How to win work from retirement villages
A retirement village needs its gardens, paths, community centre and units kept up all year, and the people living there need trades of their own. Here is who makes the decisions, why residents care about your price, and how to work well on site.
Who they are
A retirement village is run by an operator. Some operators are large groups with dozens of villages and a head office, some are church or community organisations, and some own a single village. Each village usually has a village manager on site who looks after the day to day: residents' requests, repairs, the gardens, the community centre and the contractors who come and go.
Who signs off on your work depends on the size of the job and the operator. A village manager can often book small repairs and one-off jobs. Regular contracts like grounds or cleaning, and larger works, are more likely to be decided or approved by the operator's head office, especially in the bigger groups.
Then there are the residents. Each state has its own retirement village legislation, and in Queensland and NSW much of the running cost is paid by residents through their recurring charges. In Queensland the general services charge normally covers things like gardening and minor maintenance, residents fund a maintenance reserve for repairs, and the operator alone pays for replacing capital items. A residents' committee can ask the operator for the draft budget and for an explanation of what each general service costs. In NSW, residents vote on the budget when charges are going up by more than CPI or a set formula, and the committee can ask the operator for copies of quotes for proposed work. So your quote may well be read by residents, and they will notice if the gardening bill goes up.
What they’ll ask a new supplier for
- Your ABN and business details
- Public liability insurance, with a current certificate of currency
- Workers’ compensation cover where you have workers
- Your trade licence, where your trade and state require one
- A national police check, if the operator’s contractor policy asks for one
- Completion of the village’s contractor induction, and signing in and out on each visit
- A written quote with a clear scope that could be shown to the residents’ committee
What they buy, and what they pass on
Grounds and gardens
Mowing, garden beds, hedges and tree work across the village, often on a regular schedule. Gardens are a big part of why people choose a village, so they get noticed.
Cleaning of shared spaces
The community centre, library, pool area, hallways in apartment-style buildings and the village office.
Repairs and maintenance trades
Plumbing, electrical, doors, locks, gutters and roofs, from small call-outs to planned work set out in the village’s maintenance plan.
Painting and unit refurbishment
Repaints of shared buildings, plus work on units between residents so they are ready for the next sale or lease.
Pest control and pressure cleaning
Regular pest treatments, and cleaning of paths and driveways where moss and stains turn into slip and trip hazards.
Work for residents themselves
Removals and downsizing when people move in or out, cleaning inside their own units, window cleaning and small jobs around the home. This is usually paid by the resident, and the village manager is often the one they ask for a name.
How they choose who to use
Care around residents
Quiet, patient and polite contractors who give way on paths, park in the right place and don’t leave tools or hoses lying around.
The same faces each visit
Residents are more comfortable when they recognise the people working near their homes, and fewer new faces means fewer questions to the manager.
A price residents can follow
Because residents often pay for the service and can ask how the money is spent, a plain quote with a clear scope makes the manager’s job easier.
Few complaints
Residents talk to each other and to the manager. A contractor who generates no complaints keeps the contract.
Paperwork in order
Insurance, licences and safety documents ready before the first visit, and a willingness to follow the village’s sign-in and induction.
Getting on their list
Most operators keep an approved contractor list. In a large group it is often managed from head office, and getting on it can mean registering your documents centrally even though the village manager is the one who calls you. A single village usually keeps its own list and asks for your insurance and licence by email.
Inductions are standard. The Retirement Living Code of Conduct, the industry code from the Retirement Living Council and Leading Aged Services Australia, commits operators who sign up to keep written procedures for inducting staff and contractors. The same code has operators survey residents at least once a year on the village's facilities and services, including services provided by contractors, so what residents think of your work can find its way back to the operator. In NSW, operators must also keep the village reasonably safe and secure, run an annual safety inspection and have a strategy for preventing elder abuse, which is part of why they want to know exactly who is on site.
Police checks are worth asking about early. Whether you need one depends on the operator's own contractor policy, so ask what theirs requires and get a current national police certificate if it does. The referral side works differently. Villages often get asked by residents for a removalist, a cleaner or a handy person, and a manager who trusts you may pass your name on. That kind of work is covered in more detail under getting referred, and the guide to preferred supplier lists covers the contractor paperwork.
How to approach them
Find the villages near you
Search your area for retirement villages and note who operates each one. A group with several villages nearby can be worth more than one large village on the other side of town.
Write to the village manager by name
The manager knows what’s not working and who residents are asking about. For a large group, ask them who looks after contractor approvals.
Offer to quote, or to be the backup
Managers rarely change contractors because someone asked. They do need a second quote, and they do need someone when a regular contractor falls through.
Show you know who you’d be working around
Mention how you work near residents: set hours, the same crew, tidy sites. It matters more here than in most places.
For resident work, ask to be the name they give
If you sell to residents rather than the village, ask whether the manager keeps a list of local services or would be happy to have your details on hand.
A first email that works
Hi Sandra, I run a small removals business in Toowoomba and a fair bit of our work is older people moving into a village, or out of a family home they’ve had for decades. I’m not after anything from the village itself. I just wondered whether residents ever ask you who to call for a move, and if so whether you’d be happy to have our details on hand. We take our time, we can do the packing, and we give a fixed price up front. Would it be all right if I dropped a few flyers into the office? Thanks, Craig If you’d rather not hear from me, just reply and say so.
An example only. The business is made up.
Mistakes that cost the work
Working like it’s a building site
Early starts, loud gear, blocked paths and trucks in residents’ parking spots all turn into complaints to the manager.
Selling to residents on the operator’s job
If you’re there to mow for the village, don’t quote residents for private work on the side unless the manager is comfortable with it.
Forgetting who pays
Residents often fund the service through their charges and can ask questions about the cost. A vague quote or surprise extras puts the manager in a hard spot.
Businesses that work with retirement villages
Part of Sell to businesses. See every kind of business we write to on Who buys from you.
Questions people ask
Does the village manager decide who gets the work?
For small jobs, often yes. For regular contracts and bigger works the operator usually decides, and in a large group that can mean head office. Ask the manager how it works at their village.
Do residents get a say in which contractor is used?
Not usually directly, but they can see and question the budget. In Queensland a residents’ committee can ask for the draft budget and what each general service costs, and in NSW the committee can ask for copies of quotes for proposed work.
Do I need a police check?
It depends on the operator. Ask whether their contractor policy needs one, and if it does, get a current national police certificate before your first visit.
How is a retirement village different from aged care?
Residents in a village live independently in their own units, and the village is covered by state retirement village laws. Aged care homes are a different setting with their own rules, so check which you’re dealing with when an operator runs both.
Is it worth chasing the resident work rather than the village contracts?
It can be, especially for removalists, cleaners and window cleaners. The village manager is a natural referrer, and residents who are happy tend to tell their neighbours.
- Queensland Government: residents’ committees in retirement villages
- Business Queensland: financial statements of retirement villages
- Queensland Law Handbook: retirement villages general services charge
- NSW Government: village budgets and accounts
- NSW Government: rights and obligations for retirement village operators
- Retirement Living Code of Conduct (Retirement Living Council and LASA)
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