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Everyday English: Calling a tradie

When something breaks, you'll need to explain the problem on the phone and ask the right questions about cost and timing.

Updated 2026-10-12

Listen to the conversation

Press ▶ Play conversation, or 🔊 on any line. Then try 🎭 Practise as "You": the other person speaks, and you say your lines out loud.

Key words and phrases

Phrase What it means
a tradie A tradesperson: a plumber, electrician, carpenter, painter and so on.
a quote The price the tradie agrees to before starting work. Ask for it in writing.
a call-out fee A fee just for coming to your home, before any work is done.
a leak / it's leaking Water escaping from a pipe, tap or roof.
blocked When water can't drain: the sink is blocked.
licensed Plumbers and electricians must hold a licence in Australia. It's fine to ask for their licence number.

Tips

  • Describe where the problem is and what you can see: under the sink, a steady drip, the power keeps tripping.
  • Always ask about the call-out fee and a quote before work starts.
  • If you rent, contact your property manager first. Urgent repairs are often their responsibility.
  • Too easy and no worries both mean no problem. You'll hear them a lot.

Aussie words in this conversation: tradie, no worries, too easy, gday.

More everyday situations

Unofficial practice. We wrote these questions to match the official PTE Academic task types and timings. They are not real exam questions, and points shown are practice feedback, not a PTE score. For an official estimate, use Pearson's scored practice tests.