Rubbish Removal Service Warranty

1. Scope of This Schedule

1.1 This schedule sets out the warranty terms specific to rubbish removal services booked through URGENT Pro. It is a service-specific schedule under the URGENT Pro Service Warranty (Master).

1.2 This schedule covers rubbish removal services performed by Service Providers engaged through URGENT Pro, including:

1. Domestic rubbish removal — general household items, furniture, white goods, garden waste in domestic quantities, deceased-estate clear-outs, hoarding-grade clear-outs at the lower end of severity;
2. Commercial rubbish removal — office furniture clear-outs, retail-fit-out waste, small-scale commercial waste from sole-trader and small-business premises; and
3. Construction-and-demolition waste removal at the domestic scale only — minor renovation waste, garden landscaping waste, and similar; not bulk construction-site clear-outs.

1.3 The following are not within the scope of this schedule and are excluded from the URGENT Pro Service Warranty:

1. hazardous-materials removal that requires a specialist licensed contractor (see clause 9);
2. skip-bin hire (which is a hire service, not a removal service);
3. commercial waste-stream collection on a scheduled basis;
4. industrial-scale demolition waste; and
5. any rubbish removal that requires specialist disposal licensing the Service Provider does not hold.

1.4 All defined terms in this schedule have the meanings given in the Service Warranty (Master) clause 2 unless this schedule provides a different definition (see clause 2 below).

2. Definitions Specific to Rubbish Removal

In addition to the defined terms in the Service Warranty (Master) clause 2:

"Agreed Scope"

means the items identified in the quote, the Booking Confirmation, or the pre-removal walk-through as the items to be removed.

"Commingled Waste"

means waste material loaded into the Service Provider's vehicle in mixed form together with waste from the same or other customers, after which individual items cannot be separated from the load.

"Disposal Docket"

means the receipt, weighbridge ticket, or transfer-station docket evidencing disposal of waste at a licensed waste-disposal facility.

"Hazardous Materials"

means materials that require specialist handling, storage, transport, or disposal under environmental, work-health-and-safety, or dangerous-goods legislation, including (but not limited to) asbestos and asbestos-containing materials, batteries (including lithium and lead-acid), gas cylinders (LPG, oxy-acetylene, refrigerant), chemicals and solvents, paints and thinners, oils and lubricants, refrigerants, sharps and medical waste, pharmaceuticals, e-waste in regulated jurisdictions, and tyres in regulated jurisdictions.

"Licensed Facility"

means a waste-disposal, recycling, transfer-station, or resource-recovery facility that is licensed under the environmental-protection legislation of the relevant State or Territory.

"Property"

means the premises at which the rubbish removal is performed, including dwelling, business premises, garage, driveway, garden, footpath access, and any other area from which items are to be removed.

"Removal Vehicle"

means the truck, ute, trailer, or other vehicle used by the Service Provider to transport rubbish from the Property to a Licensed Facility.

"Volume"

means the cubic-metre measurement of waste to be removed, on the basis of which most rubbish-removal services are quoted.

"Walk-Through"

means the visual inspection by the Service Provider on arrival at the Property to confirm the Agreed Scope, identify items present, identify items not present in the quote, and identify any pre-existing damage to the Property.

3. Warranty Period for Rubbish Removal Services

3.1 The Warranty Period for rubbish removal services is 24 hours from the departure of the Removal Vehicle from Your Property.

3.2 The 24-hour Warranty Period reflects three operational realities that distinguish rubbish removal from other services:

1. Irrecoverability of items — once items enter the Removal Vehicle and become part of Commingled Waste, individual items cannot practicably be retrieved (see clause 10);
2. Inability to re-inspect — the Property cannot be re-inspected by the Service Provider without disturbance; the immediate post-removal condition is the evidentiary baseline; and
3. Disposal-manifest evidence decay — the Disposal Docket and the load-manifest evidence are at their most reliable in the 24 hours following disposal. As time passes, the link between a specific item and a specific disposal event becomes less reliable.

3.3 The 24-hour Warranty Period is designed to capture the Customer's immediate inspection of the Property after the Removal Vehicle has departed and to make irrecoverable-item disputes — where the Customer claims that something was taken that should not have been — manageable through prompt notification.

3.4 Notification within the Warranty Period is required for a warranty claim under this schedule. Claims notified after the 24-hour Warranty Period are outside the URGENT Pro Service Warranty, without prejudice to Your rights under the ACL — in particular, property-damage claims (which are governed by Damage Claims Policy) may be made within the timeframes set there.

4. Standard of Service

4.1 A rubbish removal service is performed to the standard a reasonably competent professional rubbish-removal contractor would deliver, including:

1. removing the items identified in the Agreed Scope from the Property;
2. protecting the Property during loading (floors, walls, door frames, driveway surfaces, garden beds adjacent to access paths);
3. transporting the items to a Licensed Facility for lawful disposal;
4. leaving the area from which items were removed in a reasonably tidy condition; and
5. following the agreed timetable, subject to traffic, weather, and force majeure.

4.2 The standard of "reasonably tidy" means free of significant debris associated with the items removed. It does not extend to cleaning of the area to a cleaning-service standard.

5. The Three Coverage Categories

5.1 The URGENT Pro Service Warranty for rubbish removal covers three distinct categories of claim, each with its own evidentiary requirements and remedy path:

5.2 Category 1 — Service Completion

5.2.1 Where items within the Agreed Scope were not removed by the Service Provider:

1. the Service Provider will return within 24 hours of claim acceptance to remove the missed items at no additional cost;
2. where return is not practicable within 24 hours (for example, where the Customer's access to the Property is restricted), the Service Provider and URGENT Pro will agree an alternative timeframe; and
3. where return is impractical or is refused by the Service Provider, URGENT Pro will release held funds to engage a Substitute Provider or to refund the affected portion of the service.

5.2.2 Evidence required for a Category 1 claim:

1. the original Agreed Scope (quote, Booking Confirmation, walk-through notes);
2. before-photos of the items, where available;
3. photographs of the items remaining at the Property after the Service Provider's departure; and
4. Your written description of which items were not removed.

5.3 Category 2 — Property Damage During Removal

5.3.1 Where the Service Provider's negligence during loading or removal has caused damage to the Property (floors, walls, door frames, driveway surfaces, garden beds, fences, exterior fixtures), the damage is covered under the Service Provider's Public Liability Insurance and is processed in accordance with the Damage Claims Policy.

5.3.2 Where the damage was reasonably visible on inspection at the time the Removal Vehicle departed, the 24-hour Warranty Period applies for notification of the damage. Where the damage was not reasonably visible at that time, the timeframes in the Damage Claims Policy apply.

5.3.3 Evidence required for a Category 2 claim:

1. photographs of the damage in context;
2. photographs (where available) of the Property condition before the rubbish removal commenced;
3. the Service Provider's incident report (if any was made at the time);
4. Your written description of the damage; and
5. where relevant, witness statements.

5.4 Category 3 — Disposal Compliance

5.4.1 The URGENT Pro Service Warranty covers the Service Provider's obligation to dispose of removed items lawfully at a Licensed Facility. The Service Provider must retain Disposal Dockets and provide them on request.

5.4.2 Where it is established that items were not disposed of lawfully — for example, items were illegally dumped, items were left in a public place, or items were not delivered to a Licensed Facility — URGENT Pro will:

1. report the matter to the relevant State or Territory environmental authority;
2. suspend or remove the Service Provider from the URGENT Pro platform pending investigation; and
3. arrange a refund from held funds and engage a Substitute Provider to dispose of any remaining items if any.

5.4.3 Evidence supporting a Category 3 claim includes Service Provider records, Disposal Dockets (or their absence), photographs of the items in unauthorised locations after removal, and reports from environmental authorities.

6. Default Inclusions

6.1 A rubbish removal service includes, by default:

1. Removal of all items in the Agreed Scope from the Property to the Removal Vehicle;
2. Public Liability Insurance for property damage caused by Service Provider negligence;
3. Lawful disposal at a Licensed Facility with Disposal Docket retained for at least 12 months;
4. Reasonable tidying of the area from which items were removed;
5. Service Provider's return within 24 hours of claim acceptance to remove items missed at the original visit;
6. Photographs at completion showing the cleared area, sufficient to establish that the Agreed Scope was completed;
7. A copy of the Disposal Docket available to You or to URGENT Pro on request, retained by the Service Provider for at least 12 months; and
8. Compliance with the relevant State or Territory waste-disposal legislation by the Service Provider in their dealings with the Licensed Facility.

7. Default Exclusions

7.1 A rubbish removal service does not cover:

1. Items not in the Agreed Scope — where the Customer wishes to add items at the time of the removal, this is a chargeable variation under the Pricing & Service Variation Policy and is not warranty work;
2. Volume exceeding the quote — where the actual volume of waste materially exceeds the quoted volume, the Service Provider may refuse to take the excess or may charge an additional fee. This is a pricing matter, not a warranty matter;
3. Hazardous Materials that are not within the scope of the booking and were not disclosed at the quote (see clause 9);
4. Recovery of items after the Removal Vehicle has departed the Property — items cannot be retrieved from Commingled Waste (see clause 10);
5. Customer change of mind — where the Customer authorised the removal of an item and later asserts they intended to keep it, the Service Provider is not in breach;
6. Pre-existing damage to the Property that was not caused by the Service Provider and was identified (or was visible) at the Walk-Through;
7. Damage caused by the Customer's failure to disclose access constraints, hidden hazards (live wires, irrigation lines, gas mains), or fragile features along the access path;
8. Cosmetic preferences not specified at booking — for example, that the area cleared be left in a state of cleanliness equivalent to a Standard Clean (which is a different service);
9. Environmental-compliance failures arising from customer-supplied misrepresented hazardous materials — where the Customer represented that no Hazardous Materials were present and Hazardous Materials were in fact mixed into the load, the Customer bears the risk of any consequent environmental-compliance issue;
10. Items inadvertently included in the load by the Customer — for example, a Customer leaving a personal item among rubbish for removal is excluded from warranty cover by the irrecoverability principle in clause 10; and
11. Universal exclusions in the Service Warranty (Master) clause 8 also apply to all rubbish removal services covered by this schedule.

8. Conditional Inclusions

8.1 The following may be added to a rubbish removal service at the time of booking, as paid add-ons:

1. Specialist Hazardous Materials handling — only with a licensed sub-contractor engaged by the Service Provider; subject to disclosure, quotation, and specialist scope (see clause 9);
2. Additional volume — where the Service Provider returns later to remove an additional volume that was not within the original quote, this is a separate booking and is quoted separately;
3. Cleaning of the area after removal — beyond the "reasonably tidy" standard in clause 4.2, cleaning is a separate service and is covered under the Cleaning Service Warranty if booked;
4. E-waste recycling at the Customer's instruction, where the Service Provider has access to an appropriate licensed recycler; and
5. Mattress, white-goods, or specialist-stream disposal at the Customer's instruction, where the Service Provider has access to an appropriate licensed disposal stream.

9. Hazardous Materials

9.1 Disclosure Requirement

9.1.1 Hazardous Materials must be disclosed at the time of booking. The disclosure requirement applies regardless of the quantity involved.

9.1.2 Examples of materials that must be disclosed:

1. asbestos and asbestos-containing materials (vinyl floor tiles, fibro sheeting, lagging on pipes, vermiculite insulation);
2. batteries — household, automotive, lithium-ion, lead-acid;
3. gas cylinders — LPG, oxy-acetylene, refrigerant, fire-extinguisher;
4. chemicals and solvents — pool chemicals, garden chemicals, cleaning chemicals, paint stripper;
5. paints, thinners, oils, lubricants;
6. refrigerants — air-conditioning units, fridges, freezers with refrigerant still charged;
7. sharps and medical waste;
8. pharmaceuticals;
9. e-waste in jurisdictions where e-waste is regulated separately (Victoria — landfill ban from 1 July 2019); and
10. tyres in jurisdictions where tyre disposal is regulated separately.

9.2 Why Disclosure Matters

9.2.1 Hazardous Materials require:

1. specialist licensed handling, storage, and transport;
2. specialist licensed disposal — Licensed Facilities for general waste do not accept Hazardous Materials;
3. appropriate personal protective equipment for the Service Provider; and
4. (in the case of asbestos and certain other materials) the engagement of a specifically licensed asbestos removal contractor under the State or Territory work-health-and-safety legislation.

9.3 What Happens If Hazardous Materials Are Found

9.3.1 Where the Service Provider identifies Hazardous Materials at the Property that were not disclosed at booking, the Service Provider will:

1. stop work on the affected items;
2. document the items observed (including photographs and location);
3. advise You that the items cannot be removed under the ordinary rubbish removal service; and
4. (where appropriate) advise You of the specialist contractor required and offer to arrange a quote for that specialist service.

9.3.2 The Service Provider may continue to remove the disclosed and lawful items from the Agreed Scope. The Service Provider is not required to remove the Hazardous Materials.

9.4 Exclusion from Warranty

9.4.1 Undisclosed Hazardous Materials are excluded from warranty cover under this schedule. Where a Customer's failure to disclose Hazardous Materials causes:

1. Service Provider injury;
2. environmental contamination;
3. regulatory penalty against the Service Provider; or
4. refusal of the load at a Licensed Facility,

the Service Provider's reasonable costs may be passed through to the Customer as a variation, and the Service Provider's statutory rights are preserved.

10. The Irrecoverability Principle

10.1 Once the Removal Vehicle leaves the Property, the items removed enter the Service Provider's load. Items in the load:

1. become Commingled Waste — physically mixed with other items in the load and (at the Licensed Facility) with the loads of other customers;
2. are typically processed for disposal or recycling within hours of arrival at the Licensed Facility; and
3. cannot be retrieved from Commingled Waste without compromising the disposal stream and the loads of other customers.

10.2 You waive any claim to items recovered after the Removal Vehicle has been driven from the Property unless the Service Provider has confirmed retention of the specific item prior to disposal. This waiver is reasonable because once an item is in Commingled Waste it cannot be retrieved without compromising the Service Provider's other obligations.

10.3 If You realise after the Removal Vehicle has departed that an item was removed that should not have been removed, You should:

1. contact URGENT Pro immediately on 1300 105 453;
2. provide a description of the item and the time the Removal Vehicle departed;
3. URGENT Pro will contact the Service Provider as soon as possible to ascertain whether the Removal Vehicle has reached the Licensed Facility and whether retrieval is still possible; and
4. if the load has been disposed of, retrieval is not possible.

10.4 The irrecoverability principle does not affect Your right to compensation under ACL section 60 where the item was identified by You at the Walk-Through as not to be removed, and was removed in breach of that instruction. In that case, the claim is one of negligence by the Service Provider and is dealt with as a Category 1 service-completion failure with cash remedy rather than item recovery.

11. Lawful Disposal and Environmental Compliance

11.1 The Service Provider's Obligation

11.1.1 Service Providers performing rubbish removal services through URGENT Pro are required to:

1. dispose of removed items lawfully at a Licensed Facility;
2. retain Disposal Dockets for each load for at least 12 months;
3. make Disposal Dockets available to You or to URGENT Pro on reasonable request; and
4. comply with the environmental-protection legislation of the State or Territory in which the disposal occurs.

11.2 Illegal Dumping — Why It Matters

11.2.1 Illegal dumping is a serious environmental offence in all Australian jurisdictions. By way of example, under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997 (NSW), on-the-spot fines for illegal dumping are:

1. $7,500 for individuals;
2. $15,000 for corporations,

with strict-liability penalties up to $250,000 for individuals and $1,000,000 for corporations, and wilful illegal dumping carrying penalties up to $1,000,000 plus seven years imprisonment for individuals and $5,000,000 for corporations.

11.2.2 Victoria's Environment Protection Act 2017 imposes a general environmental duty on transporters and receivers of waste, with the Victorian EPA's pollution hotline (1300 372 842) being the primary reporting channel.

11.3 The URGENT Pro Position

11.3.1 URGENT Pro requires all Service Providers performing rubbish removal services to use Licensed Facilities only. URGENT Pro will not knowingly permit a Service Provider on the platform that:

1. operates without using Licensed Facilities;
2. has been the subject of a substantiated illegal-dumping complaint that the Service Provider has not satisfactorily resolved; or
3. cannot produce Disposal Dockets for past loads on reasonable request.

11.3.2 Where it is established that a Service Provider has illegally dumped a Customer's load:

1. the Service Provider will be immediately suspended from the URGENT Pro platform;
2. URGENT Pro will report the matter to the relevant State or Territory environmental authority;
3. URGENT Pro will arrange a refund from held funds and, where any items remain to be disposed of, engage a Substitute Provider to dispose of them lawfully; and
4. the Service Provider may face independent regulatory and criminal liability.

11.4 Your Position as the Booking Customer

11.4.1 As the Customer engaging the URGENT Pro platform, You are not directly liable for the Service Provider's illegal dumping, provided You engaged the service through URGENT Pro and disclosed the items honestly at booking. Liability for illegal dumping is primarily on the contractor who does the dumping.

11.4.2 However, You may be exposed to enforcement risk if You:

1. knowingly engaged an unlicensed provider;
2. instructed a Service Provider to dispose of items in a manner You knew or ought to have known was unlawful; or
3. supplied items to the Service Provider while knowingly misrepresenting their nature (for example, asbestos disguised as general construction waste).

11.4.3 URGENT Pro's vetting of Service Providers — to verify the use of Licensed Facilities — is a feature of the platform that reduces this risk to You.

12. Customer Obligations for Rubbish Removal Services

12.1 In addition to the Customer Obligations in the Service Warranty (Master) clause 10, You agree:

1. to disclose at booking the items to be removed, the volume estimate, any Hazardous Materials present, and any access constraints at the Property;
2. to provide reasonable access to the items at the agreed time, including parking arrangements for the Removal Vehicle and clear access from the loading point to the Property;
3. to participate in the Walk-Through on arrival of the Service Provider, to confirm the Agreed Scope, and to identify any item that should not be removed;
4. to remove personal items from amongst rubbish before the Service Provider's arrival;
5. to declare Hazardous Materials in accordance with clause 9;
6. to provide an honest estimate of volume at booking — material understatement of volume may result in a chargeable variation under the Pricing & Service Variation Policy or, where the additional volume exceeds Removal Vehicle capacity, a separate booking;
7. to inspect the Property immediately after the Removal Vehicle has departed and to notify URGENT Pro within the 24-hour Warranty Period of any concern; and
8. not to attempt to retrieve items from Commingled Waste after the Removal Vehicle has departed.

12.2 Failure to comply with clause 12.1(c), (d), (e), (f), or (g) may reduce or extinguish Your entitlement under the URGENT Pro Service Warranty in respect of the affected items. Failure to comply with clause 12.1 does not extinguish Your rights under the ACL.

13. Evidence Requirements for Rubbish Removal Claims

13.1 To support a warranty claim under this schedule, the following evidence will be considered by URGENT Pro:

1. The original Agreed Scope — quote, Booking Confirmation, and any Walk-Through notes;
2. Before-photographs showing the items at the Property prior to removal;
3. After-photographs showing the cleared area after removal;
4. The Service Provider's load-manifest record noting the volume removed;
5. The Disposal Docket evidencing disposal at a Licensed Facility, retained by the Service Provider for at least 12 months;
6. Your written description of the claim, including specifically what was missed, what was damaged, or what was disposed of improperly;
7. For Category 1 claims (service completion) — photographs of the items remaining at the Property after the Service Provider's departure;
8. For Category 2 claims (property damage) — photographs of the damage in context, and photographs of the Property condition before removal where available;
9. For Category 3 claims (disposal compliance) — any photographs of items in unauthorised locations after removal, and any reports from environmental authorities; and
10. For Hazardous Materials disputes — the disclosure record at booking, the Walk-Through notes, and any photographs of the materials in question.

13.2 Minimum photo requirements applied by URGENT Pro:

13.3 The standard of proof URGENT Pro applies is the civil standard — the balance of probabilities.

14. Remedies and Re-Performance Timeframes

14.1 The standard remedy for rubbish-removal claims under this schedule depends on the coverage category:

14.2 The graduated remedy structure under the Service Warranty (Master) clause 9 applies. Where Re-Performance (return to remove missed items) is impractical, has been refused, or has failed, URGENT Pro will release held funds to engage a Substitute Provider or to arrange a refund.

14.3 For Major Failures under ACL section 268, You — not the Service Provider — choose the remedy, in accordance with the Service Warranty (Master) clause 9.3.

14.4 Examples of Major Failure in rubbish-removal services include:

1. failure to perform the service at all (Removal Vehicle does not arrive and no alternative arranged);
2. substantial damage to Your Property that a reasonable Customer fully acquainted with the nature and extent of the failure would not have proceeded with the booking;
3. illegal dumping of Your load, resulting in environmental-authority involvement;
4. removal of items the Customer expressly identified at the Walk-Through as not to be removed, of substantial value; and
5. leaving the Property in a condition that creates an unsafe situation.