As many now know, Sustainability Options is a social business committed to visiting as many homes as possible providing free, independent & trustworthy sustainability advice to help create warm, drier healthy homes as well as supporting good decisions now that will positively affect our future generations. We’ve visited hundreds of homes, identifying needs and providing advice on home performance (how to create a warm, dry, healthy home), but through our vast experience we know our advice takes a back seat until vital maintenance work can be completed. We see many homes that need minor repairs, and if these are done, the home and its residents would be so much better off. The needs range from installing or fixing bathroom and kitchen ventilation, fixing windows, window joinery, draft stopping, fixing rotten floor boards, fixing guttering and drainage and fixing leaks in the roof and leaks in plumbing, to fixing poor and unsafe wiring, rotten steps, rotten shower cubicles and broken windows.

We know that these repairs are often the stumbling block to homes being warmer and drier, and together we want to help those most vulnerable in our community have a higher quality of life.

Introducing Tradebank, an exciting online platform born out of a desire and necessity to provide healthier, warm, dry and comfortable living conditions to the most vulnerable and at risk in our community.

How it works: Tradespeople with big hearts, professional skills and qualifications volunteer their time, energy and skills to help the most vulnerable and at risk in our community who need house related repairs. Tradespeople log on and load their availability on any given day of the week at any time of the day. Tradebank then identifies, describes and qualifies the housing repair needs for vulnerable and at risk homes and act as project managers. Tradebank matches the right tradesperson to the right job using an online booking system which Tradespeople have populated (with their availability).

We have gone to great lengths to make this process simple for all parties involved, making sure the ultimate goal is removing barriers for people to get essential maintenance work completed on their homes that otherwise wouldn’t get carried out.

What we need: We are looking for Tradespeople willing to be involved in the beta testing phase of the Tradebank, to ensure the platform is ready for release to the wider community. Initially we intend launching in the Western Bay of Plenty and Rotorua Lakes districts and we require builders, plumbers, electricians, glaziers, tilers, painters, roofers, draft stoppers and more who work in these areas and are willing to be involved. We will have real time jobs for our Tradebank Tradespeople to attend, so to be a part of the beta-testing phase, Tradespeople must be willing to volunteer their time to the job as well. We’ll be asking you to test the app we have for capturing your volunteer time & allocating the jobs.

What about cost of materials: This will be something Tradebank will manage on a case by case scenario, as there are various options to work through; the tenant or homeowner pays, the landlord pays, we seek funding, the tradesperson donates all or some of the materials as well as time. Check out the site for FAQ’s.

Where to find more information: Check out www.tradebank.org.nz for all information about this initiative. The site isn’t yet connected to our app, this is because we want to test the system with you first. You can also contact Jo Wills from Sustainability Options who is project managing Tradebank on 021 2777 042 or jo.wills@so.org.nz to find out more or to sign up as a volunteer and to help us test this system!