How can tradies protect themselves against crime?

Here are some of the biggest headaches for tradies and how to avoid becoming a victim of tradie crime.

Whether you’re flying solo or employing a few people, it’s hard work running a small business – and dealing with dodgy people only makes it more difficult. Crime, whether it’s theft, scams, property damage or fraud, costs small businesses millions of dollars each year.

Tool and materials theft are huge issues for tradies and the construction industry, with an estimated $650 million worth of equipment nicked each year in Australia.

And with the back end of most businesses going online, a growing number of crafty scammers are getting smarter and more brazen, posing as legit clients who are anything but.

Thieves in the night

Brendan Tymms from Valley Electrical Group in Melbourne, which employs five staff, has had his equipment stolen not once but twice.

“I was parked at night out the front and got up in the morning and realised the van door was open and everything was gone,” he says.

“The second time, I got up in the morning and saw that they had taken the van window out, then climbed in and helped themselves. They got away with probably $10,000 to $15,000 worth of equipment each time.”

The worst part, he says, is he’s not alone in being a victim of theft. “It’s happening all the time. I always hear about someone losing their tools or their car getting stolen for the tools or chippies losing their trailers,” Tymms says.

And it’s not just tools that thieves are after. “Cable theft is a really big issue,” Tymms says. Like tool theft, the hassle extends beyond the cost of replacing lost cables and equipment. When you don’t have what you need in place to get the job done, projects are delayed, clients get narky and cash flow can become an issue.

“The biggest one is the timing of when you find the cables are gone,” Tymms says. “If you’ve done a rough-in and you’re finished and not back until after plaster, and then you come back after plaster and realise all your cable’s been stolen, then you’re in a bit of trouble.

“If it’s found early enough, it’s just reinstalling it and the time that takes. But if it’s found later, there’s damage that will be caused by re-running those cables.”

You’ve been scammed

When you’re off the tools and getting your books in order, the biggest issue for electricians is online scams, says Chris O’Brien from Leolec in Brisbane, who also employs a team of five.

“Across email and phone call scams, I’d say I encounter probably four a week,” he says. “I’ve had discussions with other tradespeople, and they say it’s pretty commonplace to be called out of the blue and attempt to get run through a scam.”

From fake invoices and payment details on genuine invoices being changed, to jobs that just sound a bit ‘dodgy’, there are a whole host of scams targeting tradies.

A note on your invoice saying payment details would only ever be changed after a video call may protect you against that one.

Side-stepping crime

The best advice for steering clear of scams is if it looks even the slightest bit suspicious, it probably is. “Be sure to verify requests for work and be careful who you speak to on the phone,” O’Brien says.

As for protecting your tools, insurance is non-negotiable. “As part of our business insurance, we have insurance that covers tool theft,” Tymms says.

O’Brien recommends making a list of all your equipment, recording serial numbers and taking photos to ensure you’re fully covered in case of theft.

“It’s a real pain in the bum to do, but as long as you’ve got all that information listed, if you have stuff stolen and file a report with the police, you can at least take the list to your insurer and face fewer hurdles to get the stuff replaced in a timely fashion and get back to work.”

And try not to make it too easy for thieves to grab your stuff, Tymms says. “The boys know not to leave stuff on display so it’s in clear sight,” he says. “If we’ve got some big cables that we’ve had to run somewhere, we’ll put something over the top of it.”