36 pocket-sized reference cards. One topic each. Printable and laminatable.
The quick-reference stuff you always forget when you need it. Free to use and print.
Every card is designed to print cleanly on one A4 page. Hit the print button on any card, laminate it, and stick it where you need it — van glovebox, cabin wall, toolbox lid, first aid kit.
Safety & Emergency
The cards you hope you never need.
Emergency Numbers — Construction (Australia)
Every number an Australian construction worker might need, in one place. Print two — one for the site shed, one for the ute.
First Aid on Site — DRSABCD
The first minutes matter most. The DRSABCD action plan and the CPR numbers, in the order you do them — for the moment you hope never comes.
Service Strike — What To Do
Hit a buried cable, gas main or water pipe? What you do in the next minute matters. Three services, three responses — and one rule that is the same for all of them: get clear.
Fire Extinguishers — Which Band for Which Fire
All red, told apart by a coloured band. Use the wrong one and you make it worse — water on an electrical fire can kill you. Which band for which fire, under AS/NZS 1841.
Manual Handling — The Law & The Lift
There is no legal safe weight limit in Australia — it is about risk, not a magic number. What the law actually expects, plus the technique and the loads you handle every day.
Asbestos — Stop, Do Not Touch
If a building is pre-1990 and you are about to disturb it, assume asbestos until proven otherwise. Where it hides, and the one rule that matters: stop, do not touch.
Notifiable Incident — What To Report
Something serious has happened on site. Does it have to be reported to the regulator — and how fast? The notifiable-incident rules under the model WHS laws.
GHS Hazard Pictograms
The red diamond symbols on every drum, tin and bag on site. What each GHS pictogram is warning you about — in plain English, not the chemical definition.
Fire Safety — Working in Occupied Buildings
Refurb or maintenance in a lived-in home, an office or a block of units? There are people above and below you. The fire-safety rules that change when the building is occupied.
Silica & Engineered Stone — The Rules
Respirable crystalline silica is the new asbestos conversation — and engineered stone is now banned. The exposure limit, the ban, and the controls you must have.
Compliance & Inspections
Checklists that keep you inspection-ready.
High Risk Work Licence Classes
Scaffolding, cranes, hoists, EWPs, placing booms — the work that needs a High Risk Work licence, and which class covers what. State-issued, nationally recognised, renewed every 5 years.
When You Need a Builder/Trade Licence — by State
The dollar value where building work needs a licence varies by state — and some trades need one regardless of value. Get this wrong and you cannot even sue for payment.
Technical & Materials
Sizes, ratios, colours and values you look up every week.
AS 2870 Site Classes — Slabs & Footings
Before the slab goes down, the soil gets classified — and the reactivity class drives your footing design. It is the line on the geotech report everyone skips to.
Bushfire Attack Levels (BAL) — AS 3959
In a bushfire-prone area the BAL sets how the building has to be built. Six levels, set by radiant heat — and the jump to Flame Zone changes everything.
NCC Climate Zones & Energy — by State
The NCC splits Australia into 8 climate zones and, since 2022, wants new homes at 7 stars. But the states adopted it on different timelines — here is where each one actually sits.
Concrete Grades — N20 to N40
The N is normal-class, the number is the strength in MPa at 28 days. Which grade for which job, and the slump that comes as standard.
Brick Dimensions & Bonds (Australia)
230 × 110 × 76 mm — the standard Australian clay brick, and the 86 mm course that sets out the whole job. Plus the bonds you will be asked for.
Structural Pine Sizes — MGP10 / AS 1684
Structural pine, machine-graded. The standard MGP10 sections and lengths you order, the grade, and the treatment that matters north vs south.
Plasterboard Types (Australia)
One core looks like another until it is the wrong one in a wet area or a fire wall. The Australian plasterboard types, what they are for, and the thicknesses.
Drain Falls — Minimum Grades
Too flat and it blocks, too steep and the water outruns the solids. The minimum grades for sanitary drainage under AS/NZS 3500.2.
Electrical Wiring Colours (Australia)
Brown, blue, green-yellow — the current Australian wiring colours, and the old red and black you will still find in pre-2000 homes. Mix them up and someone gets hurt.
Money, Tax & Legal
Rates, deadlines and escalation steps.
Super: Caps, SG Rate & Key Dates
Super Guarantee, contribution caps and the dates that catch employers out — with the Payday Super changeover.
GST & ABN — Thresholds & Rates
When you must register for GST, the GST fraction, and what happens when no ABN is quoted.
Income Tax — Resident Rates & Offsets
Resident marginal tax rates for 2025-26, the legislated cuts ahead, and the offsets that matter to tradies.
ATO Tax Deadlines
The lodgement and payment dates a self-employed tradie can't afford to miss.
Vehicle Deductions — Cents-per-km vs Logbook
Two ways to claim your ute or van — cents-per-km or logbook. The rates, caps and records the ATO expects.
Instant Asset Write-Off
Buy a tool or piece of equipment under the threshold and you can deduct the full cost this year instead of depreciating it over time. The current rules — and the cliff edge.
Record Retention — How Long to Keep What
The retention periods differ by record type and that is exactly what trips people up. The holds that matter for a tradie business.
Sham Contracting — Penalties & the Law
Calling an employee a "contractor" to dodge entitlements is illegal — and since the Closing Loopholes changes the fines are bigger and the defence is harder. The figures every AU business owner should know before they hire.
Unfair Dismissal — Key Figures
The thresholds, caps and deadlines that decide an unfair dismissal claim — for both sides of the conversation.
NES — Leave & Notice Entitlements
The National Employment Standards set the floor for every employee in Australia — no award or contract can undercut them. The leave and notice entitlements a tradie-employer needs to get right.
Deposit Caps & Home Warranty — by State
Deposit caps, home-warranty triggers and cooling-off rights vary by state. The residential building rules for the four biggest states — confirm yours before you sign or take a deposit.
Security of Payment — Timelines by State
Security of Payment laws are the fastest way to get paid on a construction job — but they run on strict clocks. Miss a deadline as a respondent and you can be liable for the whole claim.
MA000020 On-Site Award — How Pay Is Built
The Building & Construction General On-site Award (MA000020) sets the floor for employed tradies and apprentices. The dollar rates change — so this card is the STRUCTURE, with the live figures one click away.
Insurance & Vehicles
What to check, what to ask, what's probably not covered.
What To Ask Your Broker at Renewal
The renewal quote is the easy bit — knowing what is actually covered is the part that bites at claim time. The questions to ask your broker before you sign.
Tool Theft — The First 24 Hours
Tools gone from the van or the site? What you do in the first day decides whether the claim pays. The order that matters.
Print the lot
Every card prints cleanly on one A4 page.
Stick them where they matter
Cabin wall. Van glovebox. Toolbox lid. First aid kit.
Missing a card?
Email hello@kilnguides.co.uk.