Find a contractor or trade in Brisbane

Brisbane runs a constant mix of residential builds, subdivisions, pool digs, landscaping and civil works, and almost none of it is one trade on its own. A single block can need an excavator, a tipper to take the spoil away, a concreter, a fencer and a landscaper, often in that order and often within a few weeks. The hard part is rarely finding somebody at all — it is finding people who are genuinely close enough that travel does not eat the quote, and who are actually free when you need them.

ReadyFill lists real businesses across the inner suburbs, the Northside and Southside, and the western growth corridor. Every one of them holds a ReadyFill account, and you get their own contact details rather than being sold on as a lead.

Trades and contractors you can find in Brisbane

These are the categories ReadyFill covers in QLD, with the number of businesses listed under each one right now. If the job spans more than one of them, say so — a lot of these businesses do two or three.

Not sure which one you need? Describe the job instead — the search above works off what you write, not off a category you have to pick correctly.

Plant, machine and truck hire in Brisbane

A good part of the work people come here for is gear rather than a trade: an excavator for a day, a bobcat to level a pad, a tipper to take spoil away, or an operator and machine together. Businesses listed on ReadyFill across Greater Brisbane run excavators, dozers, rollers, skid steers, front-end loaders, watercarts, tippers, body trucks and truck-and-trailer combinations.

Most offer wet hire, which means the machine arrives with an operator. Dry hire — the machine on its own, with you supplying the operator — is available from some businesses, though it puts the licensing, insurance and responsibility for running it back on you. Say which one you want when you describe the job and you will only be matched with businesses that do it.

Two things decide the machine: access and volume. A tight backyard reached through a side gate needs something that physically fits through it, while an open block can take a larger machine and be finished in a fraction of the time. Slope, soft ground, overhead wires and where material can be stockpiled all narrow it further. Truck choice is usually settled by access before volume — a narrow street, a short driveway, a tight corner or overhead wires can rule out the combination that would otherwise suit the load perfectly, and finding that out on the morning is expensive.

Hiring a contractor in Brisbane

Most people ring three businesses, get three numbers that are impossible to compare, and pick the middle one. The numbers differ because each contractor is pricing a slightly different job — one has allowed for carting the spoil away, one is assuming you have somewhere to put it, and one has not seen the driveway yet.

Before you book anyone in Brisbane, it is worth asking four things: what is included and what is not, who is responsible for getting material off site, whether they hold public liability insurance and any licence the work needs, and what happens if they hit rock, services or fill nobody knew about. A contractor who answers those plainly is usually the one who turns up when they said they would.

ReadyFill gives you the business's own contact details so you can ask all of that directly. It does not licence, insure or vet them, and it is not a party to the job — so confirming those things stays between you and them, exactly as it would if a neighbour had recommended them.

Run a trade or contracting business in Brisbane?

This works both ways. If you run an earthmoving, civil, building, landscaping, concreting, fencing, plumbing, demolition or haulage business around Greater Brisbane, you can be listed here and be found by people describing work you already do.

Two things decide how often you come up: how close you are to the job, and how much of your profile you have filled in. The businesses that list their actual machines and trucks — sizes included — get matched to jobs that suit that gear, because the search can see it. A profile with a trade and nothing else can only ever be matched on the trade.

ReadyFill does not take a cut of the work, does not mark up your quote and does not resell the enquiry to your competitors. The customer gets your number and rings you.

What it costs

There is no single rate, and anyone quoting one sight-unseen is guessing. Trade work moves with the scope, the access, the state of what is already there and how much of it has to come out first. Plant hire moves with the size of the machine, whether an operator comes with it, how long you need it, the float to get it to site and back, and how much attachment work is involved. Cartage moves with the truck type, the distance travelled per load, the number of loads and waiting time on site.

You describe the job, businesses in Brisbane quote you direct, and you deal with them yourself. The price you are quoted is theirs, agreed between the two of you. ReadyFill does not mark it up and does not take a cut of it.

Getting a better quote

The single biggest thing you can do is describe the access. The street, the driveway, the side gate, the slope, where a truck can actually sit and whether anything has to be carried by hand. Most quotes that blow out do so because somebody priced the work and not the getting-to-it.

After that: say when you need it rather than "as soon as possible", say whether the site is clear, and say if more than one trade is involved. A contractor in Brisbane who can see the whole job will often tell you the order to do it in, and sometimes that they are the wrong person for it — which is worth knowing before you book.

Getting started in Brisbane

Write the job the way you would say it out loud. "Need a 2m retaining wall along the back fence, access is through a single gate" tells a contractor more than any category could, and it is what the search actually reads. You do not need to know what machine it takes or what the trade is called.

You will be shown businesses near you with their suburb, what they do and the distance from the job, and you contact whoever you like — as many of them as you like. Nothing is booked, nothing is committed, and there is no cost to look. If nothing suitable comes up close by, widen the description rather than narrowing it: contractors in Brisbane often do more than their main trade suggests.

Finding somebody in Brisbane

Use the search above — no account, no sign-up and no cost to look. Describe the job in your own words and you will be matched with businesses near you, with their own contact details so you can call them direct. There is no call centre and nobody reselling your details.

Next: free fill and tip sites in Brisbane or browse every contractor and trade listed on ReadyFill.

Contractors and trades in other areas

ReadyFill also has a contractor and trade page for Ipswich · Gold Coast · Sunshine Coast · Adelaide · Gippsland · Warrnambool · Bendigo. Working somewhere else? Find a contractor or trade anywhere in Australia — the search works nationwide, and these area pages simply exist where there is enough local activity to warrant one.