The little-known rules of The Block

The Blockheads are given plenty of rules when they’re on the show.

Obviously, there are a few that are spoken about often, like safety on site and doing their own painting – a rule new contestants Chantel and Wyatt claimed they had no idea about. This landed them deep in hot water, and in the middle of the show’s earliest ever Body Corporate.

But there are some other rules the contestants must follow, and these have stayed the same throughout The Block’s 22 season history.

Here are some key rules the teams must follow that are not always discussed on camera:

1. No help from any outside designer.
2. All painting must be done by contestants.
3. All trades must be paid the award rate.
4. All trades must be inducted.
5. No more than 50 per cent discount on any trades goods.
6. No working ahead.
7. No power tools after tools down without supervision.
8. No building or material delivery on a public holiday.
9. No power tools on Sunday or public holidays.
10. Contestants must hire their own trades

In Episode 5 of season 22, Chantel and Wyatt were caught red-handed by Foreman Dan for breaking rule number two.

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“What are you doing?” Dan asked their chippy Lachie who turned around with a paintbrush in hand. He was helping Chantel paint their guest bedroom walls.

“That’s a big no, no,” Dan instructed sternly as Chantel reacted with a gasp: “What? We didn’t get told that.”

“That’s like the number one rule in the book,” Dan said in disbelief who further made his point by asking every other contestant if they were aware of the painting rule. They, in fact, were.

Dan was willing to let it slide, but the other Blockheads were not and broke Block “records” by calling a Body Corp before the first room reveal.

“House 2, Wyatt and Chantel, were the alleged cheaters,” Tayla told cameras, while Lisa felt it was only right they were penalised.

The two ladies escalated the issue to Foreman Dan and Gmac. “We want to know if they’re lying,” said Chantel as she demanded to see footage of the painting.

“I know what I’d do as a contestant, I’d be disqualifying them,” Dan said in a bombshell comment.

It seems another Body Corp was on the cards.

In Episode 36 of season 21, Britt and Taz were caught breaking rule number six.

This year, the contestants were given an exception to the ‘no working ahead’ rule and were told they could work ahead on landscaping and landscaping only.

Eagle-eyed neighbour Sonny noticed the installation of a decking subfloor going on in Britt and Taz's alfresco area.

Key word being alfresco, which is next week's job and not part of the final two landscaping weeks – it's a technicality, but a damn good one.

After Foreman Dan caught wind of the rule-break, he headed to House 3 to deliver a very harsh punishment: next Monday, the start of actual alfresco week, they will be banned from working on the deck at all.

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Britt and Taz's Kitchen

It didn't take long for Britt and Taz to realise it was Sonny and Alicia.

"We have different styles of playing the game, it's just not how we compete," a salty Britt reacted.

The unofficial rules of The Block

There are also some 'unofficial' Block rules which are more about common sense, like keeping your site clean and not 'stealing' materials from your neighbours.

It also includes the famous saying 'measure twice and cut once'. The main aim behind that one is to avoid making unnecessary errors and wasting materials.

Another rule, 'first in best dressed' has been another issue of contention this year on The Block after Taz claimed all the free logs sitting around site.

After encouragement from Foreman Dan, Taz decided the $10,000 to $15,000 worth of free wood laying around would be very handy come Landscaping Week.

So he marked his territory by spray painting 'H3' on the side of all of them.

This move angered Sonny over in House 4 who was planning on taking some of them for himself. The only problem was he was second in and so therefore not best dressed.

As for builders, they are typically not able to work on consecutive seasons of The Block.

For example, in previous seasons Will and Karlie wanted to use Matt from Elevate on their series but because he was Caro and Kingi's builder the year before, this couldn't happen.

Last year there was a loophole that allowed Courtney and Grant to use builders Doug and Chris who worked on last year's winners Steph and Gian's house.

Grant clarified that Doug and Chris weren't Steph and Gian's official builders and only worked with them for a "very brief" time as "interim help" while Steph and Gian experienced trouble with their initial builders.

In previous years other escape clauses have meant that builders can return in consecutive years.

For instance, Kirsty and Jesse's builder from 2021 did return to help Omar and Oz on The Block 2022. This isn't actually against the rules because there is a loophole that allows builders to return year-on-year.

"Sub-clause 1.b means they can return as a tradie working for a new builder," Scott Cam explained.

Paulie joined Omar and Oz's team at the start of main bathroom week as lead carpenter in 2022.

The builder rule is there to ensure that no team has an advantage by using a builder who has done back-to-back seasons.

But is was also put in place to be able to give new people a go, according to a series producer of The Block.

"The Block likes to give new people a go. We love meeting new characters and we love giving local trades a leg up in the industry. New trades bring new ideas and that is what The Block is about," they told 9Entertainment.

Want more Block? Dan and Dani are in disbelief over team's 'weird' bedroom inclusion in their exclusive video series here:

The Block airs Sunday at 7pm and continues Monday to Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel 9 and 9Now.

Stream every episode ever of The Block for free on 9Now.

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