Jon,
it's kind of similar. It was actually created to provide something sort of similar to the French and German guild systems. The Swiss have never had and still do not have a guild system like other European countries. The closest thing is town guilds, but these are important only in the cities like Zürich, Bern, Basel, etc. and don't matter that much in the country and villages. But, you don't have to go through the program, not everybody is a part of the guilds, and really probably a very good portion of good carpenters aren't affiliated. The 'Master' carpenters around toady didn't learn from this or any other organization, they learned from their parents or from experienced carpenters that they worked for, much like things work in America with most carpentry professionals.
What I like about this system is that their primary existence is to promote the traditional practices in the public sector and to support those who have such businesses, also to get carpenters to work together and help each other.
I don't know how much the guild does to help timber framers, to promote the art by upholding its constituents.
I think it would be great if we have a system that people could come to who are looking for a timber framer (or log builder, maybe), and this system could help them sort through the options and find what they are looking for -express up front the methods, connections to tradition, etc. used by a timber framer.
Last edited by D L Bahler; 12/21/13 05:50 AM.
