What to do when trade work goes wrong in South Australia

Short answer

Put the problem in writing to the tradesperson first and give them a chance to fix it. If that fails, Consumer and Business Services handles complaints in South Australia and will usually attempt conciliation. The South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT) hears disputes that do not resolve. Consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law apply throughout and cannot be contracted out of.

Most trade disputes are resolved by the first step and never reach anyone official. The order below matters, because skipping a step usually means being sent back to it — and in South Australia one of the steps is not optional.

Start with the guarantee you already have

Under the Australian Consumer Law, services must be provided with due care and skill, be fit for the purpose you asked for, and be delivered within a reasonable time. These are consumer guarantees. They are national, they apply automatically, and no contract term, quote condition or sign in a workshop can remove them. A tradesperson telling you "that is not covered" is describing their warranty, not your rights.

Then put it in writing

  1. Write to the tradesperson describing the defect specifically, with photographs and dates. Email is fine and creates the record you will need later.
  2. Say what you want done and give a reasonable deadline. 'Reasonable' depends on the job; a fortnight for a defect that is not urgent is rarely argued with.
  3. Keep paying what is genuinely owed for work properly done. Withholding everything weakens your position — withholding a proportionate amount for defective work generally does not.
  4. Keep every quote, variation, invoice and message. Disputes are decided on the paper trail, and the party with the better records usually prevails.

Then Consumer and Business Services

Consumer and Business Services handles complaints about licensed building work and can conciliate. SACAT hears disputes that do not resolve, including claims under the Australian Consumer Law.

Then SACAT

The South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT) hears disputes that do not resolve. It is designed to be used without a lawyer, filing fees are modest compared with a court, and it can order money paid or work rectified. Time limits apply and they are not generous, so the time to find out what yours is is now rather than after another round of unanswered emails.

What actually decides these

  • Written records. A dispute where one party has dated emails and photographs and the other has recollections is not a close contest.
  • Whether you gave a genuine opportunity to fix it. Tribunals expect it, and refusing a reasonable offer to rectify can cost you.
  • Whether the work was licensed. Unlicensed work does not remove your rights, but it changes what remedies are realistically available.
  • An independent report, for anything structural. It is the single most useful document in a building dispute.

Before it happens: the checks that prevent most of this

Almost every dispute traces back to something checkable beforehand — an expired licence, no written scope, or a business that turned out not to be the entity on the quote. Confirming a licence takes a minute, and this site publishes what every SA business it lists can be independently verified to be.

Common questions

Who handles trade complaints in South Australia?
Consumer and Business Services. Consumer and Business Services handles complaints about licensed building work and can conciliate. SACAT hears disputes that do not resolve, including claims under the Australian Consumer Law.
Which tribunal hears building and trade disputes in South Australia?
The South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT). It is designed to be used without a lawyer.
Can a tradesperson's contract remove my rights?
No. Consumer guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law apply automatically to services supplied to consumers, and a contract term purporting to exclude them is ineffective. A warranty offered by the business sits on top of those guarantees; it does not replace them.
Do I have to let them come back and fix it?
For a minor problem, effectively yes — the trader chooses between repairing, replacing or refunding, and refusing a reasonable repair can leave you worse off. For a major failure you choose, and can cancel and seek compensation instead. Either way, refusing any opportunity to rectify tends to count against you at a tribunal.

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