Licensed Tradesman from Sydney Extension & Renovation

The importance of hiring a licensed tradie

So you have some work to be done around the house. Your budget is limited and price is a big factor in the quotes you receive. You find a guy that seems to know what his talking about and he's cheap but says he doesn't have a license. Thinking about your savings you give the job to him anyway.

Before he starts he needs 30% upfront to pay for material and the rest when the job is done. Seeming fair enough, you pay the deposit and come commencement date, he's nowhere to be seen. You ring him and there is no answer. He seems to have disappeared. What other avenues do you have to get your deposit back? How can you chase him up?

If you contract work to the minority group of dishonest tradies with no license and they do bad work or worse, they take off with your deposit, there is no obligation for them to come back, as there is no means to catch them. You may never be able to track them down and get any recourse. They are not on any government data base and Office of Fair Trading is unable to assist.

Also always remember that the law specifies the maximum deposit you can be asked to pay:

If the contract price is up to $20,000, the maximum deposit is 10% of the contract price, If the contract price is over $20,000 you can't be asked to pay more than 5% of the contract price.

That is for any construction work.