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If you own an investment property, maintenance is where property management becomes real. Repairs are frequent, urgent at times, and directly tied to tenant satisfaction and your long-term asset value.
Lately, there’s been growing discussion in the Canberra market about property managers charging trades a percentage fee for the work they receive through an agency. You might hear it described as a “trade partner program” or a “referral fee model”.
Here’s what that means in plain terms, what questions to ask, and where Hayman Partners stands.
A trade referral fee is when a property management business receives a payment or percentage from a supplier, contractor, or trade, in exchange for being included on a preferred list and being sent maintenance work.
Sometimes it is charged as a percentage per job, sometimes as a monthly fee, and sometimes as a mix of both.
Trade referral fees are not automatically “wrong”, but they do raise three practical issues that every owner should think about.
If a trade is paying a percentage fee to access work, they need to recover that cost. That can show up as higher call-out fees, higher hourly rates, or less scope included within the same quote.
If trades must “pay to play”, it can push the selection process away from what matters most, quality, responsiveness, communication, and value for money.
Most landlords assume the maintenance process is neutral, that your manager is selecting the best trade for the job. If an agency benefits financially from a particular supplier arrangement, owners deserve clarity on how that is managed.
If you want to cut through the noise, these questions get you a straight answer quickly.
– Do you receive any referral fees, rebates, commissions, sponsorships, or “partner program” payments from trades?
– Are your trades selected based on performance, or based on a paid arrangement?
– How do you test workmanship and reliability over time?
– Do you provide multiple quotes when appropriate, and who makes the final call?
– Do you add any mark-ups, admin fees, or handling fees to trade invoices?
– Can I request a specific trade, provided they are licensed, insured, and available?
At Hayman Partners, we do not take a cut from our trade suppliers for maintenance referrals.
We believe owners should be able to trust that the trades attending their property are chosen because they are reliable and do quality work, not because they are willing to pay an agency for access to jobs.
What that means in practice:
– Trade selection is performance-based, we use trades we trust and we keep standards high.
– Maintenance decisions stay owner-led, where a decision is needed, you are informed and you approve the plan.
– Transparency stays simple, the invoice is the invoice, there’s no hidden layer behind it.
Most landlords want two outcomes from maintenance, the repair is done properly, and it is handled without unnecessary back-and-forth.
Any model that adds complexity or uncertainty around incentives makes that harder. The simplest approach is usually the best one, clear communication, quality control, and transparent costs.
They can. If a trade pays to access work, that cost may be built into pricing. The only way to know is to ask what fee arrangements exist and how pricing is checked.
Ask how trades are selected, reviewed, and removed from the list. Also ask whether any trade pays the agency for access to jobs.
In most cases, yes, subject to licensing, insurance, availability, and whether they can meet required service standards.
Clear scope, clear pricing, clear approvals, and invoices that don’t include hidden incentives.
No. We do not take any cuts from our trades for maintenance work.
If you’d like to understand how we run maintenance on your investment property, including how we select trades and keep costs transparent, speak with the Hayman Partners Property Management team.
Have a question we haven't quite answered? Use this form and we'll touch base within 24 hours.