business – often as bogus self-employed persons. As such, they are not entitled to the collectively agreed wage. Hardly any of the companies that have now shrunk to sole traders are still training apprentices.
Under the current conditions, the industry is not very attractive for young talent. The image has also suffered because without skilled workers, the quality of the work has fallen into disrepute. “The abolition of the master craftsman requirement for tilers has led to a dead end,” said the deputy national chairman of IG BAU, Dietmar Schäfers. “If this is not counteracted as quickly as possible, there will be virtually no quality companies left in this sector in a few years’ time. “We are very concerned about the large number of one-man businesses. Because they are the gateway to illegality in construction. They are licensed in the tiling trade, but appear on construction sites as columns and carry out a variety of activities in other trades, which leads to damage far beyond the actual tiling trade,” added Dr. Hans-Hartwig Loewenstein, President of the Central Association of the German Construction Industry.
IG BAU and ZDB are calling on the new federal government to correct the HwO amendment. It must be ensured that customers receive professional services for their money. The easiest way to achieve this would be to return to compulsory master craftsman status in the tiling, paving and masonry trades. Furthermore, such a decision would not only strengthen the tiling trade, but would also send a strong signal in favor of dual vocational training, which is the envy of Germany.