Provisions the documents cite: s.2 (trader, consumer), ss.48–57 (services: reasonable care and skill, information binding, reasonable price, reasonable time, repeat performance, price reduction, liability that cannot be excluded), s.15 (installation), s.30 (goods under guarantee), s.31 (goods: liability that cannot be excluded), ss.61–69 and Schedule 2 (unfair terms, transparency, contra proferentem)
What it requires
A consumer is an individual acting for purposes wholly or mainly outside that individual's trade, business, craft or profession, and a trader who says otherwise must prove it (s.2(3)–(4)). Part 1 Chapter 4 applies to a contract for a trader to supply a service to a consumer (s.48). Every such contract is treated as including terms that the trader performs the service with reasonable care and skill (s.49); that anything said or written to the consumer by or on behalf of the trader about the trader or the service is binding where the consumer takes it into account in deciding to enter the contract or in a later decision about the service, subject to any qualification given on the same occasion and any change expressly agreed, and that information given under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 is a term (s.50); that where no price is fixed the consumer pays a reasonable price (s.51); and that where no time is fixed the service is performed within a reasonable time (s.52). If the service does not conform, the consumer may require repeat performance, which the trader provides within a reasonable time, without significant inconvenience and at its own cost; where that is impossible or not done in time the consumer may require a price reduction of an appropriate amount, which may be the full price, refunded within 14 days of the trader agreeing (ss.54–56); damages and other remedies remain available (s.54(6)–(7)). A term is not binding on the consumer to the extent it would exclude the trader's liability under s.49 or s.50, restrict liability under ss.49–52 so as to prevent recovery of the price, or make a right or remedy subject to a restrictive or onerous condition (s.57). Goods do not conform if installation is part of the contract and the trader installs them incorrectly (s.15), and liability under ss.9–17 cannot be excluded or restricted (s.31). s.30 applies only where there is a contract to supply goods and a guarantee of those goods given without extra charge: the guarantee takes effect as a contractual obligation on delivery; it must set out in plain and intelligible language its contents, including the guarantor's name and address and the duration and territorial scope, and the essential particulars for claiming; it must state that the consumer has statutory rights in relation to the goods and that those rights are not affected by the guarantee; it must be in English where the goods are offered in the UK; and it must be made available in writing on request. Part 2 — an unfair term of a consumer contract, or an unfair consumer notice, is not binding on the consumer; a term is unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations to the consumer's detriment, judged by the subject matter and all the circumstances when it was agreed (s.62). Schedule 2 Part 1 lists terms that may be unfair, including terms inappropriately limiting the consumer's rights for non-performance or inadequate performance, letting the trader keep sums paid when the consumer does not proceed without equivalent compensation when the trader cancels, requiring a disproportionately high sum from a consumer who does not perform, letting the trader alter the terms, the characteristics of the service or the price unilaterally, and binding the consumer to terms they had no real opportunity to see before contracting (s.63). The main subject matter and the price are excluded from the fairness assessment only if the term is transparent and prominent (s.64). A trader cannot exclude or restrict liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence (s.65). Written terms and notices must be transparent — plain and intelligible language, and legible (s.68) — and where a term could have different meanings the one most favourable to the consumer prevails (s.69). Extends to the whole United Kingdom.
The instrument itself: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15. The summary above is our plain-English reading, not the text of the instrument — always work from the source.
How this entry is kept current
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The 15 documents that cite it
Every KubitDocs document prints its statutory basis on the form itself, so the person signing can verify the citation rather than take our word for it.
Building contracts
Homeowner toolkit
- Changes and Extra Costs Record
- Contract Checklist for Homeowners
- Guarantees and Certificates Record
- Homeowner's Legal Responsibilities Checklist
- Job Diary for Homeowners
- Letter Before Claim — Building Work
- Letters to Your Builder
- Payment Schedule and Receipts Record
- Project Brief and Scope of Works
- Quote Request and Comparison
- Snag List and Handover — Home Improvements