Terms of Use

These terms govern your use of Bricks & Sparks. By creating an account you agree to them. Please read the section on what we are and are not responsible for — it matters.

1. What Bricks & Sparks is

We are a marketplace. We help you find tradespeople, compare their written quotes, agree a price, and pay safely. We do not perform building, electrical, plumbing or any other work ourselves, and we are not a party to the contract between you and the tradesperson you hire. That agreement is between the two of you.

2. What "Verified" means — and what it doesn't

A Verified badge means our team has checked that the tradesperson supplied an identity document and the statutory certificates their trade requires (for example an electrical Certificate of Compliance, PIRB plumbing registration or SAQCC gas registration), and that those documents appeared genuine and current at the time of review.

It is not a guarantee of the quality of anyone's work, and it is not our endorsement. Businesses marked Not verified are listings compiled from public sources whose details we have not checked at all. Use your own judgement, and tell us if something looks wrong.

3. What you may not post, and what we do about it

There is no tolerance here for abusive, threatening, harassing, hateful, sexual or fraudulent content, and none for anyone using this platform to harass another person. That applies to everything you write on Bricks & Sparks — job descriptions, photographs, messages between you and a tradesperson, reviews, and your business page.

• Report it. Every message, review, job and business page has a Report link. Tell us what is wrong with it. We look at every report within 24 hours, and we remove content that breaks these rules and suspend the accounts of people who post it.
• Block them. You can block anyone, yourself, without asking us. Somebody you block cannot message you, cannot be invited to your jobs and cannot quote on them. You can undo it at any time under Account, and they are never told.
• The person you report is not told who reported them.
• If you are in danger, call 10111. We are a small team and not an emergency service.

4. Your account

• You must be 18 or older and give accurate information.
• Keep your password to yourself; you're responsible for what happens under your account.
• One account per person or business. Don't impersonate anyone.
• You can delete your account at any time from your account settings.

5. Quotes and jobs

• A quote is an offer from the tradesperson to you. Accepting it forms a contract between you and them, on the terms in that quote.
• The tradesperson's profile is frozen into the quote at the moment they submit it, so what you were shown is what you can rely on.
• Accepting a quote releases your street address to that tradesperson and declines the others.
• Prices are what the tradesperson quoted. Extra work is agreed on the platform as a variation: the tradesperson proposes it with a price, you accept or decline it, and an accepted variation becomes a stage of the job, paid into escrow and released like any other. Extras agreed off the platform are outside every protection here.
• A quote may hold back retention — up to 10% of the price, for a defects period of 30 to 90 days after the work is finished. It is shown on the quote before you accept.

6. Payment and escrow

• Money for the work is paid into escrow before that work begins, and is held by a licensed third-party escrow provider — not by us, and not by the tradesperson. The quote says which of two ways it is paid: all at once (the whole job into escrow when you accept, the usual way on smaller jobs) or one stage ahead (each stage into escrow before it starts, and the next as soon as the previous is approved — the usual way above R100 000). Either way, no stage starts until its money is held.
• Each stage is released to the tradesperson when you approve it, or automatically seven days after they mark it complete if you haven't responded or raised a dispute. On a job in a trade that legally hands over a compliance certificate, the final stage asks you to confirm you have received it.
• Where a quote you accepted provides for materials money before work starts, that amount is released by you, on your own instruction, before any work is done, and is not protected by escrow once released. It is capped, only verified tradespeople may ask for it, and the payment page tells you plainly before you release it.
• Retention, where the quote provides for it, is held in escrow after the work is finished and released to the tradesperson automatically when the defects period ends. Logging a defect on the job stops that clock until the tradesperson has put it right and you have confirmed; a fix you do not respond to within seven days is taken as confirmed.
• A payment-protection fee applies to each payment into escrow and is shown to you before you pay.
• Bricks & Sparks never holds your money. If we ever cease trading, funds in escrow remain with the escrow provider and are governed by their terms.

7. Disputes

If work isn't right, raise a dispute before approving the milestone. That freezes the funds. We will look at the evidence from both sides and direct the escrow provider to split the held amount fairly. Our decision is about the money held in escrow only — it doesn't stop either of you pursuing your legal rights, and it isn't arbitration. The full process — stages, evidence, independent experts and target timeframes — is set out in How we resolve disputes.

8. Reviews

Reviews can only be left by a customer who paid for that job through the platform, and only once it's complete. Don't write reviews for work that didn't happen, don't offer anything in exchange for a review, and don't post other people's personal information. We remove reviews that break these rules.

9. Going around the platform

We hide tradespeople's contact details on purpose: it's what makes the escrow, verification and dispute process work. Please don't use the platform to find someone and then arrange the job privately to avoid it — you lose every protection we offer, and we may close accounts that do it systematically.

10. Using the app and site properly

• Don't scrape, copy or resell our listings or data.
• Don't attempt to break, overload or probe our systems.
• Don't upload anything unlawful, misleading, or that isn't yours to upload.
• Don't use the platform to advertise unrelated services.

11. Business listings from public sources

Some profiles were compiled from public directories before the business joined, and are clearly marked as unverified. If a listing is yours, you may claim it free, correct it, or have it removed — email info@bricksandsparks.co.za.

12. Our liability

We provide the platform "as is". To the fullest extent the law allows, we are not liable for the quality, timing, safety or legality of work performed by a tradesperson, for anything either party to a job says or does, or for indirect or consequential loss. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited — including under the Consumer Protection Act — or excludes liability for our own fraud or gross negligence.

13. Fees

Bricks & Sparks is free for homeowners: you are never charged to search, post a job or receive quotes. The payment-protection fee on each payment into escrow is disclosed before payment. If we introduce other charges we will tell you before they apply to you.

14. Suspension

We may suspend or close an account that breaches these terms, that we reasonably believe is fraudulent, or where required by law. Where it's fair to do so we'll tell you why and give you a chance to respond.

15. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. Material changes will be notified in the app or by email, and continuing to use the service after that means you accept them.

16. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, and the South African courts have jurisdiction.

Questions about this page? Email info@bricksandsparks.co.za.