With so many storm damaged homes in Queensland’s south-east corner, Master Builders is warning home owners to be aware of potential scams.
If you’ve been unfortunate enough to see your home damaged in the recent storms you will, of course, want to get the damage fixed as quickly as possible. But you need to be careful. There are some operators who will try to take advantage of those whose homes have been affected by the storms. You need to be on the lookout for “blow-in” contractors who are out to make a quick buck.
There are some simple things you can do to minimise your chances of getting caught up with these types of contractors.
First (and this is most important), ask a contractor if they are licensed in Queensland to do the work they are quoting on. Ask them to produce their Queensland Building Services Contractor Licence. Take notice of their name, licence number, expiry date and class of licence. Complete details of their licence are also available online at www.bsa.qld.gov.au, where you can also perform a licence search.
Once that’s done and you’ve satisfied yourself that they are licensed in Queensland to do the work, the next step is to ask the contractor to give you a written quote.
The quote should contain a few important things:
- Contractor's name;
- BSA licence number;
- Description of the scope of works;
- The dollar value of the works;
- The duration of time the quote is good for e.g. 30 days; and
- Commencement and completion time estimates.
Find out if any regulatory inspections will be needed on the work they’re undertaking.
If the quoted value of work on your home is more than $3,300 then you will need to enter into a written contract with the contractor – that’s the law.
Master Builders sells contracts that comply with these requirements. However, while electrical contractors are exempt from these provisions, Master Builders recommends that you get written quotes and written contracts from all contractors. This reduces the likelihood of arguments about the scope of works or price.
Lastly, beware the contractor who wants cash up front. If the value of work is less than $20,000, the contractor, on signing the contract can expect a deposit of 10% of the contract price. For contracts in excess of $20,000 a deposit of 5% should be paid. Again that’s the law.
Consumers can search for Master Builders’ members who have registered to perform repair work. The Master Builders website allows you to search by the type of repairs required and suburb.
We hope your home is back the way you want it soon.
