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A certified valuer will listen to your situation and answer any questions you may have, at no cost.
For electricians, plumbers, air conditioning mechanics and fire protection firms across Brisbane, a schedule of recurring service work carries far more value than the same profit chased one job at a time.
A Brisbane trade contractor is valued by capitalising the profit left after the owner is charged a market wage for both the trade work and the running of the business. Contracted servicing and fire safety maintenance earns a lower risk loading than project work, and vans, plant and tools at market value less any finance set the minimum value.
Owners usually come to us when a rival or a national facilities management group makes an offer, when a leading hand or a son or daughter is lined up to take over, when a partner wants out, when a family law property settlement is under way, when the bank wants a value before extending a vehicle or equipment facility, or when the accountant moves the business from a sole trader into a company and the ATO expects a market value.
The diagnosis is often worth more than the figure. An electrical business in Logan can earn very well while the owner works on the tools every day and still be worth little beyond its vans and stock once that owner steps back. A valuation shows how much of the value rests in service agreements and a licensed team that would stay, and how much rests on one person's labour and licence.
A certified valuer will listen to your situation and answer any questions you may have, at no cost.
The Income Approach leads. Service agreements and statutory maintenance bring revenue back each year without a new tender, and that is the kind of earnings stream the income approach measures best.
We use the capitalisation of future maintainable earnings. The starting point is sustainable profit after the owner is charged a fair wage for the trade hours and a further amount for managing the business. That profit is divided by a capitalisation rate built from a risk-free base plus premiums for size, for the industry and for the particular business.
Work mix drives most of the business-specific premium. A contractor maintaining fire safety installations, air conditioning plant or switchboards across a group of CBD and Fortitude Valley office buildings, or holding a facilities agreement in the Herston or Woolloongabba hospital precincts, can forecast next year's revenue with confidence, so its loading is low. A contractor that lives on fit-out tenders begins every year with an empty book, so its loading is high, even on an identical profit.
Prices paid for trades businesses of similar size, trade and mix of service and project work give a range to check against. The evidence is thinner than in consumer sectors, so it informs the conclusion rather than deciding it.
Vehicles, plant, tools and stock at market value, less the finance owed on them, give the minimum. When the business depends on the owner and very little work is under contract, this figure can be most of the answer.
A valuation is usually challenged through its adjustments, so each one appears in the report with the reason for it. For Brisbane electrical, plumbing, air conditioning and fire protection contractors the usual ones are:
Brisbane trades follow the building cycle. Housing estates in Springfield, Ipswich, Logan and the Moreton Bay region keep a large pool of electricians, plumbers and air conditioning installers busy with volume builders. Commercial and industrial work concentrates around Acacia Ridge, Rocklea and Eagle Farm, while the office towers of the CBD, Fortitude Valley and Newstead, the hospital precincts and the venues planned for the 2032 Games generate the service and compliance contracts that hold their value best.
Licensing decides who can buy. In Queensland, building, plumbing, drainage, air conditioning and fire protection work is licensed by the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC), and electrical work by the Electrical Safety Office, which issues both the individual electrical work licence and the electrical contractor licence. A licence that rests with the owner personally means a buyer must provide their own licensed person, which narrows the field and lifts the rate. A firm whose employees hold their own licences, and whose contractor licences are held by the company with a qualified person other than the departing owner, transfers far more easily, and the comparable set is chosen to reflect that.
The trades keep attracting new operators. Construction, the ABS industry division that includes trade contracting, grew 3.4 per cent in the national business count in 2025 to 2026 (Source: ABS, Counts of Australian Businesses, July 2022 to June 2026, released 18 August 2026), and Queensland recorded a net increase of 19,244 actively trading businesses across all industries in that year (same source). Low barriers to entry keep project pricing tight, which is part of why a contracted service book is valued so differently from tender work.
The report opens with the purpose of the valuation, the standard of value, the valuation date and the information we used, including anything we requested that never arrived. It then explains each approach we considered, the method applied, every adjustment with its reason, and how the results were weighed to arrive at a range, set out in words a reader can follow.
That reasoning is what keeps the opinion intact. A conclusion that cannot say why the earnings result was preferred, or why one point in the range was chosen, will struggle under cross-examination in the District Court of Queensland or the Supreme Court of Queensland, or against an opposing expert. Our reports follow APESB, APES 225 Valuation Services and are signed by a credentialed certified valuer who will explain and defend the opinion.
Ask which assumption a reviewing expert would challenge first, and what the reply would be. If there is no clear reply, the work is not complete.
An Indicative valuation suits an owner who wants to know whether the business would sell or whether it is really a well-paid job. It is for internal decision-making and is not written for third party reliance. A Summary report suits a sale, buying out a partner or a loan application. A Detailed report is needed for family law, a shareholder or partnership dispute, and any matter where another expert will examine the opinion.
The reader decides the depth. If a court, a bank, the ATO or another expert is likely to rely on the report, it needs to show more of its working.
For internal decision-making. Useful for testing an offer, setting an expectation before a negotiation, or deciding whether to go to market. It is not written for third party reliance.
Sets out the approaches applied, the normalisation adjustments made and the reasoning behind the conclusion. The usual choice for a sale, an ownership change or a finance application.
Applies and reconciles all relevant approaches in full. The level required where a court, the ATO, a lender or another expert will review the opinion.
Talk your situation through with a certified valuer before you commit to anything, at no cost.