How to find the Right Tradesmen or Tradeswomen

How do you pick the good tradesperson from the bad?

Most good builders and tradies rarely advertise and are booked weeks in advance. Those that aren’t have already paid for their boat and are struggling to find the motivation to get off of it.

Office of Fair Trading

If you live in NSW you should use the Office of Fair Trading website (www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au) and check up on who you have quotes from.

No guarantee but provides some comfort.

Recommendations

Just because your neighbour, friend or even Word of Web (wow) has a positive review is no guarantee. Check the Office of Fair Trading website.

Shops and other tradies

Another potential source of recommendations are local businesses such as shops and other tradies but again, check the Office of Fair Trading website.

Office of Fair Trading Website (www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au)

Did I mention check the Office of Fair Trading Website?

Locals

Ask locally and use local tradesmen where you can. Why? They know they might see you again some day..

Availability

At a time of a shortage of tradesmen why how lucky are you that your favoured one is available immediately…don’t be put off if you have to wait.

As we said before – have patience.

Communication

Talk to tradies properly. Don’t try to relay instructions whilst rushing out of the door to pick the kids up or leave notes. You are asking for trouble.

If you take the time to explain what you really want and they just might take the care to do it properly.

Advice

It could save you money and give you a better result. One of the tradesmen on the wow site talked us out a job worth thousands of dollars to him for more ‘value-add’ solution for us. So ask away.

Supervision

Look in on them but don’t badger. Check on progress and keep talking to them. If there is a problem, the sooner you find out about it the better.

Ha ha (true story?)

A lawyer calls a plumber to fix a leaking pipe a kitchen sink. Nothing was mentioned about price. The plumber comes, dives under the sink, tightens something by hand, and the leak is fixed.

He did not even open his toolbox. It took at total of 5 minutes. The plumber then gets out his pad and writes a bill for $100..

The lawyer says '$100 for 5 minutes work, that is an outrage! Look, I am a lawyer and even I couldn't get away with charging like that!'.

The plumber says 'Yeah I know, neither could I when I was a lawyer .'

So what are you paying for?

Training, experience and taking away a problem or improving your home. Get a quote / price upfront and focus on the outcome not on how long it will take to achieve it.

Office of Fair Trading Checklist

Finally we’d like to reproduce the Office Of Fair Trading’s checklist but are unable to do so due to copyright restrictions (now how dumb is that). Whilst this is strictly only relevant for NSW it is still worth reading if you live elsewhere.

Roughly, the Office of Fair Trading suggests

1. Check license status. You can search by name on their website or call 13 32 20
2. Request to see example of the tradesmen’s work.
3. Check to see how busy they are. Too busy means no time for you (but of, course, not busy means what exactly in this market. How busy is right amount. Please let me know if you find out.
4. Supervisors must be licensed.
5. Check they have correct insurance.
6. How much of a deposit do they need? There are legal restrictions on this.
7. How long will it take
8. Get a contact. Legally required if greater than $1,000.
9. How much will it cost?
10. When will milestone / progress payments be made?
11. What happens if the work is defective? Perhaps a better way of asking might be how have you responded to complaints.
12. Who is responsible for cleaning up afterwards.

Patience and Priorities

Think long and hard about what you really want and how badly you want it. Plan, seek advice and start getting quotes.

Prioritise the work you want done in line with your budget and leave room for contingencies / unpleasant surprises.

Once you’re done all that be careful selecting the right professionals (i.e. the good tradesmen) and ensure they know what you want and listen to what they have to say.

Trade Connect

Trade Connect - Trade Connect provide a service where the tradesmen contact you with a quote. Time saving but shouldn't be used to the exclusion of the above.

Good Luck,
Once you have done all that you can, cross your fingers….good luck.

About Word of Web

We only list Tradesmen and Women and other professionals and businesses that have been recommended to Word of Web by their customers.

A big thank you to everybody who has contributed. If you would like to email us a review - [email protected].

Someone else's positive experience is no guarantee that you'll also have a similar experience but it is better than nothing.

Word of Web does not automatically list every business we receive a review for. For example, we may have received less than favourable comments in the past, maybe doubt the validity of the review or just want to see more feedback before we list the Trades people concerned.

Any comments, questions, feedback etc please Contact Us through this site.

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Also see Tradesmen and Tradeswomen and where to find them

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