Job management for Newcastle and Hunter tradies

Built for how Newcastle tradies work#

• One account from the coast to the valley. Newcastle work rarely stays in Newcastle. Jobs in Lake Macquarie, Cessnock, Port Stephens and up through the Hunter sit in the same list, with no separate site or region to configure.
• Built for patchy reception, honestly described. Past Maitland the bars go. Offline mode is one of the features we are building now; until it ships Chippie needs a connection, and it is built to be quick enough that a minute of signal is enough.
• Pricing that does not punish an apprentice. Professional is $25 a month including two users and Team covers four for $45. Adding the person who does your invoicing does not change the bill. Start free under 20 jobs a month.

Who licenses trade work in New South Wales?#

NSW Fair Trading, and the licence you need depends on the work rather than on your job title. A contractor licence lets you contract directly with the customer and advertise for work; a tradesperson certificate lets you do the work under someone else's contract. They are different pieces of paper, and people routinely find that out at the wrong moment.

• Contractor licences and tradesperson certificates are separate authorisations with separate eligibility.
• Electrical, plumbing, gasfitting and air conditioning work carry their own licence classes on top of the general building ones.
• Every licence is on a public register, so your customers can check yours and you can check a subcontractor's before they start.

Source: NSW Government: building and trade licences and registrations

What happens in NSW when a claim is ignored?#

You are not left with suing on the contract. The Security of Payment Act 1999 gives you an adjudication route, decided by an adjudicator through an authorised nominating authority rather than by a court, and a determination you can then enforce. That is the part of the Act worth knowing before you need it.

• Adjudication is faster and cheaper than litigation, and the determination is enforceable.
• You apply through an authorised nominating authority; NSW Fair Trading publishes the current list.
• A payment withholding request can freeze money further up the chain while the claim is decided.

Source: NSW Government: enforcing payment

Where does retention money have to sit in NSW?#

In a trust account. NSW runs a retention money trust account scheme for head contractors holding retention on projects above a threshold, with record-keeping and reporting duties attached. If somebody is holding retention out of your progress claims, this is the regime that governs it.

• Retention withheld under the scheme is held on trust, not mixed into the head contractor's working capital.
• The scheme carries record-keeping and account-reporting obligations, so there is a paper trail you can ask for.
• NSW Fair Trading publishes the current threshold and the duties that go with it.

Source: NSW Government: retention money under security of payment