The Tradie Register lists tradies in Newcastle, the Hunter and the Central Coast. Each list is built from what customers say about a business on Google. Nobody pays to be listed or ranked.
Where the lists come from
For each page we search Google Maps for the trade and the town, for example "plumber newcastle". We keep businesses that work in that trade and have at least 10 Google reviews. Big franchise networks and job marketplaces are left out, because they are not a single local business.
How the order is set
A plain star rating is easy to game with a few friendly reviews. So we use a weighted rating. It treats every business as if it had 20 extra reviews at 4.5 stars, then adds its real reviews. A business with hundreds of strong reviews ends up above one with a perfect score from a few.
The date each list was read is printed on the page. Ratings change, so we re-read the lists over time.
Licence checks
Under each business we show what the NSW Fair Trading trades register says about it: whether a current licence is matched, its number, and any limit on it, such as a cap on contract value. We only show a licence when the name on the register matches the business name. If there is no exact match, we say so. That does not mean the business is unlicensed: many trade under a different name to the one on their licence, so ask for the number and check it on the register yourself.
Checked profiles
Some pages have a checked profile. That means we read the business's licence number, Google profile and website on the date shown, and wrote down what we found. A checked profile is not a ranking, a review or an endorsement, and it is not paid for.
Photos and maps
Photos come from Wikimedia Commons, with the photographer and licence under each one. Maps use OpenStreetMap data. We do not copy photos from Google or from business websites.
Corrections
If a detail about a business is wrong, the business can ask us to fix it through its Google profile details, which is where our facts come from.