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Your right to cancel building work

Many people believe you always have 14 days to change your mind about building work. You do not. The right to cancel comes from the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, and it applies only to some contracts. It covers contracts agreed with the builder at your home (or anywhere else away from their business premises), and contracts agreed straight after the builder visited you there. It also covers contracts agreed entirely by phone, email or online, without ever meeting in person.

This guide is general information about what the Regulations say. It is not advice on your own situation. If a lot of money turns on it, get advice before you act, from the Citizens Advice consumer helpline or a solicitor. The helpline is 0808 223 1133, or 0808 223 1144 for a Welsh-speaking adviser.

The Regulations apply across the UK. This guide's helpline numbers are for England and Wales. In Scotland, Advice Direct Scotland (0808 164 6000) gives consumer advice; in Northern Ireland, Consumerline (0300 123 6262) does.

Does the right apply to your contract?

Regulation 27 says the right applies to "distance" and "off-premises" contracts. It does not apply to an "on-premises" contract.

An off-premises contract is any of these (regulation 5):

  1. Agreed away from their premises. You and the builder agreed the contract while you were both present somewhere other than the builder's business premises, typically your home.
  2. You made the offer away from their premises. You made an offer to the builder in those circumstances.
  3. Agreed immediately after a visit. You agreed the contract at the builder's business premises, or by phone, email or online, immediately after the builder spoke to you personally somewhere other than their business premises, with both of you present.
  4. Agreed on a trip the builder organised. You agreed the contract during an excursion the builder organised to promote and sell its goods or services.

"Business premises" means retail premises where the builder trades permanently, or movable premises where it usually trades.

A distance contract is one agreed without ever meeting in person, using only means such as phone, email or a website, under the builder's organised system for selling at a distance (regulation 5).

An on-premises contract is one that is neither. The builder must still give you certain information before you are bound (regulation 9), but the Regulations give no right to cancel. Any right then depends on what your contract says. Two common examples:

  • The showroom. You go to the builder's showroom or office and agree there, with no visit from them just before.
  • The quote accepted days later. The builder comes to your home to look at the job and give a quote, and you say yes by phone or email some days later. This is probably not an off-premises contract, because you did not agree immediately after the visit. It is probably not a distance contract either, because you met in person first. If so, it is an on-premises contract with no right to cancel under the Regulations.

The Regulations do not say how soon counts as "immediately after". Do not cancel, or stop the work, on the strength of a 14-day right until you have checked which kind of contract you have. If you are not sure, get advice first.

When there is no right to cancel

Even for an off-premises or distance contract, these are outside the right:

  • Small contracts. Off-premises contracts where you pay £42 or less (regulation 27(3)).
  • Urgent repairs you asked for. Contracts where you specifically asked the builder to visit to carry out urgent repairs or maintenance (regulation 28(1)(e)). Citizens Advice's example is asking a plumber to come and mend a burst pipe. The right still applies to extra services on that visit, and to goods other than the replacement parts the repair needed (regulation 28(2)).
  • Goods made to your specification or clearly personalised (regulation 28(1)(b)), such as made-to-measure windows. How far that exclusion reaches in a contract that also includes fitting is not settled. Do not assume the whole contract is excluded; get advice.
  • Goods mixed inseparably. For a contract that includes goods, the right to cancel ends if the goods "become mixed inseparably (according to their nature) with other items after delivery" (regulation 28(3)(c)). How far that reaches fitted items on a supply-and-fit job is not settled, and goods that are fitted but could be removed may not be caught. Do not assume your right has gone; get advice.
  • New buildings. Regulation 6(1)(e) says the Regulations do not apply to a contract "to the extent that" it is "for the construction of new buildings, or the construction of substantially new buildings by the conversion of existing buildings". The wording does not mention extensions, loft conversions, kitchens, roofs or repairs to an existing home, and "to the extent that" means part of a contract can be outside while the rest is inside. If your project is a new building, or a conversion that creates what is substantially a new building, get advice before relying on a right to cancel.

How long you have

Work only. For a contract to supply a service, the cancellation period ends "at the end of 14 days after the day on which the contract is entered into" (regulation 30(2)). If you agree the contract on 1 March, you have until the end of 15 March.

Work that also supplies goods. The Regulations call a contract with "both goods and services as its object" a sales contract (regulation 5), and a supply-and-fit job, such as a kitchen supplied and fitted, may be one. For a sales contract, the 14 days run from the day the goods come into your physical possession (regulation 30(3)), or from the last delivery where goods arrive on different days (regulation 30(4)). How that applies to building work is not settled. So do not treat the period as over early:

  • If you want to cancel, do it as soon as you can.
  • If more than 14 days have passed since you agreed the contract, get advice before accepting that your right has gone.

Citizens Advice's page says the cooling-off period for the work begins "the day after you give the go-ahead". For goods delivered in one batch, it begins "the day after the delivery is made".

If you were not told about your right. Before you are bound by an off-premises contract, the builder must give you certain information, on paper or (if you agree) another durable medium (regulation 10). A "durable medium" means paper or email, or something similar you can keep unchanged (regulation 5). The information includes "the conditions, time limit and procedures" for cancelling, and a cancellation form (Schedule 2, paragraph (l)).

If the builder does not give you the cancellation information, regulation 31 extends the period:

  • Information given late, within 12 months. If it arrives within 12 months of the start of the normal 14 days, the period ends 14 days after you receive it.
  • Information never given. The period ends 12 months after the day it would otherwise have ended.

The Regulations do not say the contract is void.

If work starts in the 14 days

Regulation 36(1) says the builder must not start the work in the cancellation period unless you have made an express request. For an off-premises contract, the request must be on a durable medium, such as a signed form or an email.

If you asked for an early start and then cancel:

  • What you pay. You pay for the work supplied up to the time you told the builder you were cancelling, in proportion to the whole contract (regulation 36(4)).
  • How it is worked out. The amount is based on the total agreed price or, if that price is excessive, on the market value of the work (regulation 36(5)).
  • When the right ends. You lose the right to cancel once the work is fully done, if it began at your request and you acknowledged you would lose the right at that point (regulation 36(2)).

Read any "start early" form carefully before you sign it.

When you do not pay for the work done

Regulation 36(6) says you bear no cost "for supply of the service" in the cancellation period if:

  • the builder did not give you the information on the right to cancel, or the information that you would have to pay for work done if you cancelled after asking for an early start; or
  • the work was not done in response to a request made as regulation 36(1) requires.

This rule covers the work itself (the service), not the goods and materials. Goods follow different rules on returning them and refunds (regulations 34 and 35). Remember too that for a contract that includes goods, the right to cancel ends if the goods "become mixed inseparably (according to their nature) with other items after delivery" (regulation 28(3)(c)). Whether goods already fitted on a supply-and-fit job count as "mixed inseparably" is not settled, so get advice before deciding either way.

None of this is a reason to refuse payment on your own judgement. Get advice before you rely on it or hold back any money.

How to cancel

  • Tell the builder. Say that you are cancelling (regulation 32(2)). You do not have to give a reason (regulation 29(1)).
  • Use the form or your own words. You can use a form following the model cancellation form in Part B of Schedule 3 to the Regulations, which the builder should have given you. Or you can "make any other clear statement setting out the decision to cancel the contract" (regulation 32(3)).
  • Send it in time. It counts as in time if you send it before the period ends (regulation 32(5)).
  • Keep proof. If there is a dispute, it is for you to show you cancelled in time (regulation 32(6)). So cancel by email or by post with proof of sending, and keep a copy.

A short statement is enough, for example: "I am cancelling my contract with you dated [date] for [the work] at [your address]." Add your name and the date. If the contract has not yet been made, you can withdraw your offer at any time (regulation 29(3)).

Getting your money back

  • What is refunded. Regulation 34 says the builder must refund all payments you made, which includes a deposit. Delivery charges follow slightly different rules.
  • When. For a work-only contract, the refund is due without undue delay and no later than 14 days after the day you told the builder you were cancelling (regulation 34(4) and (6)).
  • Where goods are involved. If the builder has not offered to collect the goods, the 14 days can run from when the builder gets them back, or from when you show you sent them, if earlier (regulation 34(5)).
  • How. The refund goes back the same way you paid, unless you agree otherwise, with no fee (regulation 34(7) and (8)).
  • Work you asked to start early. You still owe the amount for work done at your request (regulation 36(4)).

If you have no right to cancel

If your contract was agreed on-premises, or the cancellation period has ended, whether you can cancel depends on your contract. Citizens Advice says that once work has started under such a contract, "You'll need to negotiate with the business if you want to cancel and get any money refunded". It adds that you may be asked for things such as a cancellation fee or labour costs. Read your contract and get advice before you stop the work. If the builder has done something wrong, see When building work goes wrong: your options.

If you were misled or pressured. If you agreed because a trader misled you or used aggressive pressure, for example on the doorstep, other rules may give you further rights. The law on those rights is in transition, so ask the Citizens Advice consumer helpline.

To report doorstep fraud in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, contact Report Fraud on 0300 123 2040. In Scotland, report it to Police Scotland on 101. Which? says that if a caller "refuses to leave, you can call 999".

Common questions

The builder quoted at my house and I emailed my acceptance a week later. Can I cancel? Probably not under the Regulations. That is likely to be an on-premises contract: not agreed immediately after the visit, and not a distance contract because you met in person first. Check your contract for any cancellation terms, and get advice before you cancel or stop the work.

The builder says I cannot cancel because the windows are made to measure. The exclusion covers goods "made to the consumer's specifications or are clearly personalised" (regulation 28(1)(b)). Whether it takes a contract that also includes fitting wholly outside the right is not settled. Get advice before you accept that you cannot cancel.

They started the day after I agreed, but I never asked them to. Regulation 36(1) says they should not have started in the cancellation period without your express request, on paper or email for an off-premises contract. If you cancel in time, regulation 36(6)(b) says you bear no cost for that work (the service). Goods and materials follow different rules, so get advice before you refuse to pay for them.

My contract says nothing about cancelling. Suppose the contract was off-premises or distance and no exclusion applies. Then the right exists anyway, and the missing information can extend the period by up to 12 months (regulation 31). You also bear no cost for the work (the service) done in the cancellation period (regulation 36(6)(a)). But goods and materials follow different rules, and the right to cancel ends if goods "become mixed inseparably (according to their nature) with other items after delivery" (regulation 28(3)(c)); how that applies to fitted items is not settled. Get advice before you rely on this or refuse to pay.

Is a phone call enough? A phone call can be a clear statement. But if there is a dispute you have to show you cancelled in time, so confirm it by email or post the same day.

What our documents do not do

Our letters give you the words and the details to put in writing. They do not decide whether your contract is off-premises, which exclusions apply, or when your period ends. Where that is unclear, get advice. What our documents can and cannot promise.

Quotations from legislation.gov.uk contain public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Documents for this work