Job management for Sydney tradies

Built for how Sydney tradies work#

• Quote before you leave the driveway. A job in Penrith and a job in Bondi can swallow a day in traffic. Quoting on site, from the phone, is the only way that day ends without a second shift at the kitchen table.
• Treat the building as the client. So much Sydney work is units, townhouses and strata blocks. Save the building's parking, access and strata contact against the client so the next callout to the same address starts with everything you need.
• Pay for a plan, not per head. Professional is $25 a month and includes two users, which covers a tradie plus whoever handles the admin. Team covers four for $45. 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

How do I make a payment claim in NSW?#

Under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999, a payment claim is a specific document rather than an ordinary invoice. Getting it right is what gives you the statutory right to be paid and, if you are not, the adjudication route that comes with it. An invoice that is not a payment claim gets you neither.

• The claim has to identify the construction work and the amount claimed, and it is served on the person liable under the contract.
• Serving it starts a clock: the respondent answers with a payment schedule or loses ground.
• Due dates for payment differ for head contractors, subcontractors and residential work, so check which one you are before you diarise anything.

Source: NSW Government: making a payment claim

What is Home Building Compensation cover, and when do I need it?#

Residential building work in NSW above a value threshold requires Home Building Compensation Fund cover, taken out before you demand or accept a deposit and before you start. It protects the homeowner if you cannot finish, and the sequencing is the part people get wrong.

• The cover goes in place before the deposit, not before the final invoice.
• It is required per contract for residential work over the threshold, so a run of small jobs and one large one are treated differently.
• icare administers the scheme and publishes the current threshold and the approved providers.

Source: icare NSW: home building compensation