Beware of dodgy tradies going ‘door to door’: SA consumer watchdog
The state government is warning South Australians that there’s been an influx of “dodgy” unlicensed tradies who are offering their services.
Consumer and Business Services (CBS) has reported a spike of roughly 20 per cent in complaints received about unlicensed tradies including plumbers, gas fitters and electricians within the past financial year.
Throughout the 2023–24 financial year to date, CBS has received nearly 530 allegations of unlicensed or out of scope work in the building, plumbing, electrical and gas fitting industry.
Notably, this represents an increase of at least 20.5 per cent on the roughly 440 allegations received over the same period in the previous financial year.
CBS has reported that a number of these matters are still under consideration, with formal warnings being issued in more than 160 matters raised over this financial year to date.
A number of these complaints were said to revolve around “rogue tradies” going door to door and offering low-cost services.
CBS ardently advocated against taking these offers at face value, stating that the work of these rogue tradies is frequently of a poorer standard that necessitates repairs more costly than if you were to hire a qualified professional in the first place.
In identifying a professional trades worker, the CBS stated that by law, every builder and tradesperson is mandated to display licence number across any advertising, including those on social media, their website and any business cards.
To fully ensure the validity of a trades worker, the CBS further recommends that parties specially verify a licence card by looking them up on the CBS website before entering into any binding dealings.
These developments are one of many recently involving rogue traders and dodgy builders that have prompted the CBS to respond in conducting the “most significant review of the South Australian laws governing construction in 20 years”.