Powrhouse’s service includes connecting households to trusted trades to carry out works to electrify their homes. Powrhouse has a network of solar installers, electricians, plumbers, heating and cooling technicians, stonemasons, insulation specialists and more to help our clients make the switch.

We thought it helpful to detail what we look for in our trades, how we find them and how we ensure clients receive a wonderful service.

What do we look for?

1. Communication – clear and reliable communication is a must from Powrhouse trades. We believe communication is a leading indicator. If a trade communicates well, they probably do a number of other things well including taking pride in their work.

2. Quality – a good yardstick is to ask whether they are working on this project like it is their own. We like to work with trades that take pride in their work, and avoid ones that just want to get it done and get paid as quickly as possible.

3. Subcontractors – ideally we engage trades that carry out the work themselves (or by their employees). Subcontractors may take less care than a trade who is representing their own business. Subcontractors often also mean another layer of margin between the job being done and the client, which can lead to increased prices. If trades do engage subcontractors, we want to ensure it is for a good reason and that they are reviewing the subcontractors work.

4. Fair price – we expect our trades to charge fairly and reasonably. They are allowed to make a margin and indeed should. It can be a fine line between an overly healthy margin, but equally we don’t want to engage trades that are cheap. Often the trades we recommend and engage are slightly above average price. They charge a slight premium because they know they are reliable, communicate well, don’t use subcontractors and most importantly, do a good job.

5. Size – our preferred trades are usually small-medium size operators. We don’t like to engage large companies that have offices all around Australia, as often it means our clients are just another customer. We prefer small-medium size operators that value and will look after Powrhouse clients.

6. Purpose – we prefer trades that see the purpose of their work and share our passion of electrifying Australian households.

How do we find them?

Powrhouse has a network of trusted trades from previous personal renovations, buildings and construction jobs. Powrhouse also relies on recommendations from friends and family. Of course, we don’t always have a trade, so sometimes we need to find them. In this case, we’ll look at online searches, placing emphasis on quality reviews. If a trade has 100 5 star reviews, it’s a good sign. We review the reviews and watch out for any listings that have clearly had a few family members help bump up the numbers.

We like to get to know our trades before recommending them to clients. We like to have a coffee with them, learn about them and how they work. In doing so, we assess the factors above – do they communicate well, are they genuine, how big is their operation, what motivates them and do they take quality in their work?

Ongoing

We continue to check in with clients after a trade has carried out a job. Again, we are assessing a number of the factors listed above. Did the trade take pride in their work? Did they communicate clearly with the client throughout the process? And most importantly, is the client happy?

We continue to assess our suite of trades. We will discontinue their service if our, and our clients’, expectations are not being met. We otherwise look forward to building long term relationships with them in a joint effort to electrify Australian households!

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