Tradie Took Your Money? How to Get a Refund From a Tradesperson (Australia 2026)

Last updated 27 October 2026 · Reviewed by the Claim Done team · Not legal advice

Can you get your money back from a tradie?

Usually, yes. When you pay a business to work on your home, the work is a “service” under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL). Household repairs and renovations are services “of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use”, so you are covered as a consumer no matter how big the bill is (ACL s 3(3)). A sole-trader handyman in business is covered just like a company.

Three guarantees do most of the work:

• Due care and skill (s 60). The job must be done the way a competent tradesperson would do it. Crooked tiling, a gate that won’t latch, doors planed so far they no longer seal, damage to your walls while working: these are the usual failures.
• Fit for the purpose or result you asked for (s 61). If you said “I need this deck to take a spa” or “I need this shower to stop leaking into the hallway”, the work must be reasonably fit for that purpose or able to achieve that result. This guarantee doesn’t apply if you didn’t rely on their skill or judgment, or it was unreasonable to rely on it (s 61(3)).
• A reasonable time (s 62). If no finish date was agreed, the work must be done within a reasonable time. A tradie who starts, disappears for six weeks and stops answering may well be in breach.

What you can demand depends on how bad the failure is:

• A failure that can be fixed and isn’t major: you can require them to fix it within a reasonable time. If they refuse or drag it out, you can get someone else to fix it and recover “all reasonable costs”, or cancel the contract (s 267(2)).
• A major failure, or one that can’t be fixed: you can cancel the contract, or keep the work and claim compensation for the drop in its value below the price (s 267(3)). A failure is major if a reasonable person who knew about it would not have paid for the work, if the work is substantially unfit and can’t easily be fixed in a reasonable time, or if it “creates an unsafe situation” (s 268(1)). Several smaller failures taken together can also be a major failure (s 268(2)).
• Extra losses: on top of either remedy, you can claim damages for loss that was reasonably foreseeable, such as water damage to flooring or the cost of a second skip bin (s 267(4)-(5)).

When you cancel, the cancellation takes effect as soon as you tell them, by words or conduct (s 269(2)). You can then recover the money you paid “to the extent that the consumer has not already consumed the services” (s 269(3)). In plain terms: you get back what you paid for work that was never done.

What a tradie cannot do:

• Rely on a “no refunds” or “no warranty” line. A term that tries to exclude or limit the guarantees is void (s 64), and the ACCC says a business cannot take away these rights with a “no refunds” sign.
• Blame the weather or a supplier for poor workmanship: the “outside our control” defence does not apply to the due care and skill guarantee (s 267(1)(c)).
• Mislead you about the price or quality of the work (s 29(1)(b), (i)).

The most common problems with tradies and handymen

1. Took a deposit and vanished. If no work was done, cancel the contract in writing and claim the whole deposit back as money paid for services not consumed (s 269(3)). Several states also cap how much deposit a builder or contractor can take on a home building contract (see below); an oversized deposit is another point in your favour.
2. Started, then walked off the job. Claim the extra cost of getting another tradie to finish what you already paid for, or cancel and claim back the money paid for the unfinished part. Keep photos of exactly where the work stopped.
3. Poor workmanship. Ask them to fix it first if it is a minor failure. If they refuse or fail, get two quotes from other tradies and claim the reasonable cost (s 267(2)(b)(i)).
4. The job made things worse. A leak, a cracked tile, a damaged wall or a scratched floor caused while working is a foreseeable loss you can claim on top of the cost of the job itself (s 267(4)).
5. Charged more than the quote. A quote you accepted is normally the agreed price, so extra charges need your agreement. Ask for an itemised bill: the tradie must give it within 7 days, free (s 101). Our Overcharge and Invoice Dispute letter is built for this.
6. No invoice or receipt. For any job of $75 or more (excluding GST) the business must give you a proof of transaction showing its name, ABN, the date, the work and the price (s 100). A tradie who only takes cash and gives nothing is breaching the law, not you.
7. Unlicensed for the job, or a door-knocker. Both give you extra rights, covered in the next section.
8. Endless delays. Where no date was agreed, the work must be done in a reasonable time (s 62). Set a firm date in writing; if it passes, you can treat the delay as a failure and get someone else in.

Licences, contracts and deposits: the state rules for trade work

Each state also regulates home building and trade work. These rules tell you whether your tradie needed a licence, how much deposit they could take, and whether you must use a building dispute service before a tribunal.

When does a handyman need a licence?

• NSW: a contractor licence is needed for any residential building or trade work, including handyman work, where labour and materials cost more than $5,000 (Home Building Act 1989 Sch 1 cl 2(3)(a); Home Building Regulation 2014 cl 12). The regulator says the $5,000 includes GST. Plumbing, drainage, gasfitting, electrical wiring and air-conditioning work need a licence at any value.
• ACT: there is no dollar threshold. A licensed builder is needed for “building work”, which covers erecting, altering or demolishing a building and structural repairs. Electricians, plumbers, drainers and gasfitters must always be licensed. Carpenters, tilers and painters are not licensed as separate trades.
• Victoria: registration with the Building and Plumbing Commission (BPC) is required for domestic building work where “the cost (including labour and materials) exceeds $10,000”, and for work needing a building permit, whatever the cost. A job that combines trades, such as plastering and painting, needs registration if the total is over $10,000. Plumbing work that needs a compliance certificate (generally work of $750 or more) must be done by a licensed plumber or under one’s supervision (Building Act 1993 ss 221E, 221ZH).
• Queensland: work worth $3,300 or less is generally not “building work” needing a QBCC licence, but plumbing, drainage and gasfitting need a licence at any value (QBCC Regulation 2018, Sch 1 s 2). Above $3,300, a QBCC contractor’s licence of the right class is required (QBCC Act s 42). A person who does building work without the required licence “is not entitled to any monetary or other consideration for doing so”, subject to a narrow exception for reasonable remuneration (s 42(3)-(4)).
• South Australia: CBS tells consumers to use a licensed builder or tradesperson and to check the licence with its Find a licence holder tool. Its building guide says registered workers who do plumbing, gas fitting or electrical work on a new home must provide a Certificate of Compliance.
• Western Australia: plumbers and electricians must be licensed. Check them on the WA licence search.

Deposit limits on home building work

• NSW: no more than 10% of the contract price for residential building work (Home Building Act s 8). For jobs over $20,000 the contractor can’t take any payment, including a deposit, until home building compensation cover is in place and you have the certificate (s 92).
• Victoria: no more than 10% of a contract price under $20,000, or 5% of $20,000 or more, before work starts. If the builder takes more, you can avoid the contract (Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 s 11).
• Queensland: for a domestic building contract over $3,300, no more than 10% if under $20,000, or 5% if $20,000 or more (QBCC Act Sch 1B s 33).
• South Australia: for building contracts of $20,000 or more, a written contract is required and the deposit is capped at 5%, according to CBS’s building guide.
• Tasmania: for residential building work of $20,000 or more, no more than 10% under $50,000, or 5% at $50,000 or more (Residential Building Work Contracts and Dispute Resolution Act 2016 s 41).

Builder warranties that sit beside the ACL

Bigger jobs on a home also carry statutory building warranties: work done in a proper and workmanlike manner, with good and suitable materials, in line with the law and the plans, and with reasonable care and skill. In Victoria they are implied into every domestic building contract (s 8) and pass to later owners (s 9). In Queensland they apply to domestic building contracts over $3,300, with a 6-year period for structural defects and 1 year for other defects (QBCC Act Sch 1B s 29). In Tasmania they apply to residential building work of $20,000 or more, and you have 6 years from practical completion (s 32). In South Australia CBS says you have up to five years from completion.

In NSW, the s 18B warranties of the Home Building Act cover residential building work, including repairs and every plumbing, electrical or gas job on a home, for 6 years for a major defect and 2 years for other defects (s 18E). Non-specialist jobs of $5,000 or less fall outside that Act, but the ACL guarantees still apply. In the ACT, Building Act warranties cover residential building work of $12,000 or more (6 years for structural elements, including the roof; 2 years otherwise), and since 10 July 2026 an owner who gives written notice to fix defects within 2 years of completion gets a presumption that the work is defective (s 89F).

Must you use a building dispute service first?

• NSW: NCAT’s registrar must reject a home building claim unless the dispute has first been investigated by the regulator, now Building Commission NSW (Home Building Act s 48J). NCAT lists exemptions, including claims against unlicensed contractors and claims where the time limit expires within 3 months. The Building Commission’s dispute service is free: 13 27 00.
• Victoria: for a domestic building dispute you cannot apply to VCAT until the BPC’s free dispute resolution service (formerly Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria) has issued a certificate (Domestic Building Contracts Act s 56). Contracts for one trade only, such as painting, plastering, tiling, plumbing or electrical work alone, are outside that Act (Domestic Building Contracts Regulations 2017 reg 7), so those claims go to VCAT’s goods and services list directly.
• Queensland: for a building dispute you must first go through the QBCC’s dispute process before QCAT can hear it (QBCC Act s 77(2)). Call the QBCC on 139 333.
• Western Australia: the Building Commissioner deals with complaints about home building work contracts valued between $7,500 and $500,000, and about work by registered building service providers. You must give the other side a notice of proposed complaint at least 14 days before lodging.

Door-to-door tradies

If a tradie knocked on your door or rang you uninvited and you agreed to work worth more than $100, it is likely an “unsolicited consumer agreement” (ACL s 69); asking someone to come and quote does not count as an invitation (s 69(2)). You can cancel by telling them, orally or in writing, within 10 business days, even if the job is finished (s 82). They must not start work or take any payment in those 10 business days (s 86), you are not liable to pay for work done in breach (ss 42, 86(3)), and they must refund you immediately when you cancel (s 84). The exception is urgent repair work by a licensed business after a declared emergency such as a storm (Competition and Consumer Regulations reg 88). Our roofer page covers storm chasers in more detail.

What you can claim from a tradie

• A refund of money paid for work never done, including a deposit, when you cancel (s 269(3)).
• The reasonable cost of having another tradie fix or finish the job, after the first one refused or failed to fix it (s 267(2)(b)(i)). Get two written quotes.
• Compensation for the drop in value of the work below what you paid, for a major failure you decide to live with (s 267(3)(b)).
• Foreseeable losses: damage to your property, hire costs, extra materials, reasonable time off work to let the second tradie in (s 267(4)).

Working out the amount. Add what you have paid to what it will cost to get the job done properly, subtract the price you would have paid anyway, then add other losses with receipts.

Example (round numbers, for illustration only): a handyman quotes $4,000 to replace rotten deck boards and rehang a side gate, takes $2,000 up front, works one day and stops answering. Another tradie quotes $4,200 to remove the badly fixed boards and complete the job. Had the first handyman finished, you’d have paid $4,000 in total. Now you’ll pay $2,000 + $4,200 = $6,200. Your claim is the $2,200 difference, plus $150 for a second skip bin: $2,350.

Evidence to gather

1. The quote, contract, text messages or emails that show what was agreed: scope, price, start and finish dates.
2. Every payment: bank transfer records, card statements, receipts. Note any cash payment with the date and amount straight away.
3. The business’s legal name and ABN. Check it on ABN Lookup; a claim must name the right person or company.
4. Dated photos and video of the work: before, during, and after it stopped. Photograph defects next to a tape measure or level.
5. Two written quotes from other licensed tradies to fix or finish the job, ideally with a short note on what is wrong.
6. The tradie’s licence number and a screenshot of the licence register on the day you checked.
7. Receipts for extra losses: damaged items, hire, extra materials.

How to get your money back: 5 steps

Step 1: Tell the tradie in writing what went wrong and what you want

Call if you like, but follow up the same day by text or email. Say what was agreed, what went wrong, and what you want: fix it by a date, finish the job, or refund $X. Give a short deadline, such as 5 business days, and keep a copy. For a minor problem, offering them the chance to fix it first protects your right to claim another tradie’s costs later. Our guide on how to write a letter of demand explains what makes a letter work, and the get your money back hub covers other kinds of business.

Step 2: No answer, a refusal or a runaround? Send a formal demand

Our Consumer Guarantee Letter sets out the services guarantees (ss 60-62), the remedies in s 267, the amount you’re owed and a 14-day deadline. It is the kind of letter a tribunal expects to see before you file. Many tradies who ignore texts respond to a properly framed demand. If your only complaint is a bill above the quote, use the Overcharge and Invoice Dispute letter ($49). For anything else, the general Letter of Demand ($49) is a fallback.

Send a Consumer Guarantee Letter – $49

Step 3: Complain to the regulator in the tradie’s state

Complain to the consumer or building regulator where the business operates, and attach your letter. It’s free. Building regulators can direct licensed contractors to fix defective work, but most regulators cannot order a refund.

• NSW: NSW Fair Trading, 13 32 20, for general consumer complaints. For home building and trade work: Building Commission NSW, 13 27 00, home building dispute resolution. An inspector can issue a rectification order to a licensed contractor.
• VIC: Consumer Affairs Victoria, 1300 55 81 81, general complaint form. For domestic building work: Building and Plumbing Commission, 1300 067 088, free dispute resolution.
• QLD: Office of Fair Trading, 13 QGOV (13 74 68). For licensed building or plumbing work: QBCC, 139 333, defective work.
• ACT: Access Canberra, 13 22 81, get help with a consumer issue. It needs proof you have written to the business first.
• NT: NT Consumer Affairs, 1800 019 319 or 08 8999 1999, conciliation request.
• WA: Consumer Protection, 1300 30 40 54, for contract and money disputes. For faulty building or plumbing work: Building and Energy complaints.
• SA: Consumer and Business Services, 131 882, disputes with a builder or tradesperson. CBS can call a compulsory conciliation conference, and a tradesperson told to attend must attend.
• TAS: Consumer Affairs Tasmania, 1300 654 499, enquiry and complaint form. Building Standards Tasmania handles residential building disputes.

Step 4: Still unpaid? Send the final demand

The final demand quotes your first letter, the tradie’s response (or silence) and any regulator reference number, and says you will file a claim if they don’t pay by a set date. In South Australia the courts expect a final notice and a 21-day wait before you file, or you may not get your filing fee back.

Send the final demand – $49

Step 5: Take it to the tribunal or court in the tradie’s state

File in the state where the business is (see the table below). For most handyman jobs this is an ordinary consumer claim. For larger home building work, check the dispute-service step above first: in NSW, Victoria and Queensland you generally need to go through the building regulator’s process before the tribunal will hear a building dispute. In WA, SA and Tasmania you file a court claim at the Magistrates Court. On a workmanship dispute, an independent tradie’s written description of the defects is often your strongest evidence. Our Hearing Bundle ($97) puts your evidence in the order a tribunal member or magistrate expects.

Prepare your tribunal application – $97

In WA, SA and Tasmania the same product prepares your court claim.

Where your claim goes in each state

The claim goes to the forum in the state where the tradie’s business is, not where you live (for a job on your home they are usually the same).

If the tradie is a sole trader living in another state. The NSW and Victorian tribunals cannot decide a dispute between residents of different states when the other side is an individual, because of the High Court’s decision in Burns v Corbett [2018] HCA 15; the claim goes to a court instead. This does not affect claims against a company, and many tradies trade through one. ABN Lookup tells you which it is. QCAT in Queensland currently hears these claims, because the Queensland Court of Appeal has held it is a court (Owen v Menzies [2012] QCA 170), although two appeals challenging that are pending.

After you win: getting paid

If the tradie doesn’t pay after an order is made, the order can be enforced: in most states it is registered or filed with the court and enforced as a judgment. The usual tools are a garnishee order on the tradie’s bank account or on money their customers owe them, seizure and sale of property such as a work vehicle, and an examination where the tradie must answer questions about their finances under oath.

Tribunals do not collect the money for you. In NSW, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT and the NT, an unpaid tribunal money order is first registered, recorded or filed with a court. In WA, SA and Tasmania the Magistrates Court decides the claim, so you already have a court judgment. Then you apply for the court’s enforcement tools.

Enforce your order – $97

Enforce your order – $97

Questions people ask

Can I get my deposit back if the tradie never started?

Yes, in most cases. If no work was done, cancel the contract in writing and ask for the deposit back. Under the Australian Consumer Law you can recover money paid for services you have not received (s 269(3)). Our Consumer Guarantee Letter sets this out with a 14-day deadline. If they still don’t pay, file a claim at the tribunal or court in their state.

Can a tradie charge more than the quote?

Not without your agreement. A quote you accepted is the agreed price, and charging more without agreeing a variation is a breach of contract; misleading you about the price also breaches ACL s 29(1)(i). Ask for an itemised bill, which they must give free within 7 days (s 101). Our Overcharge and Invoice Dispute letter disputes the extra in writing.

The tradie says “no refunds”. Is that legal?

No. The consumer guarantees apply automatically, and any term that tries to exclude or limit them is void (ACL s 64). The ACCC says a business can’t remove these rights with a “no refunds” sign. A tradie can refuse a refund if you simply changed your mind, but not if the work failed a guarantee.

How long does a tradie have to finish the job?

If you agreed a finish date, that date. If not, a reasonable time (s 62), judged by the size of the job and what was said when you agreed. Put a firm, fair deadline in writing. If it passes without a good reason, you can treat the delay as a failure and claim the extra cost of getting the job finished.

Can I pay another tradie to fix it and send the bill to the first one?

Yes, once you have asked the first tradie to fix a minor problem and they refused or didn’t do it within a reasonable time. You can then “recover all reasonable costs” of having it fixed (s 267(2)(b)(i)). Keep both quotes and the invoice, and photograph the defects before the new tradie starts.

What if the tradie wasn’t licensed?

Report them to the licensing body, and say so in your demand. Unlicensed work above the state limit is an offence; in Queensland an unlicensed contractor generally has no right to be paid for building work that needed a licence (QBCC Act s 42(3)). Your consumer guarantee rights still apply either way.

A tradie knocked on my door and I signed up. Can I cancel?

Usually yes, within 10 business days, by telling them orally or in writing (ACL s 82). They cannot start work or take payment during that time (s 86), and must refund anything you paid immediately when you cancel (s 84). If they broke the door-to-door rules, the cancellation period extends to 3 or 6 months.

I paid cash and have no receipt. Can I still claim?

Yes. For jobs of $75 or more the business had to give you a proof of transaction (s 100), so the missing receipt is their failure. Prove payment another way: an ATM withdrawal on the day, texts about the price, a witness, or the tradie’s own messages acknowledging payment. Write down the details now while you remember them.

Can I take a tradie to NCAT or VCAT?

Yes, if the business is in NSW or Victoria. A home repair claim in NSW goes to NCAT, usually after Building Commission NSW has looked at the dispute. A consumer claim in Victoria goes to VCAT with no money cap; for larger home building work you first need a certificate from the Building and Plumbing Commission. Our tribunal application ($97) prepares the claim.

Is there a time limit to claim against a tradie?

Yes, and it varies. NCAT says to apply within 3 years of when the problem began, and NSW building warranties run 2 years for most defects and 6 years for major defects. VCAT says generally within six years. Queensland’s building warranties run 1 year for most defects and 6 years for structural ones. Act quickly: defects get harder to prove once covered up.

Sources

All sources checked 19 October 2026.

• Competition and Consumer Act 2010, Schedule 2 (Australian Consumer Law): ss 3, 29, 42, 60-64, 69-86, 100-101, 236, 267-270
• Competition and Consumer Regulations 2010: regs 77A, 88, 95
• ACCC: Consumer rights and guarantees
• Home Building Act 1989 (NSW) and Home Building Regulation 2014 (NSW)
• NSW Government: Minor maintenance and cleaning work licences
• Building Commission NSW: Home building dispute resolution
• NCAT: Home building
• Building Act 2004 (ACT) and ACT: Extension of trade licensing
• Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (Vic) and Domestic Building Contracts Regulations 2017
• Victoria: Becoming a registered building practitioner
• Building and Plumbing Commission: Dispute resolution services
• Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 and QBCC Regulation 2018
• QBCC: Defective work
• Residential Building Work Contracts and Dispute Resolution Act 2016 (Tas)
• WA Building and Energy: Building dispute resolution
• SA Government: Disputes with a builder or tradesperson and CBS: Building, extending and renovating a home (January 2025)
• ABN Lookup
• NCAT fees, VCAT fees, QCAT fees, ACAT fees, NTCAT fees, WA Magistrates Court fees, SA Magistrates Court fees, Tasmanian Magistrates Court fees

Claim Done is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. This page is general information. For a complex or high-value matter, speak to a lawyer or a free community legal centre.