A first-week checklist for new joiners in home services and maintenance

A new AC helper reaches the office at nine on Monday. The supervisor is already out on a job. The coordinator hands him a uniform, a phone with the booking app and an address in a suburb he has never visited. He pillion-rides with a senior, holds the ladder and says little. On Tuesday he is sent to a society where the security guard refuses entry because nobody told the gate. He is back at the office by noon, embarrassed. The firm has lost a day and some of his confidence.

Home service firms are always short of hands, so new people go out fast. That is where callbacks begin. A plain list slows the first day slightly and speeds up everything after. Trim the version below to your trade.

• Technicians. Skill check, tool kit, safety habit, customer manner, closure routine.
• Helpers and trainees. Ride-alongs, tool names, ladder and lifting, what they may and may not do alone.
• Installers. Site survey, drilling and bracket fixing, drain slope, copper flare joints, finishing.
• Coordinators and call-centre staff. Booking app, zone map, tone on calls, escalation.
• Cleaning and pest crew. Chemical handling, dilution, respirator and gloves, treatment cycle, utensil covers.

Name: ______   Role: ______   Zone: ______   Senior buddy: ______   Joining date: ______.
Day 1: Welcome by the owner or team leader, introduction to the zone map and the booking app.
Day 1: Uniform, ID card and tool bag issued against a signed list.
Day 1: Joining form, identity copy, bank details and emergency contact collected.
Day 1: Written pay rules read: fixed amount, per-job rate, incentive rule, claim rule, settlement date.
Day 1: Safety briefing: ladder use, electrical isolation, chemical handling, first aid kit in the van.
Day 2: Skill check on the actual trade task, with the result recorded.
Day 2: Tools checked: working, calibrated where needed, labelled.
Day 3: Ride-along with a senior on three calls. Joiner holds, watches, then does one step.
Day 3: Job card and customer closure routine practised, including photo or OTP if used.
Day 4: Claim form, fuel and parts rule, and the approver's name shown.
Day 4: Gate and society rules for the first zone explained, with a list of key contacts.
Day 5: First supervised job done by the joiner, with senior present.
Day 5: Team leader reviews the week, signs and sets a date for any open items.
Signed: Joiner ______   Buddy ______   Team leader ______.

A tick means the joiner did the step or watched it done. 'Told' earns no tick. A line that does not suit the trade is struck through and initialled.

1. 1

   Pick the buddy before day one

   A senior from the same zone, relieved of two calls a day for the week, so he has time to teach.

2. 2

   Hand the joiner the sheet

   A printed copy in a pouch inside the tool bag. The team leader holds a twin in the personal file.

3. 3

   Check at the end of each day

   Five minutes by the van. The buddy names what was covered. The joiner names what was fuzzy.

4. 4

   Hold the Friday review

   Team leader, buddy and joiner sit for ten minutes. A blank line gets a date.

5. 5

   File and follow up

   Sign it, file it and bring it out again at the thirty-day skill review.

The sheet made the blank safety line impossible to miss.

Walk the van with the joiner on day two. Name every item: the gauge manifold, the vacuum pump, the flaring tool, the clamp meter, the teflon tape, the spray pump, the membrane wrench and the spare filter cartridges. Show where each lives. Weigh the tool bag; a helper who cannot lift it up three flights needs a lighter kit. Check that the first aid box holds burn cream, bandages and eye wash.

An electrician's list adds isolation, earthing checks and meter use. A plumber's adds water shut-off points, thread tape and pressure testing. An appliance repair list adds brand-specific parts and warranty cards. A water purifier list adds membrane handling and the customer water test. Keep a one-page addendum per trade. For rooftop work, read the AC repair onboarding page. For route load, read the water purifier service onboarding page.

• Sending a joiner to a job alone before the first supervised one.
• Telling incentive rules by word of mouth, then arguing in month two.
• Skipping the gate and society briefing, so the visit fails at the entrance.
• Naming as buddy the man with the fullest diary in the zone.
• Letting fuel and parts claims pile up till month end.

Firms that hire often can grow the sheet into a full employee onboarding process with tests and a thirty-day review.

Print the sheet, cut what you never use and add what you always forget. Try it on the next two joiners. How onboarding meets area allocation and job-linked pay is set out on our home service staffing overview.