Getting 2 Tradesmen Sent out to a 1 Tradesman Job

OzyBe on 18/12/2024 - 09:32

Has anyone had to get a new tap installed or an old power point replaced, and instead of 1 plumber or electrician attending site, two tradesmen from that company have been sent out to do the job?

It seems that some companies have pairs working together on each job, which in some cases can be necessary, but not for simple or single jobs.

Of course, the issue at hand is receiving a bill for twice as much, as you then get charged for 2 tradesmen.

I guess the solution is to ask how many people will be dispatched for the job and what the hourly rate is when booking the job when booking - do all Ozbargainers do this by default?

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Mechz on 18/12/2024 - 09:33
    +23

    Do you not get quotes before they start?

  • Sye on 18/12/2024 - 09:38
    +16

    Did they also send out 2 $100,000 Ford Ranger utes? Can't have tradies sharing a ute.

    • Duckie2hh on 18/12/2024 - 09:54

      Nah has to be Mercedes Utes.

      • geekcohen on 18/12/2024 - 09:56
        +1

        They wouldn't be new since Mercedes stopped making their Ute in around 2020.

        • MS Paint on 18/12/2024 - 09:56
          +4

          And they were just Nissans in disguise.

          • geekcohen on 18/12/2024 - 09:58

            @MS Paint: Just like the Amarok is a Ranger underneath.

            • BinaryPirate on 18/12/2024 - 13:13
              +2

              @geekcohen: While the Amarok and Ranger share many parts and the underlying platform, each manufacturer is still building & tuning/programming their own vehicle from the shared pool of parts, as opposed to simply slapping their own badge on another manufacturer's vehicle.

              • mikekiwimike on 19/12/2024 - 10:51

                @BinaryPirate: How to find the Amarok (Ranger) owners without asking the question…..

                • BinaryPirate on 19/12/2024 - 16:58

                  @mikekiwimike: Evidently your 'How To' is broken. I don't own an Amarok, Ranger nor an AmaRanger.

                  I was simply curious about the subject.

              • Euphemistic on 19/12/2024 - 17:06
                +1

                @BinaryPirate: Exactly the same with the mercedes. Shared platform, but the merc had a different body and engine options

    • reactor-au on 19/12/2024 - 08:54

      Ford Australia thanks you for making Ford Australia what it is today

  • geekcohen on 18/12/2024 - 09:39
    +7

    Has anyone had to get a new tap installed or an old power point replaced, and instead of 1 plumber or electrician attending site, two tradesmen from that company have been sent out to do the job?

    Nope. My electrician comes on his own and the same with the Plumber. Maybe they might bring the apprentice.

    Of course, the issue at hand is receiving a bill for twice as much, as you then get charged for 2 tradesmen.

    Not necessarily. I charge the same whether I am doing the job or whether I have my offsider with me. What it does mean is that I can do the job quicker, easier, and with less hassle with both of us there.

    I think it also depends on the job. For swapping an old power point or a tap, I don't see as a two person job nor should you be charged for two people. For me, when running cabling, up and down off the roof or in the roof, easier with two people. I could do it on my own, but it would be a pain and take longer. Having the extra pair of hands is a pain.

    • MS Paint on 18/12/2024 - 09:43
      +13

      Having the extra pair of hands is a pain.

      Donate them to the second hand store.

      • geekcohen on 18/12/2024 - 09:44
        +6

        Hahaha, I just picked my error and then you commented when I went to edit.

        I mean is great - Having the extra pair of hands is great.

        • CodeXD on 18/12/2024 - 10:28
          +12

          Okay, you've convinced me, gonna buy an extra pair of hands at the second hand store.

    • sprocketoctopus on 19/12/2024 - 09:43
      +2

      100%.
      And saves time and money for the client.

      In some cases it's impossible to do it on your own

  • JimmyF on 18/12/2024 - 09:52
    +1

    Has anyone had to get a new tap installed or an old power point replaced, and instead of 1 plumber or electrician attending site, two tradesmen from that company have been sent out to do the job?

    Well you need a plumber and an electrician to do those jobs.

    Did you get one or each or are you saying you got 2 of each when they attended?

    Often they will come with an apprentice who is learning.

  • Protractor on 18/12/2024 - 09:52
    -6

    It could depend on the job.2 blokes might actually shorten the over all hours.
    Or??? Possibly fast tracked non tradesmen at all? Just imported workers on a 'worker shortage' short cut trade cert? Using duty of care to justify a second person? Was the company a franchise type business?

    PS: Also 1 to keep watch while the (1) other raids the fridge or (2) rifles through the undies drawer, or (3) lowers the chocolate depth-charge in the dunny, sans flush.

  • quokked on 18/12/2024 - 09:52
    +11

    Always two, there are. No more. No less. A Master and an apprentice…..

    • jv on 18/12/2024 - 10:15
      -2

      A Master and an apprentice…..

      I'm still undecided….

    • AndyC1 on 18/12/2024 - 17:47

      Yes O there be one.

  • Duckie2hh on 18/12/2024 - 09:54
    +4

    One to do the work and the other to watch

    • jv on 18/12/2024 - 10:19

      Not that different to those working on Labor's Big Build projects.

  • Fredfloresjr on 18/12/2024 - 10:01

    Hey mate, sorry for that. Me and my mate is inseparable. We use the toilet together too.

  • bargaino on 18/12/2024 - 10:20
    +4

    I think some tradies must have utter contempt for anyone not able, or to rich to bother, to do such simple tasks themselves. So they justify ripping you off.

    In some countries, schools teach these basic life skills. German women and men with no technical bent, think nothing of wiring their own light fittings every time they move to a new apartment. Australia is sad.

    • brendanm on 18/12/2024 - 11:33
      +4

      That's the unions for you. Made sure to force these laws that try to stop people doing basic tasks themselves.

    • Euphemistic on 18/12/2024 - 12:54

      I wonder what the stastics for electrocution and house fires casued by faulty wiring say about diy.

      • resisting the urge on 18/12/2024 - 14:17
        +6

        Ask any builder, let alone house-owners, most of us have seen plenty of qualified tradespeople leave dangerous work behind them.

        Just this year;

        • AC installers venting R410A to the atmosphere
        • Plumbers leaving gas fittings leaking
        • Electricians using light wires (the standards do not mandate thickness beyond what is dangerous)

        Regulators can't be trusted to get it right either.

        Main cause of house-fires are Li-Ion batteries with inadequate Management systems causing cells to undergo heat stress and explode. Any regulator worth its salt would have been all over these scooters, and other domestic appliances

        • timthetoolman on 18/12/2024 - 17:35

          Electricians using light wires (the standards do not mandate thickness beyond what is dangerous)

          Could you elaborate on what you mean here please?

          • resisting the urge on 09/01/2025 - 09:39

            @timthetoolman: By light, I meant thinner than is ideal to prevent voltage drop, and that may slightly affect an appliance's ideal operating capacity in a way the customer would not accept if they knew. Ideal cable size is seldom described accurately by the manufacturer, because there is seldom (ever?) any requirement for them to do even suggest a size, and lower operating voltages on most appliances mean fewer failures in the devices themselves, fewer warranty returns. So not in their interest to insist on expensive, heavy wires.

            Oftentimes it is only minor undersizing one sees, but not always, and seldom actually dangerous- but I guess because some sparkys will use what they have in the truck, even when the drop is sub-optimal.

      • bargaino on 18/12/2024 - 15:35
        +1

        I wonder what the stastics

        Statistics would be relevant to making law. Does "prohibition" increase saftey? Spoiler: no.
        Consider the New Zealand case, where law says major DIY has to be inspected.

        Laws which are not enforced only affect people who choose to follow laws. And probably follow codes. They are not the problem.

        • Euphemistic on 18/12/2024 - 19:16
          +1

          Does "prohibition" increase saftey? Spoiler: no.

          Got any numbers, reference to back that up? Or is it gut feeling?

          I haven't done any searching, but I posed a question that you've answered without anything to back up your answer.

          • bargaino on 18/12/2024 - 19:20
            +3

            @Euphemistic: Available data shows no evidence. https://www.google.com/search?q=electrical+safety+incidents+…
            The most dangerous DIY task is cleaning gutters. Clearly this should be restricted to licensed professionals.

            • Euphemistic on 18/12/2024 - 21:38

              @bargaino: What about the rest of the world? What sort of regulation and culture around electrical work does NZ have. India apparently has 13 fatalities per day for example, and there's not a lot of regulation there.

              • RMBC on 19/12/2024 - 07:53

                @Euphemistic: 4,745 a year in a country of over 1,000,000,000 is certainly not material. There would be far greater causes of death to attend to first

                • Euphemistic on 19/12/2024 - 08:52

                  @RMBC: "Only 5000 people". Its still significantly more common than Australia, like 10 times more common.

                  • RMBC on 19/12/2024 - 10:42

                    @Euphemistic: Based on the below, Indian deaths by electrocution using your data is circa 3x more common than in Australia, yet 7.5 more common than in NZ.

                    Reality is that all people die, and whilst on an individual level it is tragic, an attempt to stop all deaths is in vain, hence the need for dispassionate contemplation with regulation and analysis of statistics. 4,745 out of over 1,450,000,000 (according to the most recent data I could find), is 0.0003%. Given the living and educational conditions of many in India, this is miniscule. Given the WHO states that in 2021 the fifth largest cause of death in India was diarrhoeal diseases, or 493,258 total deaths, a focus on sanitation and clean drinking water is likely to be much higher on the list of priorities, and indeed a far greater tragedy.

                    Extrapolated your figure of electrical deaths in India to Australia's current population of 26,800,000 is 88 people a year. The latest data I could find from the Australian Institute of Health & Welfare indicates that 55 died from electrocution between July 2014 and June 2016, so dividing by two, we get 27; certainly a far lower percentage at 0.0001% of the population.

                    The question therefore is how much of that is due to the regulations, and how much due to other factors. As mentioned above, NZ has lower regulations, and Worksafe NZ indicates that over the 26 years to 2018 there was an average of 1.8 deaths per year, and indeed 0 in 2018. Extrapolating the average out of 4,700,000 NZ's population in 2018, that results in a percentage of 0.00004%, or 40% of Australia's, yet we have stronger regulations.

                    All this is a very long winded way of saying that it is not necessarily the regulation which provides the result, and I would guess that the attitudes and education of the population in relation to specific matters likely has a much greater outcome. Further, there will be actuaries across the country who can tell you the computed value of a life, and therefore the tipping point as to when regulations should and should not be imposed.

    • resisting the urge on 18/12/2024 - 14:16
      +1

      Indeed. Despite being practically capable and innovative, in Oz we constantly accept anything our legally trained over-rulers tell us is the line beyond which we must not tread. We are happy to be 'kept safe', to be tracked and valued by commercial surveillance and ML everywhere we go, recorded, and assessed. No wonder we are happy to be prevented from repairing things, attacked by vendors when we buy things, prosecuted for fixing things we own, and to receive fines for not having our windscreen washer fluid topped up.

      Maybe it is all just down to the loud and proud grand apathy of the leftover convict class and other new arrivals to this far flung colony; all this acceptance of our leading class and the speed they are happy to sell our freedom, our children, and our sovereignty, right alongside their grandmothers.

    • SlickMick on 19/12/2024 - 15:53

      I'm glad I live in Australia.

      If you made the rules, I'd have to hire an electrician to verify that a house is safe before I moved in (in case someone like you had lived there before me).

      There are some things I'd like to be able to do myself, but playing with electricty is not one of them.
      Actually, the only thing I can think of that I'd want to be able to do myself but can't is cabling - and I'm not capable of doing that properly anyway.

      In my current home we keep finding shortcomings because the previous owner thought he was pretty handy and did stuff himself without knowing best practice. Thankfully, this is Australia so I expect he wouldn't have messed with the electricity… I hope.

      • bargaino on 19/12/2024 - 16:02
        +1

        To rely on laws to assume your house is safe sounds extremely naïve. Its like saying "I'm glad there is no meth problem in Australia thanks to it being illegal." Prohibition is as useful as hope.

        Any house in Australia of sufficient age will have had many people working on it, of varying competence. Even if the wiring was all to code once, codes change, so take that into account. And the insulation dumped over the 4mm^2 circuit may mean it should no longer have a 20A breaker.
        When I bought an old house, I spent some time checking all the wiring and plumbing, fixing some poor junctions and old parts. Was it done by a tradie? Irrelevant.

        • SlickMick on 19/12/2024 - 17:36
          +1

          What kind of anarchy would we live in if we didn't trust in laws. Your analogy only works to the extent that everyday Australians are meth-heads. I clearly have a different social network than yourself.

          Likewise comparing codes changing to unqualified people working on the electrical system is world's away. If a previous code was found to be that unsafe, then yeah, I'd check before I purchased a house of that age. Likewise if I bought a house so old that it might need rewiring I'd do that before I bought it.

          Maybe you know what you're doing. If you don't then it would be relevant. Making it open slather for anyone to have a go is a recipe for disaster.

          Like I led with, I'm glad I'm in Australia. Happy for anyone who doesn't like the rules to choose somewhere without them if it means that much to you.

          • bargaino on 19/12/2024 - 20:25

            @SlickMick:

            What kind of anarchy would we live in if we didn't trust in laws.

            Trust? I'm trying to figure out what you mean there. Trust the parliamentary staffers to write good laws? Trust the parliament to update them? Are you meaning regulations? Trust police and courts to enforce them? (do you?)
            Trust people to follow them?
            Surely you are not advocating we live as if everyone else follows the law? That would make you very dangerous on the roads, for a start!

            This is getting way too complicated for this simple forum. I hope you are now realising it is not simple.
            The way we deal with stupid laws in Australia is to just ignore them. Nobody actually cares to do more than put up a few small signs in Bunnings "not for diy", to hopefully discourage the clueless. We have countless dumb laws that never come before the courts, and so do not matter. It saves the effot of fixing or repealing them. The only practical effect of these laws is to make people responsible for their errors, as in legally liable if there is a civil dispute. Which is good, I'm all for personal responsibility.
            I could add, "if you don't like this Australian reality, you could leave". But no, you do you.

  • Jimothy Wongingtons on 18/12/2024 - 10:23
    +1

    Maybe he has an off-sider to deal with encountering lonely housewife wants to seduce the 6ft6 ripped tanned (but loyal husband) sparky?

    Otherwise as @JimmyF said yeah prob 1 plumber and 1 sparky.

    • MS Paint on 18/12/2024 - 10:50
      +7

      I see we enjoy the same movie genre.

  • cashless on 18/12/2024 - 10:25
    +1

    Gotta have one tradie to hold the coffee and shout instructions while the other does the work.
    Same principle applies on all building sites and road-working gangs.
    Although on road works the ratio is normally one worker to 5 slackers

  • joka on 18/12/2024 - 10:53
    +4

    That is why there is always one person digging and five people wearing hard hats watching at construction sites. Thank your lucky star that you're not a construction site, you'd be paying for six tradies.

    • Fredfloresjr on 18/12/2024 - 11:34

      Is that one person digging the one holding the lollipop? Lucky bugger

  • Drakesy on 18/12/2024 - 12:03
    +3

    Government loves this one simple trick.

    My workplace now requires all tradespeople to never work alone (which from a safety sense is fair)

    But for changing a tap or unloading goods is ridiculous (not that my employer cares).

    Safety has its place but when it comes to homeowners there should be a sense check.

  • vorsprung on 18/12/2024 - 13:26
    +3

    How do you know they didn't have a big job before / after yours? I'm not a tradie but I assume it's not efficient to go back to the depot after every job.

  • AussieDaddy on 18/12/2024 - 13:50
    +2

    Have you ever had the misfortune (or fortune, depending on one's perspective) of living in a public housing, and you needed some repair work done in your place? Not only do you get them in pairs, but half of the time they turn up for the wrong jobs, and other times they just show up to take pictures on several different occasions. I'm not alleging it's an outright corruption, but the people who get those government contracts are making bank. No wonders trades became such a lucrative business.

    • MS Paint on 18/12/2024 - 14:19
      +3

      For some areas it may be for safety in numbers.

  • Protractor on 18/12/2024 - 15:20
    +2

    **" the issue at hand is receiving a bill for twice as much, **

    Do tell.What was the job/bill amount/total hours??

  • joshash on 19/12/2024 - 09:34
    +3

    If 2 tradies come to a job at my house and one is an apprentice that company has a very high chance of being selected by me for the next job.
    My 2c.

  • Nuggies on 19/12/2024 - 11:48
    +2

    What was the actual job you had done and what did you pay?

    They don’t charge you double just because they sent out two people, they charge you for the job and it’s your responsibility to get different quotes and then chose who to go with based on how much or how little you want to pay.

    I don’t think you can just ring and say “I need this replaced how much do you charge for an hourly rate” because most places will quote you for the job

  • AS2035 on 23/12/2024 - 14:10

    Sometimes an apprentice attends same site.

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