When you’ve built your trade business from the ground up — it’s not worth the risk of leaving anything to chance. For our tradies across Australia (including builders, plumbers, and electricians), that means engaging our expert lawyers to ensure their business is legally sound. In an industry where trust and clarity are everything, the complexities of running a customer-facing trade business can be daunting. That’s why we’re here to provide comprehensive legal support tailored to exactly what you need.

From consumer laws and intellectual property (IP) to drafting employment agreements and other business law aspects like company structuring, our specialist lawyers are passionate about helping trade businesses thrive.

Changes in the Australian Consumer Law have very real implications for tradies, particularly in the area of contracts. Unfair contract terms (UCT) is a recent law designed to protect consumers and small businesses, and breaching it now carries more severe penalties.

An unfair contract is one that would:

• Cause a significant imbalance in the parties’ rights and obligations;
• Not be reasonably necessary to protect the legitimate interests of the party that would be advantaged by the term; and
• Cause detriment (financial or otherwise) if it were to be applied or relied upon.

While this definition of unfairness is not new, it now applies to a much larger pool of contracts, subcontracts, and supply and service agreements within the trade industry. Examples include varying contract terms like the quote, assigning the contract to another without consent, or changing the goods and services to be supplied.

To minimise your risk, you should ensure that everyone involved with drafting, managing or negotiating your contracts understands UCT inside and out. Like our lawyers. Our team is well-versed in trade contracts and nuanced elements like automatic renewal clauses and termination for convenience without compensation.

So, no matter if you’re a concreter, plumber, electrician or any other trade business, our lawyers will conduct a thorough review of your contracts and terms and conditions and make sure you’re not taking on unnecessary risk.

Drafting employment and subcontractor agreements are critical aspects of running a successful trade business. As an employer, it’s your responsibility to ensure your contracts are compliant with employment law, including Australia’s increasingly complex workplace and industrial relations (IR) laws.

The introduction of ‘same job, same pay‘ laws ensures equal remuneration for workers performing similar roles — which can become complicated when it applies to two tradies with vastly different experience levels, as an example.

‘Right to disconnect‘ laws protect employees’ personal time by restricting employer contact outside of work hours. But what does that mean when crucial information needs to be relayed, or obtained, for a current job?

As you can see, these laws can be a minefield to navigate. It’s why electricians, plumbers, construction workers and many other tradies turn to our lawyers for guidance.

From ensuring fair wages and workplace conditions to clarifying roles and responsibilities, we’ll help you not only mitigate risk, but also establish powerful working relationships.

Many trade businesses, especially family-owned structures, rely on lease agreements and shareholder agreements. It’s not always easy to agree on key issues — especially when it’s family. A shareholder agreement ensures there’s no ambiguity, protecting the business of course — as well as the relationship between family members.

Our lawyers will help your trade business draft comprehensive agreements, covering important issues like favourable lease terms, transferring shares, and defining ownership rights and responsibilities. We’ll work closely with you to pre-empt disputes and find proactive solutions.

Ready to see what the Quest Legal lawyers can do for your trade business? Get in touch with our friendly team today.