🛒 1 in 4 tradies now prefers to buy tools online instead of in-store 🧰 The average ute holds $38K worth of tools 📱 1 in 3 tradies has used a level app on their phone, and still didn’t trust it 📅 Fridays are the most common day for job quotes to be submitted 🎥 Over 60% of tradies say they’ve used YouTube to learn a new skill or technique 👷 Thousands of tradies use Tradiespace 🔒 44% of tradies say tool theft has affected them in the past 5 years 📏 The most lost item on-site? Tape measures ⚡ Electricians spend more annually on tools than any other trade 📦 Over 60% of tradies are self-employed or run their own business 💰 The average Aussie tradie spends over $14,000 per year on tools, workwear and gear ⏰ 6:30am is the most common start time for Aussie tradies 🚶♂️ The average tradie walks more in a day than an office worker does in a week ☕️ Tradies are 2nd biggest early coffee buyers in Aus after nurses 🚽 Tradies rank site portaloos as the #1 worst part of the job 🇦🇺 Australia has over 1.1 million tradies - nearly 1 in 10 working Aussies 🧾 64% of tradies say quoting is their top admin pain 🛠️ Tradies spend on average 12+ hrs/month researching tools 🥶 Tradies are the second-highest consumers of iced coffee in Australia, right after long-haul truck drivers 🍽 Nearly half of tradies say they’ve eaten smoko with tools as a spoon 🚿 Plumbers and sparkies are the top trades for starting their own business 🛍️ Friday is the most popular day for tradies to buy gear and tools 🐶 11% of tradies bring their dog to work weekly 🚗 The top excuse tradies give for being late? “Traffic” - even on Sunday jobs 🔧 82% of tradies buy tools based on mate recommendations
👷 Thousands of tradies stay in the loop with our news, insights, quick bite-sized updates and a bit of humour. If you enjoy this, stick around we’ll be back every Tues & Thurs with more industry updates.
A Melbourne homeowner fell out with the company building his family home in Truganina and posted about it on TikTok. The video reached more than 220,000 people. Then the builder took him to court.
→ Read how the bill passed 1M
Bathla Group, one of Sydney’s biggest residential developers, collapsed in August across more than 500 companies. Work has stopped on its projects, including roughly 2,000 homes under construction. Now the regulator has opened a formal investigation, and it isn’t saying what it’s looking at.
New ABS figures show copper pipe is rising at its fastest rate since 2007, with cable and plastic pipe up more than 23%. If you’re holding a quote you priced six months ago, the gap may already be bigger than you think.
→ Read what it means for fixed quotes
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Todd Russell spent 14 days trapped nearly a kilometre underground with co-worker Brant Webb after the 2006 Beaconsfield mine collapse. He later became chief of the Beaconsfield Fire Brigade, retiring this year. His family has confirmed he died after an illness.
→ Read about his life after Beaconsfield
Kia is offering up to 5K cashback on select 2025 Tasman utes, including ex-demos, if you buy and take delivery in November. The deal comes after the Tasman sold just 275 units in October. Not every grade gets the full 5K, though.
→ See which Tasmans qualify
In Victoria, admin takes up about a third of the time it takes to process a building permit. Surveyors also have to lodge the same documents with both the local council and the state regulator. Their peak body says there’s a simple fix.
→ Read what surveyors want changed
MIT engineers cast a 3 metre concrete beam in a mould made of sewn cotton, stapled to a simple timber frame. It used about a third of the concrete and half the steel of a standard beam designed for the same load. The real question is whether it stacks up on cost.
→ Read More @ MIT
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