Choosing A Contractor

Choosing a reliable contractor to carry out your home improvements may help towards making your project hassle-free and plain sailing. We outline some steps to select a dependable and fully qualified contractor to do your works:

· Personal recommendations for contractors are invaluable. If possible, find someone who had the work done a while ago, so you can check whether they’ve had any issues since the completion of the project.

· For some types of works contractors can be registered under a scheme, which should confirm they’re competent to do that job or use a certain product. Gas engineers and electricians are legally required to be registered. For further information about registration & accreditation schemes for contractors, please click here. Also, check what qualifications the contractor has and ask to see proof of them.

· Follow up on any information given to you about the business such as a letterhead or business card. Phone the business to verify that it exists and the contractor is their employee. Only having a mobile number for a contractor can make it difficult to get hold of them, if things go wrong.

· Get two or three written quotes. This will enable you to compare prices and check what is included in each quote. Be mindful if one quote is drastically less than the others, it could be that the contractor’s work is of a lower standard.

· An insurance-backed warranty will be available from a reliable contractor. Check out what other insurance the contractor has and if necessary, ask to see the insurance certificate.

· The Citizens’ Advice Bureau has useful, detailed advice Before You Get Building Work Done on its website.