When owning a home, you have to be prepared to replace, fix, update, or renovate almost all major appliances and materials in your home. Everything from your flooring to your kitchen faucet has a lifespan, whether your faucet needs fixing or you can’t stand the look of your cabinets. 

When you decide to go with a professional renovation instead of a DIY project, you want to be sure you have the best Tradies in the game. But how do you go about finding a trustworthy local tradie with great communication skills? How many quotes should you request and how do you go about settling a payment? 

Continue reading for the best ways to find a trusted and skilful builder or tradie for your next home project. 

Referrals and Recommendations

Word of mouth is one of the best ways to find a Tradesperson you can trust. The first thing you should do when looking for a tradesperson is to ask your family and friends if they have a recommendation for you. 

In a global study, 93% of people sought out their friends and family for trusted recommendations on brands. Odds are, if your parents trust someone, you’ll trust them too. Give your friends a call or a text to see if they’ve used a tradespeople or tradesmen within the past year. 

If you can’t find recommendations from your friends and family, try looking into your own industry contacts. For example, if you used a great plumber recently, reach out to them to see if they happen to know a great carpenter. Industry referrals can be just as reliable as recommendations from your loved ones.

Online Search

If you aren’t able to secure a great recommendation or referral, it’s time to start your online search. Searching online for a trusted tradesperson can be overwhelming.

Once you hit enter, you’ll likely be inundated with thousands of results. If that’s too much, try to be more specific in your search terms.

Instead of typing “find a builder”, try “trusted builders near me”. In most cases, your search engine already has your current location. This will help filter results that are close to you instead of getting results from all over New Zealand.

Use A Trusted Source

Another way to find a trustworthy and skilled tradesperson is to use a company that helps find them for you.

There are many sites out there that tradesmen can use to put up their biography and skills. From there, you can use filters to determine who you’d like to offer a job to. Most of these sources are trusted because of their vetting process. This can include pre-interviews, references, and background checks. 

The Master Builders Association is the largest trade association in New Zealand. Tradies can submit themselves to earn a Master Builders badge through a high-standard and rigorous vetting and inspection process. There are a range of other associations for most skills trades, that require their members to earn a professional certificate to showcase their skills.

Master Brick and Blocklayers is one trade organisation in New Zealand that offers professional development and support, and the Association of Consulting and Engineering is another website where engineers can earn professional certificates and awards for their hard work. Using a trade association is a great way to know you’re hiring a reliable tradie.

With an app like IPromise, you can find and communicate with tradies safely. You don’t have to worry about misunderstandings or issues with payment. All communication between you and your tradesperson is done through the app. This helps increase the reliability and trustworthiness that you’ll only pay for the job that was done.

What To Avoid

Searching for a reliable worker is an overwhelming task. Here are a few things to avoid when looking for your next local tradie. 

  • Avoid Cold Calls: Most highly-qualified tradesmen are booked in advance and likely don’t have time for cold-calling. An unexpected phone call or knock on the door can leave a bad impression. Avoid hiring any unexpected tradesmen. 
  • Aggression: Avoid hiring tradespeople who are being too pushy on price and deadlines. Any tradesperson who is being too aggressive and seems as if they’re forcing you to hire them is not someone you want in your home.
  • Lack of References: Don’t be afraid to ask your future tradespeople for at least two references before they begin work on your house. If this tradie doesn’t have any references to give you, it’s time to walk away!
  • Bad First Impression: If you’re left with a bad feeling about someone you spoke to, listen to your gut! This person isn’t just someone you are paying, it’s someone you are letting into your home. You need to feel comfortable trusting this person in your safe space. If something feels off, find someone else. 

It’s easier to find a tradesperson you know for sure you don’t want to work with than to find someone you do. You’ll most likely juggle a couple of options before nailing down the right one. One way you can compare your choices is through pricing.

Request A Quote

It’s good practice to have a minimum of three local tradies that you’d be willing to work with. Once you have your list, you can start requesting quotes. Ideally, you’d want at least three quotes from different tradesmen before you move forward with your choice. 

When requesting a quote, be sure you have an exact description of what job needs to be done. This can include the current material or product and what it needs to be replaced with. It could also include the location of the job ie: the kitchen. You also want to include an approximate time you’d like to have the job finished. 

Add as many details as you can so you can receive the most accurate quote. Once you receive quotes from each of your top three choices, you can then compare to find the price that works best for your budget. Anyone using IPromise is required to build a professional quote with all these key details, making the process simpler for both the client and supplier.

Negotiating Payment

Now that you’ve found a tradesperson you’d like to use, it’s time to discuss project timelines and payment. Be sure you’ve received a quote from your chosen tradesperson through the IPromise App, to take full advantage of the Client protection. 

The quote should include an approximate completion date. It will also include the amount of payment for the job including GST. Some tradies will purposefully keep this tax out of a quote to make the job appear cheaper than it is, but with the IPromise quoting solution, this is transparently detailed in all quotes.

The best way to avoid being scammed is to only make payments upon job completion. Reliable and trustworthy tradies will accept payment after the job is done in full. However, in some cases, tradies will require upfront costs for materials (often called deposits). 

Managing deposits in IPromise works well for both the Supplier and the Client. The Supplier knows the Client can pay for materials and the Client knows the supplier won’t receive any payments until proof of the purchase. The supplier can prove the materials have been either delivered on site (or to their yard) by photo or visual inspection the Client is notified through the app and they then can release payment immediately to the Supplier. Every penny a Client spends should be previously agreed upon and transparent in all communication. The IPromise ‘staged payments’ feature allows for deposits and/or parts of a larger job to be broken down the quoting and payment process. 

IPromise takes the guessing game out of the payment process. Once the quote is agreed, your payment is transferred to a secure BNZ Trust Account, that is only released to the Supplier / tradesperson, when both parties agree the job is done. When agreed, the payment is immediately released to the Supplier / tradesperson, providing an incentive to get the job done on time and on-price. For you (the Client) there won’t be any surprise charges or fees if you decide to use this platform, and your payments are protected 100% of the way. What’s more, the app is always free for the Client. 

Trustworthy and Skilled Tradesperson

Finding a reliable and skilled tradesperson is hard to do. When you’re taking on a home renovation, the last thing you want is to add more stress. Avoid DIY projects and hire a professional to get the job done right.

Rely on recommendations and referrals to find a local tradie you can trust. Be sure you get at least three quotes from a variety of builders and tradies. Make sure you find someone with great communication who you can agree with on payment.

And, protect your payments with the IPromise App that gives you greater control and security of your projects. For more information about IPromise, watch the short video below to find out more. If you’d like to get started, register for free today.