Nobody needs a licence to work as a builder, so nobody has checked a builder for you. The checks below take an evening. Make them before you agree anything, and keep a note of what you find. A good builder will expect you to ask.
KubitDocs does not check, vet or recommend any builder or scheme. This guide tells you what to check and where. The choice is yours.
The checks at a glance
- Find out exactly who the business is.
- If it's a limited company, look it up at Companies House.
- See the insurance policies, and check the dates.
- Check any scheme or trade association membership on that body's own website.
- For work such as gas, electrics or windows, check the installer's registration.
- Speak to past customers and look at past work.
- Never agree work on the doorstep.
- Get written quotes, then a written contract.
Builders are not licensed
The Federation of Master Builders (FMB), a trade association, says: "Building trades in the UK are unlicensed, so making sure you check your builder's credentials is vital." A logo, a sign-written van or a page of reviews is not a licence, because no licence exists.
Some work does need the person doing it to be registered:
- Gas. Citizens Advice says "you must use a Gas Safe registered engineer".
- Electrical work. Citizens Advice advises using a properly qualified or registered electrician.
1. Find out exactly who the business is
- Get proper contact details. Ask for the builder's full name or business name, a postal address, and a landline or email address as well as a mobile.
- Ring the business yourself. Use its main number, to check the business exists and that the person who came to see you works there.
- Be wary of a mobile number and nothing else. Citizens Advice warns that a trader who gives only a mobile number may be hard to reach once problems start.
What the law says the builder must tell you. Before you are bound by a contract, the builder must give you:
- their identity, such as their trading name
- the geographical address where they are established
- a telephone number (for an off-premises contract, "where available")
This comes from the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, Schedules 1 and 2. Check that the name and address on the quote belong to the business you are actually dealing with.
2. If it's a limited company, look it up at Companies House
Companies House keeps the public register of companies. Searching it is free through GOV.UK. For each company you can see:
- its registered address and date of incorporation (when it was set up)
- its current and past directors
- any previous names
- any insolvency information
Ask the builder for the registered company name and number, then check three things:
- Status. Is the company active, dormant or dissolved?
- Age. How long has it been trading?
- Name. Does the name on the register match the quote exactly?
The HomeOwners Alliance suggests the first two. GOV.UK also has free searches of the disqualified company directors register and the bankruptcy and insolvency register.
Not every builder is a limited company. GOV.UK says a sole trader "can start trading straight away without registering". If the builder isn't a company, ask for their full name and address instead. Finding no company under a trading name doesn't by itself mean anything is wrong. A company record also says nothing about the quality of the work.
3. See the insurance, and check the dates
Ask to see the policy documents; don't just take "fully insured" on trust. For each policy, check:
- who is insured
- what it covers
- that it runs past the date the job will finish
Citizens Advice suggests checking four kinds of cover:
- Other people and their property (public liability insurance). It covers injury to other people, or damage to property, while the work goes on. Ask about this on any job.
- The builder's own workers (employers' liability insurance). Section 1 of the Employers' Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 requires an employer carrying on a business in Great Britain to hold it. GOV.UK lists the exceptions.
- Design mistakes (professional indemnity insurance). This matters if the builder is designing any part of the job.
- The work itself before handover (contractors' all-risk insurance). Ask about this where half-built work could be damaged, such as an extension.
Ring your own home insurer too, before work starts. Citizens Advice says your insurer may need to know about the work, and you might pay more for cover.
4. Check any scheme or trade association on its own website
A builder may say they belong to a scheme or trade association. Citizens Advice advises checking this on that body's own website. Don't rely on a logo on a van, a website or a letter.
- Schemes. Citizens Advice's page on finding a trader names several, for example TrustMark, the Consumer Codes Approval Scheme, Buy with Confidence and Which? Trusted Trader. It also suggests starting with your local council.
- Trade associations. Bodies such as the FMB keep their own member lists. The FMB's check a member page warns that "some places claim to be a member when they're not".
Each scheme sets its own rules for its members. Those rules are not the law, and KubitDocs does not recommend any scheme. Read what a scheme offers before you rely on it.
5. Competent person schemes
A competent person scheme is a government-authorised scheme for trades such as windows, boilers and electrics. A registered installer can sign off their own work as meeting the building regulations. GOV.UK calls this self-certifying. For you, that means:
- No application from you. You don't need to apply for building regulations approval for that work.
- A certificate afterwards.
- GOV.UK says the installer will give you a certificate within 8 weeks of finishing.
- It "can be used as evidence of compliance", and it shows up in solicitors' searches when you sell.
- Evidence isn't proof, so keep the rest of the job's paperwork too.
- Check the registration yourself. Ask which scheme the installer belongs to, then check it on the register linked from GOV.UK's page on building regulations approval.
The work may need approval from a building control body instead in two cases:
- the builder isn't registered for that kind of work
- the work can't be done under a scheme (Citizens Advice gives building an extension as an example)
A building control body is your council's building control department or a private registered building control approver. This matters to you as the owner: GOV.UK warns that the building control body "could make you pay to fix faulty work". Your legal responsibilities when you have building work done explains the rest.
6. Past customers and past work
- Ask for recent jobs like yours. Get two or three, with the customers' contact details, and ring them. Citizens Advice points out that written references aren't always genuine, so a conversation tells you more.
- Useful questions to ask them:
- Did the work start and finish when agreed?
- Did the price change, and why?
- How were problems dealt with?
- Would you use the builder again?
- Go and see the work. For a bigger job, the HomeOwners Alliance suggests doing this.
- Treat a refusal as a warning. Citizens Advice treats a builder who won't give references as a warning sign.
7. Never agree work on the doorstep
- Which? says: "Never hire a trader who comes to the door looking for work."
- Which? Trusted Traders' guide to hiring builders says the same about agreeing work on the spot.
- The HomeOwners Alliance says to turn away anyone who knocks uninvited offering work.
If a caller won't leave. Which? says you can call 999 if a caller is really persistent and refuses to leave. If you're suspicious but not in immediate danger, call 101.
Reporting doorstep fraud.
- England, Wales and Northern Ireland: report it to Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040.
- Scotland: report it to Police Scotland on 101.
A trader breaking consumer law. In England and Wales, you report it to Trading Standards through the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133 (Welsh-speaking adviser: 0808 223 1144).
If you agreed work with a trader at your home, you may have a right to cancel. There are exceptions, for example urgent repairs you asked them to come and do. Your right to cancel building work has the rules.
8. Get written quotes, then a written contract
- Quotes. Citizens Advice says: "Try to get written quotes from at least 3 different traders before you decide on one." Getting and comparing builders' quotes covers what to ask for.
- The contract. It also says: "You should always try to get a contract in writing before you tell the trader you'd like them to do the work."
- Anything in writing. In Citizens Advice's view, a builder who won't put anything in writing might be dishonest.
Warning signs
The body in brackets names each of these as a warning sign:
- won't put a quote or anything else in writing (Citizens Advice)
- won't give references (Citizens Advice, HomeOwners Alliance)
- will only take cash, or wants everything paid upfront (Citizens Advice)
- asks for cash to avoid VAT (FMB)
- won't show evidence of insurance (FMB, HomeOwners Alliance)
- knocked on your door uninvited (Which?, HomeOwners Alliance)
Keep a record of your checks
Write down what you checked, when, and what you saw. That means the insurance policy and its end date, the scheme membership, and the past customers you rang. The free Builder Checks Record is a form for keeping that record.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
This guide is written for England and Wales. Citizens Advice publishes separate advice for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
- Scotland: consumer advice comes from Advice Direct Scotland (0808 164 6000). Report fraud to Police Scotland on 101.
- Northern Ireland: consumer advice comes from Consumerline (0300 123 6262). Report fraud to Report Fraud (0300 123 2040).
General information, not advice
This guide is general information about checks and the law in England and Wales. It is not advice on your own situation. For that, speak to Citizens Advice or a solicitor. What our documents can and cannot promise.
Documents for this step
- Builder Checks Record (free): a record of the checks you made on each builder
- Homeowner's Legal Responsibilities Checklist (free): a checklist of what sits with you as the owner
- Project Brief and Scope of Works: what you want done, written down before you ask for prices
- The homeowner toolkit: all ten paid homeowner documents together