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Comment by georgeoliver | Hacker News Reader

That the author describes himself as a self-taught handyman may not sound like much to USA readers like myself, but it's my understanding that Canada has a much more widespread formal trade apprentice program than what's available in the states (through unions). I've always wished something like that was developed here, since it doesn't seem like union labor will ever make inroads on the USA residential market.

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How in the world would more regulation around who can fix a piece of broken trim board help at all?

We should be thankful the US doesn’t have a system like that which artificially reduces the supply of labor.

We should make it easier for people to work in the trades. Not wrap and bunch of unnecessary formality and regulation around it.

It doesn't seem to reduce the supply of labor in Canada, since the author of the article is self-taught.

However it's likely to increase the overall level of training, which is good for someone who needs their broken trim board replaced.

No it’s not good. The lower the barrier to every the better. More ability to choose the level of quality work you desire. A handyman for bill gates is going to be a complete different class than one for the roach motel but it’s still good if the roach motel can get one.

Mhm. Here in Germany plumber, electrician, etc. are all “protected” jobs. You can’t call yourself a plumber or electrician if you haven’t learned the proper trade. I’d argue it’s good for safety, standards and liability.

Now when it comes to stuff like building a kitchen, you could go with proper carpenters or furniture folks or a handyman. It’s good to have those different categories and know what you would be getting.

It's essentially the same in the US.

If there is a large risk when work is low quality, there is regulation. The more possible danger, the more regulation. This is OK.

But an argument for regulation that is just some hand waving and repeating "standards" is not a legitimate position. It is an attempt to build some little bureaucratic empire which will enrich a group via regulatory capture.

The government wins as they now have more employees and more power and the people already in the trade win. Everyone else loses.

That’s sort of true in the US, as well. A plumber or electrician is licensed, but handymen aren’t, as far as I know.

Germany takes it too far. Every industry is regulated and licensed. It takes 2 years to call yourself a baker. It’s not a good system.

If you have to regulate industries institute a proficiency test and allow different levels of expertise. A plumber or electrician for home repair is a totally different level of complexity to one in industrial applications but it’s the same certification. The guy doing wiring in my house just does not need that level of education and I don’t really want to pay for it.

I’m not some free market purist but in this situation we absolutely do not need more government regulation and the risk of low quality work is quite low.

A typical handyman can’t and won’t touch anything that could actually cause harm (gas, plumbing, electrical) and poor quality work will result in a negative reviews and no repeat work for the handyman.

More opportunities for training and upskilling, yes!

But you should not start some unnecessary credentialing/licensing system that restricts the supply.

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