Frank Porreca grew up with building in his blood. The son of Italian migrants, his father Silvio trained on the job in Italy before arriving in Australia in the late 1960s. “He did block work, brickwork, window installation, tiling, roofing…what we would probably call, if one existed here, a builder’s apprenticeship more than a trade apprenticeship,” Frank explains.
In Australia, his father and uncle worked first on major government projects such as the Lower Molonglo Treatment Plant and the High Court, before moving into residential construction. By the late 1980s, Frank’s father had bought his own block and become a builder-developer, with young Frank the future builder never far away. “I was this little podgy kid in Dad’s old boots hanging around a job site, and from the age of six, that’s all I wanted to be.”
Through his school years Frank spent weekends and holidays working with his father. “If I could have wagged school, I would have,” he laughs. After finishing Year 12, he was accepted into both TAFE and the University of Canberra’s construction management degree. “My Mum Maria said ‘Frank, you’re accepted into both, wouldn’t you be better off going to uni and getting the degree so you can get the higher-class licence?’ I said, that’s a great idea, Mum.”
Three years later he had joined the family business full-time and applied for his first builder’s licence. “I didn’t have an apprenticeship, I didn’t have a trade, I hadn’t completed my degree, but I had this yearning to get my licence early,” he recalls. After interviews with the registrar, he became – at just 20 – the youngest person ever to receive a builder’s licence in the ACT. “By the time I was 21 I had an A-class builder’s licence. From there it was seven days a week for the next decade, and I’ve loved every second of it.”
Residential construction has always been Frank’s passion. “All single and multi-unit, townhouse style – that’s what I love. I’ve never really been a contract builder, it’s always been as a developer builder.” He also worked as part of a consortium delivering more than 2,500 blocks across Gungahlin and other suburbs.
His journey with the MBA began thanks to Jerry Howard. “When the market turned down and builders needed support, Jerry was always there. Oneday I was having a whinge to him about land and building, and he leaned across the desk and said, ‘Well Frank, why don’t you do something about it and get involved instead of just whinging?’ So I did.”
Frank went on to serve as chair of the Residential Builders Council, nine years as treasurer, and now as President of Master Builders ACT as it celebrates its centenary. “They tell me I was the youngest treasurer ever and I suspect I’m the youngest President too, though I’ve got the grey hair now.”
What Frank values most is the MBA’s role for small family firms. “It’s all about the mum and dad businesses. You need something there for them to share their stories, get their support, feel that bit of comfort to know that everyone else is going through it too.”
Looking back on the Association’s history, he points to its resilience. “When HIH collapsed it was the difference between surviving and bankruptcy for many. Members invested their own money, others switched business to support the Fidelity Fund. That’s what welded me onto the values of MBA: people stood up for each other.”
Frank is equally clear about the future: stronger engagement, more education, and a focus on quality. “Education has been at the forefront of everything the MBA has done. 100 years ago they were talking about apprentices, and we’re still doing it now. But quality is the number one value; we’ve always stood up for that, and we have to keep doing it.”
An annual trip past all his projects – subdivisions, townhouses, houses – reminds Frank of what drives him. “My favourite part is when someone’s moved in. When you see there’s a scuff on the wall and the carpet’s a little bit dirty because the three-year-old’s been throwing stuff around. I like it, because it means it’s being lived in.”
