Fernline 02 6 min read Guide
How to choose a landscaper on the Northern Beaches
The three questions that sort designers and licensed builders from blokes with a trailer, what to verify on the contract, and the red flags in a quote.
Short answer: ask three questions. Check one licence. Read the quote line by line. The ones who pass that test will finish your job.
The three questions that sort the field
Ask every landscaper who walks your block:
- Will I see a scaled drawing and a line-by-line quote before any work starts?
- Where does the stormwater go once the new surfaces are in?
- Who holds the NSW landscaping licence on this job?
The answers tell you in under a minute. A real designer will know all three. A bloke with a trailer will dodge them.
What to check on the contract
Before you sign anything, look for these things on the paper:
- A licence number that resolves on the NSW Fair Trading site
- Public liability cover of at least $20M
- A fixed itemised price, not "from $X"
- A payment plan tied to stages, not weekly progress
- A defects period of at least 12 months
- A 5 to 7 year warranty on any wall or deck, in writing
Anything verbal is anything missing. If it is not on the page, it is not in the job.
Red flags in a quote
Five common ones, all easy to spot:
- A single round number with no line items
- "Planting allowance $3,000" instead of a named plant list
- "All approvals included" with no approval path named
- A hand-written or scanned PDF quote
- A deposit ask above 10% before any work has started
One is a chat. Two is a no. When you want to compare against a proper quote, book a design visit.
Common questions
How do I know if a landscaper is properly licensed in NSW?
Any structural landscaping work over $5,000 in NSW legally requires a contractor licence on the contract. Ask for the licence number, then check it on the NSW Fair Trading register in two minutes. If the proposal does not list it, that is the answer. Fernline contracts always carry our number (NSW 000000C) on page one.
What questions actually sort the field?
Three: will I see a scaled drawing and an itemised proposal before any work starts, where does the stormwater go once the new surfaces are in, and who holds the structural landscaping licence on this job. A licensed designer will answer all three in 30 seconds. A bloke with a trailer will deflect.
Is the cheapest quote ever the right one?
Sometimes, but only when you are comparing the same scope. Cheap quotes are usually cheap because the expensive invisible work, the drainage, the engineered footings, the certified retaining, has quietly been left out. The job runs $40k either way; the difference is whether you pay it once on the contract or twice in variations.