Guide

How to choose a builder, and what to ask before you sign

Get three written quotations, check the insurance and the company, and put the scope, the price, the programme and the way changes are handled in writing before anyone starts. The builder you appoint also takes on legal duties that would otherwise be yours — which is why the choice matters more than the price.

Start with the quotation — and know which one you are holding

A quote and an estimate are not the same document.

Surrey County Council Trading Standards puts it plainly: "A quote is a fixed price for the job and should not change, whereas an estimate can vary by a reasonable amount." Both are legitimate. You just need to know which you have been given.

The same guidance says to get at least three quotations, in writing, and to check each one "includes an inclusive price and details all work that you have requested" along with "a timescale for the work to be started and completed."

Read them side by side and look for the gaps, not the bottom line. One price is only lower than another if it covers the same work. The usual omissions:

VAT, and whether it is included or added
Skip hire and waste removal
Scaffolding and access
Making good — plaster, skirting, decoration after the work
Building control charges, which are set by each council and change
Structural items such as an RSJ, and the engineer's calculations for it

If you sign the contract in your own home, you can normally cancel it. Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, "the consumer may cancel a distance or off-premises contract at any time in the cancellation period without giving any reason", and for a service contract that period "ends at the end of 14 days after the day on which the contract is entered into". The trader is required to tell you about that right.

A price given without a site visit is a warning sign

Nobody can price a job they have not seen. Not the lifting of a floor, not the condition of the joists under it, not whether the wall coming out is holding anything up, not where the drains run.

A figure produced from a phone call or a few photographs is either a guess that will move once work starts, or a low number designed to win the job before the real one arrives as a variation. Either way you are not comparing like with like against a builder who came out and measured.

Ask for the price in writing after a visit, and ask what the price assumes. "Assumes existing foundations are adequate" is an honest caveat. No caveats at all on an old house is usually a sign nobody looked.

For the avoidance of doubt on this site: this is the reason SG Refurbishments does not give a price over the phone.

The insurance to ask to see — two different things, one compulsory

Employers' liability insurance is required by law of any builder who has employees. GOV.UK is specific: the policy must cover "at least £5 million", the certificate must be displayed "where employees can access it", and an employer without it "can be fined £2,500 every day you are not properly insured". Asking to see it is a normal request.

Public liability insurance is a different cover, and for most businesses it is not a legal requirement. It is the one that responds if the work injures you or a visitor, or damages your property or your neighbour's. Because nothing compels a builder to hold it, this is the one to check hardest.

Ask for the certificates themselves rather than a verbal answer, and check four things: the insurer's name, the limit of cover, the expiry date, and that the name on the certificate matches the name on your quotation. A sole trader with no employees will have no employers' liability certificate, and that is correct — they should still have public liability.

How the money should be staged

Never hand over a large sum before anyone has started. Surrey Trading Standards advises: "Check that you are not required to pay for the work in advance. You should always aim to keep back at least some money until the work is completed."

Staged payments against work actually completed are normal and fair to both sides. The stages should be written down, tied to identifiable points — first fix done, roof watertight, plastering complete — and not to dates alone. A materials deposit for items ordered specifically for your job is a different thing from a deposit on the job itself; ask what it buys and when it is ordered.

Where you can, pay by credit card. Under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 the card provider is jointly liable with the trader for misrepresentation or breach of contract, on any single item with a cash price above £100 and not more than £30,000.

If a guarantee is offered, ask whether it is insurance-backed — if it is not, it is worth only as much as the company behind it.

What the contract should set down

For anything beyond a small repair, put it in writing. It does not need to be a formal building contract; it needs to be specific.

Scope — what is included, and what is expressly excluded
Price — the figure, whether it is fixed, and how VAT is treated
Programme — start date, expected duration, working hours, and what counts as a legitimate delay
Payment — the stages, and what must be complete before each one falls due
Variations — how a change is agreed and priced before it is carried out
Retention — an agreed sum held back from the final payment for an agreed period after completion, released once anything that shows up has been put right. There is no standard amount or period; write both down
Building control — who makes the application and who obtains the completion certificate
Insurance — the cover that will be in place for the duration

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 fills some gaps if you leave them. Every service contract is treated as including a term that the trader "must perform the service with reasonable care and skill" (s.49). Where no price was fixed, you pay "a reasonable price for the service, and no more" (s.51). Where no time was agreed, the work must be done "within a reasonable time" (s.52). If it falls short, you can require repeat performance (s.55) or a price reduction (s.56).

Those are real protections, but "reasonable" is settled by argument, and the argument costs money. Writing the number down is cheaper.

Variations — where most disputes actually start

Almost every job changes. Something behind a wall is not what anyone expected, or you decide the worktop should be somewhere else. That is normal. What is not normal is finding out what it cost at the end.

Agree a rule before work starts: nothing changes without a written note first. The note needs four things — what is changing, why, what it adds to or takes off the price, and what it does to the finish date. An email or a signed sheet is enough.

This protects the builder as much as you. Section 50 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 treats information a trader says or writes to you as a term of the contract where you took it into account in deciding to go ahead. A written record means both sides are working from the same sentence.

The legal duties your builder takes on

This is the part most guides leave out, and it is the strongest reason to take care over who you appoint.

Under regulation 7 of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015, a homeowner's health and safety duties as client are carried out by the contractor where there is only one, or by "the principal contractor for a project where there is more than one contractor".

Since 1 October 2023 the same structure applies to building regulations compliance. Regulation 11C of the Building Regulations 2010, inserted by the Building Regulations etc. (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2023, places a domestic client's duties on the sole contractor, or on the principal contractor where there is more than one. Those appointed must also be competent — the skills, knowledge, experience and behaviours for the work — and must not work beyond that competence.

So the builder is not only doing the work. They are holding duties that would otherwise sit with you. If you appoint nobody to a role, the duties fall back on you.

You still carry the risk on the building itself. A local authority may serve a compliance notice within 12 months of a contravention, and under section 36 of the Building Act 1984 — as amended by the Building Safety Act 2022 — a notice requiring work to be altered or removed "shall not be given after the expiration of 10 years from the date of the completion of the work in question". Ten years, and it is served on the owner.

So ask, in writing, who is making the building control application, who is booking the inspections, and who obtains the completion certificate. In Tandridge, local authority building control is Southern Building Control Partnership; elsewhere it is your own council's building control team, or an approved private inspector.

Check the company — it takes two minutes and it is free

Search the name or company number on the Companies House register. It is free, and it gives you the registered address and incorporation date, current and resigned officers, previous company names, the filing history, mortgage and charge data, and any insolvency information.

What to look at:

Does the company number on the quotation match the company you found?
Is it active, or is a proposal to strike it off on file?
Does the incorporation date match how long they say they have been trading?
Are the accounts and confirmation statements filed on time?
Are there charges registered against the company?

A recent incorporation date is not automatically a problem — long-established firms restructure. It is a question worth asking, not a verdict.

One caveat from Companies House itself: "Companies House does not check the accuracy of the information filed." It is a starting point, not a character reference.

The questions worth asking on the day

Ask these at the visit, and listen for whether the answer is specific.

Who is actually on site? Your own team, or subcontractors? Which trades are which?
Who manages it day to day, and who do I ring? One name, one number.
What happens when something is found behind a wall? You want to hear: work stops, you are shown it, a written variation is agreed, then work restarts.
Who is responsible for building control, and who books the inspections?
What are the working hours, where will materials be stored, and who removes the waste?
Can I see a job you finished recently, and speak to the customer?
What happens if you are ill or the job overruns?
What is the position on defects after completion, and for how long?

A builder who answers these easily has run the situation before. A builder who is vague about who manages the site is telling you something useful.

The checklist

Before you sign anything:

Three written quotations, each following a visit to the property
You know whether each is a quote or an estimate
Exclusions read and understood — VAT, waste, scaffolding, making good, building control
Public liability certificate seen; employers' liability certificate seen if they have staff; names, limits and dates checked
Company checked on the Companies House register, and the company number matches the quotation
No large payment before work starts; staged payments tied to completed work; something held back to the end
Scope, price, programme, payment stages, variations procedure and retention all written down
Agreed in writing that no change is made without a priced written note first
Clear who applies for building control and who obtains the completion certificate
One named site manager, and a number that gets answered
Cancellation rights noted if you signed at home

Common questions

Q.01What is the difference between a quote and an estimate?

Surrey County Council Trading Standards defines it clearly: a quote is a fixed price for the job and should not change, whereas an estimate can vary by a reasonable amount. Both are legitimate documents, but they carry different risk for you. Ask which one you have been given, and get it in writing. If it is an estimate, ask what would cause it to move.

Q.02Should I pay a builder a deposit before work starts?

You should not be required to pay for the work in advance, and Surrey Trading Standards advises keeping back at least some money until the job is finished. A deposit for materials ordered specifically for your job is a different matter — ask what it buys and when it is ordered. Stage the rest of the payments against work actually completed, not against dates. Where you can, pay by credit card: section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 makes the card provider jointly liable on any single item priced above £100 and up to £30,000.

Q.03What insurance should I ask a builder to show me?

Ask for public liability insurance, which covers injury to people or damage to property caused by the work — it is not a legal requirement for most businesses, which is exactly why you should check. If the builder has employees, employers' liability insurance is compulsory: GOV.UK requires cover of at least £5 million, and an uninsured employer can be fined £2,500 for every day they are not properly insured. Ask for the certificates rather than a verbal answer, and check the insurer, the limit, the expiry date and that the name matches your quotation. A sole trader with no staff will have no employers' liability certificate, which is correct.

Q.04Do I need a written contract for building work on my home?

For anything beyond a small repair, yes — though it need not be a formal building contract, just a specific written agreement. It should set down the scope, the price and how VAT is treated, the programme, the payment stages, how variations are agreed and priced, any retention, and who handles building control. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 fills some gaps if you leave them, implying terms about reasonable care and skill, a reasonable price and a reasonable time. But what counts as reasonable is decided by argument, and writing the figure down is cheaper than having that argument.

Q.05Who is legally responsible if the work does not meet building regulations?

Since 1 October 2023, regulation 11C of the Building Regulations 2010 places a domestic client's compliance duties on the sole contractor, or on the principal contractor where there is more than one. The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 do the same for health and safety duties. If you appoint nobody to those roles, the duties fall back to you. You still carry the risk on the building itself: under section 36 of the Building Act 1984 a notice requiring work to be altered or removed can be served on the owner up to ten years after the work was completed.

Q.06Can I cancel a building contract after I have signed it at home?

Usually yes. Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, a consumer may cancel an off-premises contract at any time in the cancellation period without giving a reason, and for a service contract that period ends 14 days after the day the contract was entered into. A contract signed in your own home is an off-premises contract, and the trader is required to tell you about the right. If you have asked for work to start straight away, speak to the trader about what you may owe for work already done.

Q.07How do I check a building company is genuine?

Search the company name or number free on the Companies House register. You can see the registered address and incorporation date, current and resigned officers, previous company names, the filing history, charges and any insolvency information. Check the company number on the quotation matches, that the company is active with no strike-off proposal on file, and that accounts are filed on time. Companies House states it does not check the accuracy of what is filed, so treat it as a starting point rather than a reference.

Where this came from

Sources

Rules change. These are the pages this guide was written from — check them against your own property before you act on anything here.

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