The person who asks you for a quote is rarely the person who approves it or pays for it. A property manager acts for a landlord. A strata manager acts for an owners corporation, called a body corporate in Queensland, and its committee. So write the quote for someone who has never seen the job: the exact address and unit, the problem in one sentence, itemised lines, a clear validity period and the contact for access. Make it easy to approve, easy to forward and easy to pay, and get onto the manager's supplier list before the first job, with your ABN, licence details and insurance certificates ready to send. Managers who find a trade like that keep ringing them.
Know who your client is
Before you price anything for a strata building, find out who you are working for. Common property, such as the roof, the driveway, shared pipes and the external walls, is usually the owners corporation's responsibility, and the strata manager is your contact. Things inside a lot are usually the owner's, and the owner, or their property manager if the unit is rented, is your client. Where the boundary sits for pipes, waterproofing, windows and balconies depends on the strata plan and the state's strata law, and it is the manager's call, not yours.
The practical rule: one client per quote. If a job turns out to involve both common property and a lot, send two quotes, each addressed to the party who will pay it.
What managers need from you
Managers handle dozens of buildings and hundreds of jobs. The trades they call back are the ones that make their job easier.
- A supplier pack, sent once. Business name, ABN, licence numbers for the work you do, a current certificate of currency for public liability insurance, workers compensation details if you employ staff, and a safe work method statement where the work is high-risk construction work. Have these as files on your phone so you can send them the day you are asked.
- Quotes that stand alone. The address with the unit or lot number, what the problem is, what you found, itemised lines, what is excluded and how long the price is valid. The manager will forward it to an owner or a committee who has never spoken to you.
- Photos. Two or three, sent with the quote by email: the problem, the context, and anything a committee member might query.
- The work order number on everything. Many managers issue a work order or reference number when they approve a job. It goes on your invoice exactly as written, or the invoice waits.
How approval works
A property manager usually has an agreed limit in the management agreement for spending without the landlord's say-so, and asks the owner for anything above it. A strata manager has a similar limit delegated by the committee. Larger jobs go to the committee, and the biggest may need two or three competing quotes and a decision at a meeting, under the scheme's own rules or the state's strata law. Ask each manager what their limit is and how long committee approval usually takes. It tells you how to split a job and what validity to give. Managers with a steady flow of small jobs may instead ask you for a schedule of rates, so that work under their limit can go ahead on agreed prices without a quote each time.
Splitting helps more than anything else. An investigation quote small enough to fall under the manager's limit can be approved the same day, and the larger repair follows once you know what it is.
Access and tenants
In rented homes, the property manager arranges entry with the tenant under the state's tenancy rules, which set notice periods. Do not arrange entry directly unless the manager asks you to. When you meet the tenant on site, be courteous and brief, and do not discuss the cost, the fault or who is to blame. The tenant is not your client, and anything you say about fault can end up in a dispute between other people.
A worked example
Penstock Plumbing is a fictional two-van plumbing business that does maintenance for several strata managers. A manager reports a water stain spreading on the ceiling of unit 7, below unit 11, in a 24-unit block.
Penstock does not quote a repair it has not found. It sends an investigation quote to the manager: call-out $140, and one hour of leak detection with a moisture meter and thermal camera at $165, so $305. That is inside the manager's limit, and it is approved within the hour.
On site, Penstock finds two separate faults: a cracked junction in a shared stormwater pipe inside the wall cavity, and failed grout and sealant in the shower of unit 11. It reports the findings to the manager with photos and two quotes. Quote A, to the owners corporation: open the wall and replace the junction, 3 hours at $115 and $85 of parts, $430, with plastering and painting excluded and named as work by others. Quote B, to the owner of unit 11 through their property manager: regrout and reseal the shower, fixed at $380.
The strata manager approves A. The owner of unit 11 approves B two days later. Each invoice goes to the party who approved it, with its own work order number, and neither payment waits on the other.
Sent from Quote Desk, each quote goes to the manager's email and the manager forwards it; the accept link works for whoever opens it, so the owner or a committee member can press Accept this quote themselves. The locksmiths page has a similar example with an owner approving from their phone. Because Penstock's first quote came from the manager's enquiry, that enquiry no longer shows Quote this, so the two repair quotes start from New quote on the Quotes page.
Getting paid
Managers pay from trust accounts on set payment runs, and they need an invoice that matches what was approved. Invoice the day you finish, addressed exactly as the manager tells you, quoting the work order, matching the accepted quote line for line. Anything extra needs its own approval before you do it, not after. The purchase order entry covers why an invoice over the approved amount gets stuck.
Mistakes to avoid
- Quoting the tenant, or letting the tenant approve work.
- Doing extra work on the day because it was obvious, without approval, then waiting months to be paid for it.
- Writing opinions about fault on the quote. State what you found, with photos, and let the manager decide who pays.
- A vague address. A block with 40 units needs the unit number, the lot number if you have it, and where in the building the work is.
- Letting your insurance certificate lapse. Managers check, and an expired certificate can take you off the list.
What to do this week
- Put together a supplier pack and save it on your phone.
- Ask each manager you work with what their approval limit is.
- Write a note template for strata quotes with address, unit, findings, exclusions and validity.
- Start quoting investigations separately from repairs.
- Check the expiry date on your certificate of currency and set a reminder a month before it.