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How Australians Find and Hire Tradies: Consumer Search Behaviour Study
How Australians find and hire tradies, from repeat hires and word of mouth to licence checks and reviews, using dated survey data and what it means for tradies.
Most Australians hire a tradie they have used before, then check licences and past work before they commit. The best traceable data says more than 70% of consumers hired by contacting a tradie they already knew. That figure is old and came from a commercial survey, so treat it as a strong signal and not a current official count. This article walks through what the data shows, where it conflicts, and what a tradie should do about it.
Is there an official study of how Australians hire tradies?
No. No official Australian statistic answers this question. The Australian Bureau of Statistics, the ACMA, the ACCC and the Queensland Building and Construction Commission do not publish a measure of how consumers find or choose a tradesperson.
The only traceable consumer data comes from surveys commissioned by hipages, a tradie marketplace. The original reports could not be retrieved, so the figures below rely on media coverage of them. They date from 2018 and 2019. They cover Australia as a whole, and there is no Brisbane or Queensland-specific search data.
That matters because many marketing blogs quote tidy numbers such as "89% use Google to find local services" with no study behind them. I left those out. If a figure names no survey, sample or date, you cannot test it, and you should not build a budget on it.
How many people hire a tradie they already know?
A large majority. A whitepaper prepared by EY Sweeney and L.E.K. Consulting for hipages found that more than 70% of consumers hire by contacting a tradie they have used before. The report classed this as word of mouth. L.E.K. surveyed 1,004 consumers and 395 tradespeople, and the results were reported in October 2018.
Read that carefully. The finding is about repeat contact. It does not say seven in ten people ask a neighbour for a name. It says seven in ten go back to someone who already did a job for them, or who is already in their phone.
For a tradie, this changes the question. The first job for a customer is the expensive one to win. Every job after that is cheaper, because the customer skips the search and calls you. A tradie who finishes a job and never contacts the customer again throws away the cheapest lead they will ever get.
The caveat is plain. A platform that sells lead products paid for this survey, and it is now dated. It shows direction, not a precise share of today's market.
Why do surveys disagree about word of mouth?
They measure different things. In 2019, hipages' Tradie Trust Index reported that only one in eight consumers trust word-of-mouth recommendations. The same coverage said word of mouth remains one of the main ways people choose a tradie.
These two findings look hard to reconcile, and the source itself says to interpret them cautiously. One measures what people do. The other measures what people say they trust. A person can call the plumber their sister used while privately wondering if the plumber was just lucky that day.
My reading, and it is an interpretation, is that a referral gets a tradie onto the shortlist but does not close the job. The customer still wants proof. That fits what the same index found about checking, which is where the next section picks up.
What do customers check before they hire?
They check licences, past work and reviews. The Tradie Trust Index, reported in April 2019, found:
68% of Australians say they check the licences of tradies they hire, which means about a third do not.
Australians aged 55 to 64 were the most diligent, at 71%.
Just under three-quarters review examples of a tradie's work before hiring. The source gives no exact percentage.
46% trust online testimonials when choosing a tradie.
The report does not give a sample size, and it is a commercial index, not official data. Still, the pattern is useful. Photos of finished work carry more weight than testimonials. Less than half trust a testimonial, yet nearly three-quarters want to see the job itself.
So a gallery of real jobs, with the suburb and the type of work, does more than a wall of five-star quotes. If you collect reviews, attach them to specific jobs so the reader can match the praise to the photo.
READY FOR PREDICTABLE GROWTH?
Turn the strategy into more qualified enquiries.
Why does your licence belong on the first screen?
Because a licence is the check most buyers say they run, and regulators tell them to run it. In Queensland, the Queensland Building and Construction Commission advises consumers to ask to see a contractor's physical or digital QBCC licence before signing anything or paying money. A digital licence has the same legal standing as the physical card.
The QBCC also sets the threshold for when a licence is required. A QBCC licence is needed for building work valued over $3,300. Certain trades need one regardless of value, including plumbing and drainage, gas fitting and fire protection. A lower threshold of over $1,100 applies to hydraulic services design. This is current guidance as of October 2026.
Other states run their own systems. In Victoria, the Victorian Building Authority regulates building practitioners and plumbers. In New South Wales, licensing and consumer protection sit under Fair Trading, which is part of the Department of Customer Service. Your customer does not care which agency it is. They care that the number on your website matches the public register.
Put your licence number, the trades it covers and the state it was issued in near your phone number. A buyer who is part of the 68% should find it in seconds. A buyer who does not normally check may look, because you made it easy. That puts you ahead of the quote that arrives with no licence number at all.
Where does Google Search fit in?
It fits at the moment of need. When a pipe bursts or a switchboard trips, the customer does not have time to ask around. They type something like "plumber near me" into Google Search and pick from what appears.
I have no verified percentage for how many Australians do this, and I will not invent one. What the 2018 data does suggest is that search matters most for first-time customers, since repeat customers skip it. That makes search a tool for winning new relationships, not for keeping old ones.
This is where search engine optimization earns its place. A tradie who ranks for their trade and suburb gets seen by people with no prior relationship. Three things help a local ranking in practice:
A Google Business Profile with the right trade categories and service area.
A page for each service and suburb you actually work in.
Consistent name, address and phone details wherever you are listed.
Search then feeds the same checks described above. The person who finds you through "plumber near me" still looks for your licence and your work. A high ranking with a thin website loses the job to the second result with proof.
What frustrates buyers most?
Reliability. In the 2018 survey, 48% of homeowners said they find it hard to source a reliable tradie who arrives on time. This is another commercial survey figure, not official data.
That frustration explains the other behaviour. People return to known tradies because a known tradie removes the risk of a no-show. People check licences and photos because they are trying to filter out the unreliable ones before the first call.
You can answer this fear directly. State your booking window. Say how you confirm the day before. Tell the customer what happens if you run late. These small promises cost nothing, and they speak to the exact problem nearly half of homeowners report.
Will people pay through an online platform?
Some will. The same 2018 survey found 45% of consumers would like to hire and pay a tradie through a secure third-party website. The platform that commissioned the study sells this kind of service, so the result may lean its way.
It shows a segment that wants the safety of a middleman. Marketplaces are one route to that buyer, and they carry a cost per lead. They are a form of lead generation you rent. Your own search presence and your repeat customers are lead generation you own. Most tradies need both, and the mix should shift toward owned sources over time.
How big is the market behind these choices?
Large. Australians were estimated to have spent more than $73 billion on residential tradespeople in the 12 months to 2018. That is an industry estimate, not an ABS figure.
The number matters for one reason. With that much money moving, a small gain in how often customers choose you is worth real work. A tradie who turns one extra caller in ten into a booking has changed their year without spending more on ads.
What else do buyers want to see?
Proof that you can cover a mistake. Insurance is a quiet part of the hiring decision. A customer who lets you into the house or onto the roof is thinking about what happens if something goes wrong. Liability insurance is the cover that answers it, and saying you hold it takes one line on your site and quote.
I have no survey data on how many buyers ask about it, so I will not claim a percentage. The logic is simple. The checks people do run, such as licence and past work, are all attempts to reduce risk. Stating your insurance supports the same goal. Add the insurer's name and the cover period if you are comfortable sharing them, and be ready to send the certificate when asked.
What does this mean for how a tradie markets?
Build for two buyers. The first knows you already and needs a reason to call again. The second found you in a search and needs proof before they ring.
For the first buyer:
Send a short thank-you message after each job with your direct number.
Check in a few months later for any follow-up work.
Ask for a referral and make it easy to pass your details on.
For the second buyer:
Show your licence number and the trades it covers near the top of every page.
Post photos of finished jobs with the suburb and the work done.
Tie each review to a specific job.
State that you hold insurance, including liability insurance.
Set up a page for each service and suburb so search engines can match you to the query.
Notice what is missing from both lists: a bigger ad budget. The data points to trust signals and repeat contact as the base. Ads sit on top of that base, and they work better when a click lands on a page with proof.
What should you do this week?
Pick the one gap that costs you the most. Then act on it.
Check that your licence number on your website matches the public register for your state.
Add five recent jobs with photos and the suburb.
Message your last ten customers and ask if they need anything else done.
Search your trade and suburb on Google and see who ranks above you and what proof they show.
The numbers here are dated and commercial, and I would not quote them as current fact. The behaviour they describe is consistent and easy to test in your own business. Customers know who they trust, they check before they commit, and they reward the tradie who makes both easy.
Understanding how Australians find and hire tradies starts with how they weigh trust signals, and a valid License is among the most important, since many people check that a plumber, electrician or builder is properly qualified before comparing quotes, reading reviews or making contact. Consumer search behaviour studies tend to show that people combine online searches, local listings and word-of-mouth recommendations, so tradies who display their License details clearly can reassure potential customers and make the hiring decision easier.
Related guides: Tradie Marketing Statistics Australia: the Annual Report.
Related guides: Tradie Website Conversion Rate Benchmarks by Trade.
