Handy person - a thing of the past?

[ChrisOs]

I e-mailed my PM in Cairns yesterday as I was concerned about the number of minor repairs and maintenance tasks that have been required lately. I asked that where possible, she wait until there are a few jobs that could be done by a maintenance person, rather than contacting a plumber one day, a carpenter a few days later, then a painter etc.
Here is the response:

I understand your concerns and have made a note of your instructions on the file.

However, under the new legislation we are no longer legally able to use a handyman. We have to use registered tradespeople which relate to the job at hand - e.g. plumber for leaks, handyman (registered builder) for minor jobs, electrician for electrical. Also under the new legislation - we must ensure that those tradespeople hold QBSA cards and public liability insurance and indemnity insurance to the value of 10 million dollars so it is not a simple matter of using a handyman any more - those days are over unfortunately.

Where possible I will try and delay jobs until there is possibly another one for the same tradesperson to do.

I would never suggest that anyone other than a licensed electrician do electrical work and similar for gas and major plumbing, but changing tap washers and realigning a sliding door?

Is this correct? What do others do? (I am in Adelaide, so doing the minor work myself is not an option at the moment.)

Any PMs care to comment?

Regards,
Chris.

 

[Sunstone]

Dear Chris,

Two different handymen do most of our work. And that includes minor plumbing, basic carpentry etc etc.

Agree with your comments with regards to electrical and major plumbing. But to myself it sounds like your PM is going for a bit of an overkill overall. I have not heard anything of the sort myself with regard to "the legislation" which if in effect in Cairns would also be in place in Brisbane.

Ask her for a copy of the legislation and then find yourself a handyman you are happy with. At the end of the day you can always instruct your PM to use a certain tradesman.

Cheers,

Sunstone.

 

[asy]

Wow,

Never heard of this.

We always used our maintenance guy wherever possible, he's our first port of call. He goes out and then lets us know whether he can do it or not, in the example of plumbing, he'll go to any non-structural (if you know what I mean...) plumbing and see if he can do it first, then if he can't, he'd ring our plumber and get him to go over.

I agree they need to have appropriate insurances and licensing for whatever they are doing, but the days are not so bad that an unlicensed person can't screw on a door knob.

I would be very interested in where your PM says the legislation is. All licensees get posted updates of any legislation, and I don't recall having seen anything about this.

Please let us know.

asy

 

[ChrisOs]

Thanks very much for the responses Sunstone and Asy.

I will contact the PM and ask for a reference to the legislation. I will post the response.

Regards,
Chris.

 

[liverpoolharryk]

Chris,

I agree with ASY, we use a handyman for all our small jobs. I have never herd of such legislation. As long as the handyman has an ABN and the correct insurances there is no problem.

Jarrod
Jarrod Lane Real Estate

 

[slades]

I have a PM in Townsville who has specific instructions to have a 'handyman' look at any repair jobs first, unless it is obviously a tradesman requirement.

I've been caught out in the past with those $130 bills for a plumber to change tap washers and $80 for an electrician to change a light bulb, yes a blown light bulb! Some tenants are..........!

I'd be concerned at any legislation that insisted on (high cost) tradesmen for everything and I'd be surprised if it existed. Maybe the PM is misinterpreting some other regulations. Maybe they have a nice little deal going with the tradesmen....no! it could never happen.

 

[ChrisOs]

Well, my PM is very thorough!
Here is the reply:

The legislation I refer to is to comply with the Queensland Building Services Authority Act 1991 and the WorkCover Queensland Act 1996. It also is related to your landlord insurance policy.

Basically, it comes down to your legal liability at risk - e.g. if a handyman did something electrical or plumbing wise that could cause harm to the tenants - your landlord insurance would be voided - you would be open to litigation by the tenant and so would your agent. I have also attached for your information a copy of an article printed in a Property Management Journal outlining the dangers of using the traditional "handyman".

To safeguard your other properties in Queensland - I would immediately check with your PM to ensure that this "handyman" has signed a Contractor Appointment Form, has provided copies of his public liability insurance to the value of 10 million dollars, indemnity insurance to the value of 10 million dollars and more importantly a copy of his QBSA card confirming that he is authorised to do all sorts of plumbing, building and repair work.

I have recently attended property management conferences in Sydney and this topic was thoroughly discussed and landlord insurers also gave talks at the conference about it. You are most welcome to check with AON Risk Services or Terri Scheer Landlord insurance who are probably the biggest landlord insurers in Queensland.

Am I right in saying this is a long-winded way of saying what Jarrod said:

"As long as the handyman has an ABN and the correct insurances there is no problem."

I haven't included the attachment as it is 2mb but it is an article that makes reference to a Contractor Appointment form, which is on the REIQ web site.

I will check with my other PMs that their handymen/women have the correct insurance.

Regards,
Chris.

 

[Lplate]

IMHO it's about reason and judgement. I assume the PM wouldn't call a carpetener to fix the palings. Nor should an electrician be called to replace the lightbulb or put the new element in the hob (many are just slide out slide in).

Where will all of these tradespeole come from? There are already skills shortages and where you can get a tradesperson for a minor job there is certain to be a minimum charge.

However if the RTA, courts or insurers claim that tradespeople are essential for all work, no matter how minor then that's it I guess.

If so, it will raise rents significantly and I doubt that many property investors would be willing to absorb additional costs.

Of course owners can choose to invest elsewhere, it's all about risks and return and the next part of the cycle doesn't look too rosy for residential property anyhow.

Frankly the insurance industry is getting what seems to be a well-deserved reputation for high premiums and weaseling out of responsibilities.

 

[crest133]

L Plate's right IMHO. If every handyman was taboo, they'd all become extinct and how long would you wait for a tradie ?? It's a long enough wait already.
Better to find another PM than put up with them insisting on full tradie for every R & M item, that's ridiculous. Howzabout you insist on a fully licenced REA looking after your property instead of a " mere PM " !! ??
cheers
crest133

 

[liverpoolharryk]

Further to this, I have made a few phone calls, for my own peace of mind.

The BSA (Building Services Authority) said "A handyman may conduct work up to $1,100 per job before they need a Trade/building licence. All jobs under this value are considered handyman work and therefore do not need to be licenced."

Terri Scheer Insurance said that as long as the handyman had all the required insurances they are fine to use.

Hope that helps anyone out there. So if your PM says they can only use a registered builder because of legislation then I would be questioning them.

I guess my handyman can continue on his merry way providing good service at good prices for my landlords.

Jarrod
Jarrod Lane Real Estate

 

[likewow]

Further to this, I have made a few phone calls, for my own peace of mind.

The BSA (Building Services Authority) said "A handyman may conduct work up to $1,100 per job before they need a Trade/building licence. All jobs under this value are considered handyman work and therefore do not need to be licenced."

Terri Scheer Insurance said that as long as the handyman had all the required insurances they are fine to use.

Hope that helps anyone out there. So if your PM says they can only use a registered builder because of legislation then I would be questioning them.

I guess my handyman can continue on his merry way providing good service at good prices for my landlords.

Jarrod
Jarrod Lane Real Estate

I guess the above applies in all cases except plumbing, electrical and communications cabling where licences are needed regardless of the size of the job. (Except for minor things like changing a tap washer or a light bulb etc.)

 

[Jacque]

Long live the handymen! If it weren't for them, many of us would be hundreds (if not thousands) out of pocket. All of my PM's use their services, and I haven't had any complaints yet. The only bills I've questioned in the past have been from plumbers, sparkies and cleaners (at $27.50 an hour I've been ripped off severely by this lot!).
There is definitely a real need for the great handyman- as Jarrod says, just make sure they're insured. As is anyone who ventures onto your property to do any work.

 

[ChrisOs]

I have another PM in Cairns and I followed up with her regarding her use of a handyman and insurance etc. Here is her reply:

I have checked out our handyman re his insurance.
Our handyman has his QBSA card, has signed a Contractor Appointment Form, and has the appropriate insurance in place.
Our handyman does NOT touch anything electrical and will only do very minor plumbing repairs like changing a washer or a outlet valve on a toilet system. Both these things would not cause harm to a tenant. The only time he would do these if we are sending him out to do other maintenance at the property. If its only a plumbing problem we would send out a qualified plumber.

I may have to consider changing PMs.

Regards,
Chris.

 

[ChrisOs]

....at $27.50 an hour I've been ripped off severely by this lot!.

Jacque,
Is that a "typo" or did you really mean $27.50 per hour? I wouldn't be complaining if that was all I was being charged. I'm talking about a $50 call out fee, then parts and labour on top, for a plumber and electrician when a handyman could have done the job.

Regards,
Chris.

 

[Jacque]

Sorry Chris, I didn't write particularly well with that post. Allow me to clarify. The $27.50 per hr was only referring to the cleaners rate, not the sparky or plumber. I told the PM, upon receiving the $500 cleaning bill, that I would have gone up to the houses myself for that rate and happily cleaned (not too much skill involved after all!).

 

[ChrisOs]

OK Jacque - thanks for clarifying.

Sounds a lot for a cleaner to me. They must have done an excellent job for that money. Did it include cleaning the garden as well?

Regards,
Chris.

 

[Jacque]

No, I was charged separately by another company for this