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Rogue Traders
A Guide to Getting a Fair Deal
Negotiating with builders needn’t be a daunting prospect: with a bit of research and clear planning, you can retain control of the process and ensure that organising your building work is a piece of cake!
Use the following steps as a guide:
Where possible, use a tradesperson who has been recommended to you, by a trusted source: e.g. your insurance provider, or a good friend.
Most professional builders will belong to a recognised trade association, such as the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) who regularly vet their members.
And most importantly… Never ever employ a person who cold calls you at your door – if they were legitimate tradespeople, they would be too busy to knock doors!
Before signing or agreeing to any work with a builder, do the following:
- Talk to their previous customers.
- Drive by, or visit the jobs they have done before.
- If possible, speak to their previous customers about their experience.
- Check that the job was completed properly and came within budget.
You should then make a shortlist of three or more suitable tradespeople in your area, as it’s likely that they won’t all be available when you need them!
N.B. – if they are proud of their previous work they should be happy to give you details to check out the above. A rogue trader will not want to share such information!
Once you’ve made a shortlist...
- Produce a detailed specification of the work you want done.
- Ask at least three builders to provide quotes – in writing, to you and ensure that the amount covers everything, including additional manpower, supply of materials, removal of rubbish and making good after the work is finished.
- Make sure the builders have an appropriate level of public liability insurance for the work to be carried out on your home. This should cover for legal liability in the event of accidental injury to any person or damage to property belonging to other people whilst carrying out work.
Once you’ve selected your builder...
Prepare a legal, written contract, and include all of the following:
- Itemise all the work to be done on the property and if necessary, break it down by room or area.
- Specify and break down any payment details agreed between you and your builder in the contract (it’s quite common to agree staggered payments as various stages of the work are completed).
- It’s quite common to agree staggered payments as various stages of the work are completed.
- Get the document signed and dated by both parties before any work starts and keep two copies in a safe place.
** Never EVER agree to pay in full upfront for building work **
Get the document signed and dated by both parties before any work starts and keep two copies in a safe place.
Download a contract template for your building work
Download a PDF version of this information
