• Tips and best practices for staying safe on the job

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    Tips and best practices for staying safe on the job

    G’day, tradies! As a tradesperson, safety should always be a top priority. We all know that the jobs we do can be risky and dangerous, so it’s important to take steps to protect ourselves and our mates. Here are some tips and best practices for staying safe on the job: Staying safe on the job…

  • Takeoff to Submission.  Getting your quotes and estimating software correct for Tradies and Subcontractors.

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    Takeoff to Submission. Getting your quotes and estimating software correct for Tradies and Subcontractors.

    Investing the time to correctly quote your work is vital in the current industry climate.  This includes your initial takeoff, any special conditions or clarifications, and a realistic expiry date.  It also includes understanding what the client wants you to deliver. Although you are not usually bound by a quote, it does help the process…

  • How you can protect your Trade or Subcontracting business from missed progress payments

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    How you can protect your Trade or Subcontracting business from missed progress payments

    When your business is beholden to progress payments from the client or head contractor, business can get challenging when a payment is missed. You are most likely in the position of relying on a few large payments each month as opposed to several smaller ones, so when one of those payment doesn’t turn up, it…

  • How Tradies can protect their project from Inclement Weather

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    How Tradies can protect their project from Inclement Weather

    Inclement weather can seriously delay construction projects. Many only see weather disruptions as the direct time lost during bad weather, but as we have seen with the wild weather and flooding of the past 12 months, inclement weather can cause more delays than the couple of hours during the downpour. While there are many reasons…

  • Protecting your Trade business from rising material costs and delays

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    Protecting your Trade business from rising material costs and delays

    Some building material costs have risen over 80% in the last 18 months. This increase can represent the difference between you making a healthy profit and no profit at all! So, how do you protect your business from the rising cost of materials? Understand your options If you have a solicitor that has helped you…

  • 5 things tradies can learn from the collapse of Condev and Probuild

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    5 things tradies can learn from the collapse of Condev and Probuild

    The collapse of Condev and Probuild has devastated the industry, with many Tradies subcontracting to these giants feeling the effects. Some have already started to fold under the weight of missed progress payments, unable to pay wages and purchase materials for other projects. So, what can you learn from these collapses to better protect your…

  • A picture is worth $1000! (or more)

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    A picture is worth $1000! (or more)

    Defect Management: Protecting Your Construction Business In the world of construction and trades, dealing with defects is an inevitable part of the job. However, when you’re asked to rectify a defect that wasn’t your fault, it can be frustrating and costly. This article explores strategies to protect your business from unfair defect claims and manage…

  • Put your bloody ruler away, and hang out with your family more on the weekend!

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    Put your bloody ruler away, and hang out with your family more on the weekend!

    Being a subcontractor is a hard slog! Most of the time you are working 12 hour days, 6 days a week, and then trying to fit takeoffs and quotes around your on-site hours. Now we’ve written before on how having the right systems in place can save you time on-site and at the office, but…

  • How are you protecting yourself against defects that aren’t yours?

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    How are you protecting yourself against defects that aren’t yours?

    If you’ve been a subcontractor for a while, you would have almost certainly had a defect chalked up to your workmanship or supplied products when it wasn’t you at fault. If you haven’t yet….just wait, it’s coming. How do you protect yourself and your business from this event occurring and taking up your precious time…

  • Your records are only useful if you can find them

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    Your records are only useful if you can find them

    If you’ve been running your subcontracting business for a while now, you probably have a small collection of paperwork you’ve created to satisfy the powers that be on-site. If you’ve been running for a while longer you probably also got records of SWMS, incident reports, prestarts and toolbox talks that you’ve uploaded somewhere on your…

  • The importance of Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) for Tradies and Subcontractors

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    The importance of Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) for Tradies and Subcontractors

    Why is a SWMS important? A Safe Work Method Statement is important for two reasons: It keeps you, your workers, and other workers safe on site. The main purpose of a SWMS is to make sure that all people involved with a high risk construction activity: It keeps your business out of trouble! The business…

  • Feel like your invoices are always getting paid late?

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    Feel like your invoices are always getting paid late?

    We can help create an approach that makes it easy to send invoices, manage retentions, account for variations and automatically chase up outstanding invoices – so you get paid on time. Invoices How much time does it take you to get everything together to send an invoice? 5 mins, 10 mins? 30 mins and 2…