Save the trades you already use, and understand what happens when you have nobody for a job.
Your contractors are the tradespeople you call. Save them once, and every job you raise can use them without you typing a number again.
They live in three places. Contacts holds the whole list, on its Contractors & suppliers tab. A property's Maintenance tab shows the ones assigned to that property. A building's Maintenance tab shows the ones assigned to the building. It is one record per person, so a change you make in one place shows everywhere.
Select Contacts in the left menu, then the Contractors & suppliers tab. Each row shows the name, the trade, how to reach them, and how many quotes and invoices they have sent you.
Type a name or a trade in Search by name or trade to narrow the list. The Maintenance page also shows a chip for each trade, such as Electrician. Selecting a chip opens this tab with that trade already searched.
Select a row to open that contractor's window. It shows the jobs they have done for you, their quotes, their invoices and the money you have paid. A tick beside the name means you have marked them as a trusted contractor.
Use Edit details in that window to change anything. The bin on a row removes them from your address book altogether.
On the Contractors & suppliers tab, select Add a contractor or supplier. A window opens. Fill it in and select Save changes.
Open the property, then its Maintenance tab. The Contractors list shows who is assigned to it.
If the person is not saved yet, choose Someone new at the top of the same window and fill in the same form as above. A building's Maintenance tab works the same way.
The bin beside a contractor on a property takes them off that property only. They stay in your address book and on any other property they cover.
If nobody you know does the trade, you can search near the property. Select Maintenance in the left menu. In the Quotes in progress box, select Get a quote. The Find a contractor window opens.
The app searches Checkatrade and Google near the property. You get a list with each firm's rating, how many reviews it has, where the listing came from and a phone number. Select a firm's name to open its listing in a new tab.
The Get quotes button on this window is marked Coming soon, so nothing is sent to these firms from here. Phone the one you like. If you want them again, save them with Add a contractor or supplier. Each search you run is kept under Quotes in progress, and selecting it reopens the same list.
If Alfred is switched on for a property and a tenant reports a problem, he offers a contractor you have saved for that trade first. If you have nobody saved for it, he searches the same way and brings the candidates to your Inbox, under approvals. He never chooses one for you. Read more in When a tenant reports a problem.
