Re: For All Tradesmen
 

I shipped all my gas cartridges over in container (oops)

Mine are the Bammer type by Porter and Cable.

Paslode gear here is soooo cheap, pack of brads, + 2 gas cart's about 70 bucks.

Cheaper if you shop around.

Ste

Re: For All Tradesmen
 

Following this reply by SBOZ I, as both a moderator & licenced contractor, received a number of PM's complaining that the reply was both misleading & that the webpage included in the signature was illegal as it fails to stipulate that the contractor can only carry out work to the value or $1100 bucks including labour & materials.
My own understanding was in line with the concerns raised via PM, as such I took the liberty of emailing the QBSA directly at the weekend for clarification. My original email & their reply are shown in full below, with their full permission:

Hi,
I recently arrived in Australia on a skilled visa as a carpenter/joiner. I used to run a small joinery outfit in the U.K & carried out basic maintainance i.e painting & decorating, wall & floor tiling, gyprock/dry lining etc as well as normal joinery tasks i.e decking, pergodas and 1st /2nd fix joinery.
I'm informed that this is illegal in Queensland as this work is carried out by individually licenced trades. The area of the Sunshine Coast I now live in seems to need blokes like me who can carry out all aspects of the building trade though there don't seem to be any companies doing this.
Could you clarify for me:
1) Is it illegal to do all these tasks?
2) If I set up a company doing basic property/commercial maintainance would I need a licence?
3) If I need a licence as a carpenter /joiner & get one can I still carry out other aspects of maintainance such as tiling & painting?
Cheers
Sean


Dear Sean

Thank you for your enquiry about trade contracting in Queensland. Unless you are an employee or subcontracted to a licensed contractor, a BSA licence is required by law under the Queensland Building Services Authority Act 1991 Section 42. The BSA does not have a specific licence which covers "handyman" type work. You are able to carry out small jobs up to the value of $1,100.00 without holding a BSA licence (please note this excludes work such as plumbing, draining and gas fitting).


Depending on the type of work to be carried out you may require holding a combination of licence types (classes) to allow you to contract to carry out the type of work involved e.g. carpentry, drywall plastering, painting, concreting, wall & floor tiling, etc. Alternatively you may wish to consider the qualifications required for a Builders Licence. The following link has information on all of the licence classes available :

http://www.bsa.qld.gov.au/Home/Build...assSummary.htm



For those contractors who have overseas qualifications or meet the experience requirement but do not have any Technical (formal/written) qualification, there are assessments available based on experience through Registered Training Organisations. Click on the following link to access full contact names and numbers. You will find the link to Registered Training Organisations under the subheading Technical Qualifications or by phoning Construction Skills Qld on 1800 798 488:



http://www.bsa.qld.gov.au/Home/Build...torLicence.htm



Information regarding applying for a Trade Contractor licence is available on our website under Builders/Contractors/Certifiers at



http://www.bsa.qld.gov.au/Home/Build...torLicence.htm



Our fact sheet "What do I have to do to apply for a Builders licence is found at



http://www.bsa.qld.gov.au/Home/Build...ersLicence.htm



The scope of work allowed by the licence and the requirements may be viewed on our website under Information for Contractors; Licence Types and Requirements at



http://www.bsa.qld.gov.au/Home/Build...assSummary.htm



You will require an individual licence, and if trading as a company, you will be required to obtain a company licence in those classes as well

Our website has company licensing information available at :



http://www.bsa.qld.gov.au/Home/Build...dLicensing.htm .

Company Licence applications are available on line at :

http://www.bsa.qld.gov.au/Home/Build...ns/Company.htm



Please do not hesitate to contact the Customer Contact Centre on 1300 272 272 for additional information, or to have the required forms mailed to you if needed.



Regards



Customer Service Officer

Customer Contact Centre

Brisbane Head Office

Re: For All Tradesmen
 

SO LIKE I SAID YOU ******' NOOB, DOESNT INVOLVE MY LINE OF BUILDING WORK!! HOW DARE YOU PICK ON MY REPLY!!! IF YOU ARE A HALF WIT MODERATOR READ BETWEEN THE CHUFFIN' LINES AND UNDERSTAND IM NOT A HOUSE BUILDER/BUILDING COMPANY !! AND I'M JUST GIVING ADVICE TO THE PEOPLE WHO MAYBE DONT WANT TO GO DOWN THE THE ******* LICENSE ROUTE!!! I UNDERSTAND AND CARRY OUT ALL!! RULES AND REGS FOR MY LINE OF WORK AND LIKE I SAID WITHIN A WEEK OF STARTING WORK WITHOUT A QBL, I WAS BEING PAID FOR ALL WORK TYPES LISTED ON MY SITE!! ..NO WONDER SO MANY EXPAT TRADIES END UP ARSE UP BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE TELLING THEM BOLLOX DOE'S AND DONT'S
******' JOB WORTHS!

Re: For All Tradesmen
 

Abuse will NOT be tolerated on BE and if I see any more outbusts like that you will be banned for a while, and this thread will be closed.
Consider yourself warned.

Re: For All Tradesmen
 

ANYBODY WHO DOUBTS WHAT A NON-LICENSE TRADIE CAN DO, COME ON UP AND HAVE A LOOK AT MY BOOKS, COME AND TALK TO MY CONTRACTORS..THE ******' IDIOTS ARE THE TYPE'S WHO WASTE TIME AND MONEY COMING OVER HERE TRYING, THINKING THEY PASS AS HOME BUILDERS/TRADESMAN, DOING THEIR BEST TO GET A QBL ONLY FINDING OUT THEY ARE NOTHING BUT A HANDYMAN !! :rofl: :rofl: IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH HOW MY WEB LINK LOOKS GET IN TOUCH WITH ME ,I'LL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO PUT YOU RIGHT.

Re: For All Tradesmen
 

You're location says it all... I'm just explaining on what I've already posted.
It didn't need to be highlighted like it was!

Re: For All Tradesmen
 

I have been following the threads on this site with interest for several days now and as far as I can see SBOZ has been telling a lot of people that he or indeed anyone else requires no licence to work in there trade. As far as I can determin SBOZ may have called himself a trades person of some sort in the UK (He has not indicated what trade he served an apprenticeship for) but from what I can figure out he is opperating as a handyman over here and not as a tradesman. If I am correct I think he should have the balls to say he is only a handyman and stop telling people coming over here a load of crap about not needing to get a licence for there trade. Further more I would be interested to learn why someone who has such a high opinion of himself has not been able to or not wanted to get a licence which would more than likely enable him to earn more money as a licenced contractor. In the future I would sugest that SBOZ keeps out of threads about tradies as he is obviously not one of us over in OZ and is giving sooooooo much bad info to those wanting to start a new life over here.

Re: For All Tradesmen
 

Quite obviously you do not understand all the rules & regs regarding "your line of work" as if you did your website would state quite clearly that you were A) unlicenced & B) unable to carry out any work exceeding $1099 dollars inclusive of labour & materials.
When I last looked it does not state either! So I neither need to read between the lines nor am I a halfwit.
You refer to a QBL A Queensland Builders Licence, that's not in contention. What is in contention is that all the jobs listed on your webpage are done by separate individually licenced trades. Had you bothered to read the reply from the QBSA I posted you would see that they do not have a "handyman licence" & that you would be expected to hold multiple licences to carry out the work you list. They do however recommend that a QBL be applied for as that would give adequate cover for the scope of work your involved in.
I like the other honest contractors who voiced their concerns have chosen to abide by the laws of our adopted country. You clearly do not! That's your choice, ignorance is no defense when it comes to prosecution. They may even use this thread as evidence that you were made aware of the legislation.
From the link:
The maximum penalty for an unlicensed contractor who fails to make such a statement in an advertisement is $7,500 (as at January 2008). The requirement for unlicensed contractors to make this statement serves as an important warning to consumers, and protects appropriately licensed contractors from unfair competition.

Re: For All Tradesmen
 

Here's someone else who's been over here for 10 minutes and thinks he's Tommy Walsh :blink: If you have, like you said read all whats been said you'll notice I'm saying if you're in a 'trade' in the UK you dont HAVE!! to get a QBL carry on doing a trade here, NOT like you said I'm saying you do!.. also I've already mentioned I am a handyman as you put it, although multi-task is whats on my toolbox ;) with a name like Timberdale Joinery and a web page listing carpenter/joiner skills, you would think even the slowest of us would have a guess of which trade I'm skilled in and came over on :confused: I'm sorry for not 'being one of us' but if thats because I haven't felt the need for a QBL then maybe I dont belong in your high circle of builder types and maybe its time to put my 'balls' back where they belong :unsure: from now on I'll keep it zipped and look forward to reading everyone's success stories on how they conquered the Aussie building game ;)

Re: For All Tradesmen
 

Where the hell have I mentioned my work exceeds $11k ?? 80% of my work be it kitchens,doors,decking,wardrobes or any of the other job types listed is renovation!! whats listed doesn't mention its has to be NEW or I can only carry out new work!! I know I dont need a QBL thats why I'm doing what I'm doing :blink: I carry out all the mentioned job types on my webpage (in some way or form) mostly as a handyman. If some one wants a door hanging I can do that without a QBL thats why its on my list If someone wants decking as long as its not priced over $12k (which I wouldn't do off my own back anyway over 12k) I'd do it!! same as drobes,fencing,window etc. If people want to be building new builds and class themselves as "builders" then yes they'll need a QBL but as multi -trade is in the building circle, some people like those in this conversation might just want to do what I'm doing and not want to go down the license road?? thats what I was trying to point out!
Bloody hell I was only trying to help out with tools in the first place anyway :confused:

Re: For All Tradesmen
 

And there lies your confusion Simon, it's not 12k or TWELVE THOUSAND it's $1099, ONE THOUSAND & NINETY NINE. In other words you need a licence if your labour and materials come to a total of more than just 1100 bucks. Two hardwood French doors cost more than that just in materials, I just bought a pair.
It's not just new build either it's any carpentry any painting or any tiling etc etc. that requires the necessity for a licence. New work, reno work or just basic maintenance.
Looks like the offer of "just look at my books to see what an unlicenced tradie can do" will make very interesting reading when you eventually get caught on a job. Like I and others have said you are unaware of your responsibilities and what's worse is your misleading people who may be caught a lot sooner than yourself.
I can only point you to the legislation the fact you chose to ignore it is at your own peril all I'm asking is that you don't mislead others into what could cost them up to fifteen thousand dollars in fines.
Look at this link for your own sake: ADVERTISING REQUIREMENTS FOR
UNLICENSED PERSONS
Your weblink is illegal here in Queensland you face prosecution & a fine of up to $7,500 just for failing to declare that your unlicenced. That's regardless of the type of work your carrying out. I strongly advise you to call in at the QBSA office in Maroochydore & have a chat to the manager before you end up in court.

Re: For All Tradesmen
 

Sorry I meant $1100 :p yes there is confusion, I'm aware of amounts I'm allowed but was unaware of it having to be mentioned on advertisments/web sites.I've taken off the site link until this is corrected although I still argue, what I was trying to explain was you can still carry out work in building trade area's ie joinery/renovation etc over here without a QBL BUT!! only to the amount/spec mentioned above. I apologise for any toes that have been trodden on :o

Re: For All Tradesmen
 

I should also add that when it says the value should not exceed $1,100 including labour & materials that means the total labour & the total materials for the job. That includes any materials supplied by your clients. In my case that means that if I undertake a job & the client buys the tiles,glue & grout they are still counted as part of the $1,100.
If you cost floor tiles @ circa $25 per m² Glue at $40 per bag & Grout at $20 per bag you could only tile a 4m X 4m room as an unlicenced tradie:
Tiles @ $25 X 16 = $400
Glue 2 X $40 = $80
Silicone 1 X $12 = $12
Grout 1 X $20 = $20
Labour $35pm² X 16 = 560
Total contract price = $1,072 exc GST

You should also be aware that if you do work over the $1,100 threshold your client is under no obligation to pay you a cent, the QBSA will also back the client all the way to court.
When we first arrived I worked (briefly) for a shower company, I carried out a re-tile reno job under their instruction, invoiced the job & didn't get paid, under the terms of the QBSA licencing legislation I was unable to claim a cent through the courts.

Re: For All Tradesmen
 

i know some one will a similar tale down here
he did some work for a couple quoted 900 bucks they kept on adding bits and his final invoice was in excess of 1100 bucks
they refused to pay stating that they new the limit was 1100 and they would see him in court -
well out of order but bugger all he can do :ohmy:
( legally ;))

Re: For All Tradesmen
 

My take on this is that without the licence we are left 'wide open' for not being paid and as regards the type of set up being portrayed on here by SBOZ one can only see it coming back to haunt him somewhere along the line!

As everyone knows and has probably experienced in our working lives non-payment for work you have done leaves a sour taste and it only takes a couple of these scenarios to put you under pressure and then cast doubts on future clientele and their ability to pay up. I am all for being licenced as it offers a form of protection both to the consumer and the contractor, and also through its governing is further proof to others that you are indeed a reputable contractor / business and that can only be beneficial in the longer term. I would suspect that the licence would also have an effect on other things such as banking, borrowing, insurances, mortgages etc in the sense that financial institutions would be looking to make sure that you are what you say you are on mortgage applications etc and in the wider sense the thread takes another twist!

From a personal point of view there will always be people trying to screw the system and I've no doubt that in some form or another we have all done it whether it be doing a cash job, fiddling car mileage etc etc, however, as long as we stick to the bigger picture we should all get on and prosper. The law is there for everyone to abide by and if others deviate then they can't say that they haven't been warned!

As far as contract work goes I have always held the opinion that somewhere along the line you are always gonna get screwed by the big boys and the secret is to see it coming and move on! The domestic market has always been the best market for paying on time, has a lower rate of non-payment and you tend not to get sent from pillar to post when chasing unpaid invoices!