Help & Support

Yes. Posting is free, quoting is free, and there is no charge for quotes you decide not to accept. Post a job takes about five minutes.

Up to five written quotes, side by side, so you can compare price, timing, warranty and what is included. We send your job to verified tradespeople near you first.

Those shown as ✓ Verified have had their identity and trade credentials checked by our team. Registered tradespeople whose documents we have not yet checked may also quote — every quote says which it is, and on electrical, plumbing and gas work nobody starts until their registration is on file. Businesses marked Not verified were compiled from public directories: they cannot quote or be paid until they claim their profile.

Yes. Open their profile and tap Request a quote. Your job still goes to other verified tradespeople nearby, so you have something to compare it against.

Look past the total: what is included (materials, the compliance certificate), how the payments are split, the warranty, and when they can start. Accepting a quote accepts its payment schedule, so read the Payment stages row before you decide.

With a licensed escrow provider (TradeSafe) — not with Bricks & Sparks and not with the tradesperson. Depending on the quote you pay either the whole job when you accept, or one stage ahead as the job goes. The tradesperson can see it is secured but cannot touch it.

Only when you approve a stage of work, when you release materials money the quote provided for, when a dispute is resolved, or automatically seven days after the tradesperson marks a stage done and you have not responded. Reporting a problem stops that clock.

After you approve here, TradeSafe email you to confirm. Open their email and click “Yes, thank you”: that is what releases the money. Until you do, it stays with TradeSafe (they release it automatically after their waiting period, but the tradesperson waits until then). Your job page shows a reminder while this step is outstanding.

Some quotes hold a small part of the price back until a defects period has passed after completion. It is released automatically when that period ends, unless you have logged a defect — then it waits until the defect is fixed.

Yes, and it is built for it. A bank pays the builder in arrears, after its valuer has inspected, so a bank-paid stage is never funded into escrow. The builder marks which stages the bank pays on the quote. You pay your own contribution into escrow as usual; for each bank stage you approve the finished work on the job page, which produces a progress-claim pack to send to the bank, then mark the draw requested and, when it lands, paid. Variations — anything the bank won't fund — are paid into escrow before they are built. The bank's paperwork (NHBRC enrolment, approved plans, the building contract, waiver of lien, occupancy certificate) has its own checklist on the job.

Nothing to post, nothing to quote. The escrow provider charges a small fee on money it holds, shown on the quote before you accept. Tradespeople who were among the first hundred verified are Founding Pros and never pay lead fees.

Do not approve the stage — approving releases the money. Open the job, go to Milestones & payments and tap Report a problem. The funds stay held, neither side can touch them, and we look at the evidence from both of you. What happens if something goes wrong explains each step; How we resolve disputes has the full process.

Message us below with the job reference (it looks like BS-1234) and what happened. We will tell you what can still be done.

Message them from the job first — every message is on the record. If there is no answer within a day or two, tell us below with the job reference and we will contact them.

Sign in, open Start quoting and upload a photo of your ID and the trade registration your work legally needs — a wireman's licence (COC), PIRB for plumbing, SAQCC for gas. Public liability insurance is optional but shows on your profile. We check documents by hand, usually within two business days, and you are told the moment the ✓ Verified badge is on.

Your dashboard shows each document's state: received and waiting for our check, approved, or rejected with the reason. If a document is rejected, upload a clearer copy. If you have removed a trade you do not do, verification re-runs the moment you save.

Electrical, plumbing and gas work needs the registration on file before you start, even if you quoted without it. Upload it and the Start work button appears.

Mark a stage done and the homeowner is asked to approve. They have seven days; if they do nothing it releases automatically. The money goes from the escrow provider to the bank account on your profile — we ask for it when your first quote is accepted.

By the bank, in arrears, as you do now — the difference is what happens around it. Tick the bank's stages on your quote and name the bank. A bank stage starts as soon as the one before it has started; when you mark it done the owner approves it here, which produces the progress-claim pack they send to the bank. Mark the draw requested, then mark it paid when the money lands — that closes the stage. The owner's own contribution and any variations are paid into escrow before you start them, so the parts the bank won't fund are the parts that are protected.

Yes. On Edit profile, under Rates, set a Minimum job. Jobs with a stated budget below it — and jobs with no budget stated — are not sent to you. Homeowners see the minimum on your page. Quoting your own customers is not affected.

Businesses from public directories are shown as Not verified until claimed. Open your listing and tap Claim this profile — it is free, you control what is shown, and you can get verified. If you would rather have the listing removed, message us below and it will be removed; you do not need an account or a reason.

Resources for the tradespeople we have verified, and only for them: industry-standard JBCC building contracts you can personalise for any job, with more to come. Under Tools once verified; anyone can read what is inside at /tools.

Use Forgot password on the sign-in page. If the email does not arrive within a few minutes, check spam, then message us below from the address on the account.

Check spam and promotions. From your dashboard you can ask for it again; opening any link we have emailed you also confirms the address.

Check that notifications are switched on for Bricks & Sparks in your phone's settings. Everything we send also appears under the bell in the app and goes to your email, so nothing is lost. Inside the app, the app check tells us what your phone reports.

Sign in and go to Account → Delete my account, or message us and we will do it. What is deleted and what the law makes us keep.

Use Report a bug — it attaches the page, the version and the browser, which is usually what makes a bug findable.