1300 605 624

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Please type your post code at our Home Page and if you don’t get a message saying that we don’t service your post code yet, you can go ahead with your booking.  Should your post code not come up on our website, we encourage you to still contact us or give us a call on 1300 605 624 as we might be servicing a nearby area and will be happy to drive a little bit further to deliver your bin.

The Short Answer is - Yes, Skip Bin Hire is Open During Stage 4 Restrictions in Melbourne.  Skip Bin Hire falls under the Waste Management, which is an essential service and is an important service to maintain to prevent illegal dumping and support construction and residents, who are moving house and doing various sorts of clean ups.  While Tips are shut for residents during Stage 4 lockdown, you cannot take your trailer to the tip so hiring a Skip Bin has never been a better alernative.  Book Your Skip Bin Online or Call us on 1300 605 624 for any assistance.

While selecting bin size on our website, you will be provided with the dimensions for each size. Please note that all bins from 3m3 and up have a walk-in door, which makes loading the bin so much easier. Please refer to our bin size and waste type guide for more info.  As most customers understimate the size of the skip they might need - we recommend to select one size bigger than the one you need.  The reason behind it is the larger the bin, the more you save per cubic meter, hence if you will order a 6 cubic meters bin it will be cheaper than ordering a 4 cubic meters bin and then ordering another 2 cubic meters should you still have additional waste.  If you need help selecting a size - our friendly customer service team is only a phone call away on 1300 605 624 or  send us a message.

All bins parked outside of your private property (i.e. on City Council land) will require a City Council Permit. Prices for permits vary from council to council and sometimes depend on size of the bin and the length of time the bin is placed. Please note that some councils don't allow placement on a nature strip and the road is the only option. We obtain the Council Permit on your behalf and charge you the Council Fee plus GST (as required by the Australian Taxation Office).  City Council Review their pricing each financial year, we usually keep our customers informed of any changes to their city council permit prices.  To obtain a quote for your city council's fee on Skip Bins, please contact us.

Yes, a Skip Bin can potentially damage your driveway. Any heavy Skip Bin from 6m3 and up, filled with soil or other heavy materials, can contribute to damaging your driveway. On a pickup of a bin, the weight of the bin plus the weight of the truck can crack your driveway. If you are ordering a Hook Bin - there is a high probability of damage to the driveway, thus it is strongly recommended to place Hook Bins on a Road. As per our Terms & Conditions, it is customers' responsibility to ensure a safe placement of a bin. If your driveway is new or fragile (such as exposed aggregate) we recommend obtaining a City Council permit and placing a bin on a road. It is cheaper to pay for a permit compared to repairs of your driveway. You can also protect your driveway by placing timbers underneath the bin, we encourage you to take as many precautions as necessary.  If in doubt - please discuss with us, Safety of Your Property is our Top Priority.

Unfortunately not.  Skip Bin Permits are obtained directly by your Skip Bin Hire provider.  Generally Skip Hire Companies are registered with most councils, which involves a very compehensive registration process with a lot of documentation, inclusive of Public Liability Insurance.  Each council have their own application forms, some manual, some via email and others have online applications.  As we apply for multiple number of permits each day, this process takes us under 30 minutes, while for someone who is not registered, might take you days to even open an account with the council. As the company placing a bin on public property - we are directly responsible for holding a valid Council Permit, therefore we make it our priority to apply as soon as your bin order is placed, as in a case of bin being sighted by the council without a permit, heavy penalties will apply up to $1,000.  For any questions about permits, please don't hesitate to contact us.

The Type of Skip Bin will depend on the nature and quantity of waste. For Households, it is recommended to obtain a Marell Type Bin, while for Building Sites, Warehouse or End of Lease Clean-Ups - a Hook Bin might be more suitable. Often your builder or trades person might advise the type of bin that's required for your project, for large amount of heavy waste such as bricks, concrete, soil, tiles we recommend a hook bin for quantities of 8 cubic meters and above. Please refer to our bin size and waste type guide for more info or contact our friendly team on 1300 605 624 or send us a message if reading this after hours.

You cannot put any hazardous waste into the skip bins. Hazardous chemicals include Solvents, Paints, Acids, Laboratory Waste, Oils, Grease traps etc. To dispose of this you need to contact your local council. They will be able to provide you with a contact who can dispose of anything hazardous or not accepted in your skip bin (i.e. food waste). Disposal of tyres, gas bottles and mattresses in the skip bin will incur additional charges. Please refer to our waste type guide for more information.

All rubbish bins and skips have a maximum height fill point which is to the height on the side wall of the bin, no higher. Any bins, which are overloaded above the rims of the bins will be off-loaded back to the safety limits or in some cases left on premises for the customer to off-load. Please note, should the driver need to come back to pickup a bin, additional transportation charges will apply.

In addition, in Victoria Police frequently stop and check trucks for payload and overfilled bins.  Heavy fines and penalties apply for overfilled bins, which is not only against the law but also present a high level of danger on a road, as there is a potential for overfilled waste to fall out to the vehicles behind or next to the truck.  Should you feel that the bin size you ordered is not adequate, please contact us and we'll discuss an additional size bin for the remainder of the rubbish.

Generally, we allow you to keep a skip bin between 1 and 7 days. If you need a skip bin for longer, we can review extension or extra charges with you depending on your project.  Our repeat and building customers usually qualify for long bin hire, please contact us to discuss your project.

If unforeseen circumstances mean that you have not finished with the skip bin, you should advise us as early as possible, but a minimum of 24 hours in advance. Should the driver arrive to your site and find that bin is not ready for pickup, additional transportation charges will apply for a driver to come back. Provided the skip bin has not been booked out on another job, we can usually extend the hire.

Your drive needs to be at least 3 metres wide for an average size truck with a 6 cubic metre skip bin (allow wider access if necessary for a larger truck). Another consideration is the size of the bin. Most Marell Bins should fit in a standard driveway, up to 5m long. However most Hook Bins are best placed on a road, due to the likelihood of damaging a driveway and the large amount of space required for them. You should also ensure there are no low hanging trees, power lines or the like, that may hinder the access and placement of the container at time of delivery. Once ordered you should contact us and discuss the location of the skip bin if you think that access may be difficult.

You can have a skip bin delivered for Saturday.  Our working days are Monday to Saturday, therefore if you require your bin to be there over the weekend, please schedule a Friday or Saturday delivery.

We will be able to deliver a skip bin within 24hrs of ordering, however, we suggest skip bins are booked as far in advance as possible to ensure you are able to get a skip bin that best meets your requirements and secure a desired time range for the delivery.  In some cases if we are not fully booked, bin delivery can even possible at the same day as you call us, provided that you called before 8am.

While in most cases skips are delivered when they are paid for, in a rare event that a skip cannot be delivered (due to stock shortages or other circumstances), you will be fully refunded if no alternative delivery date can be agreed upon. However if non-delivery is a result of customer changing his mind, cancellation fees will apply as per our Terms & Conditions.

Yes, Skip Bins are being delivered and picked up during COVID-19 lockdown, as Skip Bin Hire, Waste Management and Recycling are considered Essential Services. Our Skip Bin Quotation, Booking, Bin Delivery and Pickup are all contactless, inclusive of contactless payment via our website or over the phone hence there is no danger to our customers.

Our drivers are following a very strict COVID-19 protocol with PPE, masks, gloves and hand sanitisers to ensure that our team and our customers are safe and feel confident in using our skip bins.

Our Customer Service Centre is open Mon-Fri from 7am and Sat from 8am on 1300 605 624 or bins can be easily quoted and booked online.

Depending on the Type of Waste You've Selected, you can put materials, which are allowed under that waste type, please refer to our Waste Type Guide or call our friendly team for any advice on 1300 605 624.  In addition to the items that are included in the bin hire, there is also a list of additional extra items, such as mattresses, tyres, gas bottles and so on, which incur extra charges, for a complete list of these items, please refer to our Waste Type Guide.


When speaking to us over the phone or visiting our website, you would have noticed that bins dimensions are measured in cubic meters. A Cubic Meter is calculated by multiplying the length by width by height.  So when estimating how many cubic meters of waste you might have, you can arrange your waste into a pile and estimate the width, height and length of this pile and multiply one by another.  Prior to multiplying - you need to convert all measurements into meters first, so if your pile is 50 centimetres, you will be using a figure of 0.5m in your calculations.  If you are more of a visual person - please check out our Bins page to visually estimate the right size bin for your project or just call our friendly team on 1300 605 624.

An Average Size used for Household clean up is between 4 cubic meters and 6 cubic meters skip bins, depending on the size of your clean up and whether you are also cleaning up your back yard and garage. If in doubt, we recommend to select a 6 cubic meters bin as most customers tend to underestimate the volume.  For visual reference, please visit our Bin Sizes Page or give our friendly team a call for an advise on 1300 605 624.

While most of our competitors have weight limits on bins, we are proud to confirm that our mini skips from 2 cubic meters and all the way up to larger bins of 12 cubic meters do not have a weight limit, meaning we will not be charging you extra for heavy bins.  As long as bins are not over-filled, meaning only filled up to the boundaries and not above, you are within an all inclusive price that you paid for the bin.

The only bins that do have a weight limit are our 21, 24 and 31 cubic meters bins for a simple reason that due to the large size, if filled with heavy materials, it will possibly break our trucks and also incur us a fine from Vic Roads for being over pay load on the road.  Therefore for large bins between 21 and 31 cubic meters, we strongly recommend to fill them with only light waste, such as cardboard, timber, general household waste, definitely NOT bricks, concrete, soil or roof tiles.  Therefore 21 and 24 cubic meters bins have a weight limit of 4.5 tonne, after which we charge at $165 per tonne and 31m3 bins have a weight limit of 5 tonne with extra charges of $165 per tonne.  For any advice, we'd be happy to chat to you, call us on 1300 605 624 with any questions.

In the situations when you place your bin outside of your premises, there is a general concern of your neighbours or other members of the public adding rubbish to your bin.  We recommend to place a shower curtain or any other make shift tarp or piece of old carpert to discourage others from loading your bin.  We also recommend to first accummulate your waste and then order a bin to reduce the amount of time the bin is out there in the open.  Generally the hirer of the bin is responsible for the waste in the bin and when we come to pick it up, should the bin be overloaded, we would ask you to off load it back to safety levels.

Due to the nature of our business, we do not work on an appointment system, as our drivers do a run of particular suburbs, which includes progressive drop offs of bins on sites and pickups along the way.  Therefore as the driver might be held up on one building site, due to another truck off loading or other incidents, it can consequently delay the rest of the run.  We usually work on 3 hours window for your jobs however as we take your timelines seriously, we always get to know your urgency level and prioritise your projects accordingly.

For some jobs, where the bin needs to be on site prior to 7am, we recommend a delivery the day before to avoid any delays or impacts on your project.  There are no extra charges for longer hire, if the bin needs to be delivered a day before.  Please discuss with our friendly team all your requirements for delivery and pickup of your skip as the more we understand your project the better we'll be able to service you.

Provided that you give us at least 24 hours notice prior to your delivery or pickup, we can certainly change your dates without any issues.  The only variable to consider is if your bin is on a public property and has a council permit expiring then to extend your hire we would need to obtain an additional council permit, which is not a problem at all. Therefore, should your project be delayed or needs to start earlier or any other variations, we recommend to reach out to us early and change your delivery or pickup dates as required.  If our driver has already arrived to your site for the Delivery or Pickup of your Bin and you haven't advised us that you need to change your dates then Transportation Charges will apply.  Please give us our friendly team a call on 1300 605 624 to discuss any concerns you might have about your project dates.

Generally marell bins are being placed in the open spaces, such as driveways and roads, as they hydrolic arms of the truck need to go up a few meters in order to lower the bin from the truck.  Therefore Garages, Carports or Trees can provide as an obstacle in placing a skip bin.  Having said that, we have managed to deliver Hook Bins under some carports or in some garages or warehouses, depending on the dimensions of your enclosed space.  Hook Bins are off loaded differently than marell bins, where truck is driving forward and bin is being lowered to the ground by the hook.  We recommend to contact us or give us a call on 1300 605 624 to discuss your specific access points so that we can find a solution for your property.

As Part of the Essential Services in Transport, Logistics and Waste Management Industry, Need A Skip Now remains OPEN during any Melbourne Lockdowns. Even in the event of construction sites being closed, we are delivering Skip Bins to Any residential sites and all booked deliveries and pickups are guaranteed. Our Office is open as per usual business hours, for any questions pls call us on 1300 605 624, or quotes and bookings available online

While Most Skip Bin Hire providers in Melbourne place limits on tonnage of waste per bin, we are happy to confirm that at Need a Skip Now we provide an all inclusive price for any bin sizes between 2 cubic meters and 12 cubic meters.  If you are a builder or a landscaper and your bin will inevitably be heavy, we offer an up-front, all inclusive price with no extra charges for tonnage.  There are absolutely no suprises on the pickup of your bin, as long as your bin is not overfilled and only filled to the rim.  For any questions, please contact our friendly team on 1300 605 624.

If your bin contains only up to 25% of the following materials, we will not charge you extra and all you will pay is a fixed upfront price for the bin size that you ordered:

  • Carpert and Underlay
  • Foam and Polystyrene
  • Rubber and Rubber Flooring
  • Silica Dust
  • Synthetic Grass or Astro Turf
  • Cool room Panels
  • Soft Fall or Vinyl
  • Old Insulation

In the case where more than 25% of the bin to the full bin is filled with the above materials, we would charge for Transport + tipping at $240 per tonne.  Please contact our friendly team on 1300 605 624 to discuss your materials prior to ordering your bin.

If your soil is non-contaminated, i.e. you have a soil report or it came from a residential site with no known contamination sources, you can dispose of soil via ordering a Skip Bin.  The bin sizes suitable for soil waste are between 2 cubic meters and 10 cubic meters (hook bin).  Anything above 10 cubic meters would be too heavy for any truck to lift. Soil Disposal

Due to the increased regulations and complex process of soil disposal, any soil received will be taken to our recycling yard and undergo various processes to further clean this soil to achieve a clean product, which will be acceptable by soil processing facilities.

Hence, there is no more category as 100% soil, unless you have a Top Soil with absolutely no other materials, such as grass, roots, any green waste or even small pebbles.  If you belive you have clean soil and a soil report to accompany it - we can look into providing a bin for that purpose.

For all other soil disposal, the most economical waste type to select is: Concrete / Bricks / Soil and Metal.  If you have any questions about your soil disposal, we recommend to contact our friendly team on 1300 605 624 or obtain an instant bin quote via our friendly website here.

As most of our customer are aware, soil is one of the most problematic waste types to dispose of right now.  Soil collection, processing and disposal is very heavily regulated by the EPA and it has become increasingly costly to process and dispose of it.

Landfills, which accept soil are regularly monitored by EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and have increased their vigilance of anyone bringing soil to them, to the point where in some cases you will need a soil report to prove that your soil is not contaminated.

To ensure that we can comply with the increased regulations and soil disposal rules, when selecting the waste type from our website: Soil / Bricks / Concrete and Metal, as the name implies, the only materials that soil CAN be mixed with are:

  • Concrete
  • Bricks
  • Rubble
  • Metal

It's ok if there is a little bit of grass mixed up there with soil as it is an inevitable product, that can come with soil. 

On another side, Soil can absolutely NOT be mixed with the following materials:

  • General Waste / Construction Waste
  • Artificial Grass (extra charges apply)
  • Plaster / Cement Sheet
  • Paint and Paint Tins
  • Hazardous Materials, with the biggest offender being Asbestos
  • Any Liquids, Solvents, Oil, Paint, Explosive Materials
  • Tiles (Ceramic Tiles, Roof tiles, Marble and Glass)

Should any of the above materials be found in the soil bin, a surcharge of $50 per cubic meter of your bin will apply.  This is a necessary cost to ensure the extra time and processes to decontaminate the soil, so that we can dispose of it in a legal and lawful way.  For any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us on 1300 605 624.

Clay is a type of fine grained natural soil material, containing clay minerals. Clay develops plasticity when wet and is often found in landscaping, excavation and demolitionp projects.

Due to the wet and sticky nature of this material, it makes it extremely difficult to clean it and dispose of it.  Hence there are very strict rules about mixing Clay with other materials.

Ideally, clay shouldn't be mixed with any other materials.  However if you are excavating and it is inevitable to mix clay, the only materials it can possibly be mixed with are:

  • Concrete
  • Rubble

Should any other materials be found mixed with Clay, the surcharge of $50 per cubic meter for your bin size will apply. Please don't hesitate to contact us for any questions on 1300 605 624.