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What a good builder should give you

Paperwork is how you show what was agreed. In a Citizens Advice survey published in July 2026, of people who had used a trader for home repairs in the previous 18 months, 41% received a written quote and 18% received a written contract.

Here is what to expect, and why each piece matters. If a builder won't give you something on this list, ask why before you go ahead.

Before you agree

  1. A written quote with the total price.
  2. Why: before you are bound, the builder must tell you "the total price … inclusive of taxes", or how it will be worked out if it can't be fixed in advance. This comes from the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, Schedules 1 and 2.
  3. For an off-premises contract (see item 3), this must be on paper or, if you agree, another durable medium such as email. For other contracts, the law doesn't say it must be written.

  4. Ask for it in writing anyway: it is your proof of the price.

  5. Evidence of insurance.

  6. Why: Citizens Advice says to check the trader's insurance before you say yes to a quote, and to ask to see the policies.
  7. The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) lists a builder who won't show evidence of insurance as a warning sign.

  8. Check that the cover runs past the date the job will finish.

  9. Cancellation information and a cancellation form, if the contract is off-premises.

  10. Why: for an off-premises contract, regulation 10 of the 2013 Regulations says the builder must give you, before you are bound:

    • the information on cancelling
    • a cancellation form, where a right to cancel exists

    Both must be given on paper or, if you agree, another durable medium such as email. - What counts as off-premises. It includes a contract agreed with the builder at your home, for example at your kitchen table. It also includes one agreed by phone or email immediately after they met you there. If you said yes later, ask Citizens Advice whether it counts. - Your right to cancel building work.

  11. A written contract.

  12. Why: Citizens Advice says a written contract "can help you get what you paid for, or at least get some of your money back" if the trader doesn't do what you agreed.

  13. Citizens Advice advises getting one before you tell the trader you'd like them to do the work.

  14. A payment schedule tied to the work.

  15. Why: paying in stages keeps most of the money with you until each part is done, so problems can be put right before the final payment. Citizens Advice advises it.
  16. What the builder must tell you before you are bound. The arrangements for payment (Schedules 1 and 2 to the 2013 Regulations). For an off-premises contract, also the conditions of any deposit (Schedule 2).
  17. Get a receipt for every payment.
  18. Deposits and stage payments.

While the work is going on

  1. Changes agreed in writing before the work is done.
  2. Why: Citizens Advice says a trader can't charge more than the quote without a good reason, such as extra work you asked for, or extra work you agreed to pay for.
  3. A note of each change and its price, agreed before the work, settles what was agreed.

At the end

  1. Building control or competent person scheme certificates.
  2. Why: GOV.UK warns that without approval "you will not have the certificates of compliance you may need when you want to sell your home".
  3. Timing. Where a building control body approves the work, GOV.UK says you will usually get a completion certificate within 8 weeks of completion. Where an installer is registered with a competent person scheme, they should give you a certificate within 8 weeks.
  4. What a certificate proves. A completion certificate is "evidence (but not conclusive evidence)" that the requirements it names have been met (Building Regulations 2010, regulation 17(4)). So keep the rest of the paperwork too.

  5. Scotland and Northern Ireland. Building control rules are different there. GOV.UK's building regulations approval page links to where to find them.

  6. A completion or handover record.

  7. Why: a signed note of the date the work finished, what is still to put right, and what you were handed gives you a fixed starting point.
  8. What you might be handed. The FMB suggests agreeing in advance how snagging (putting right small defects) and handover will work, and making sure you receive the documents that apply to your job. Depending on the work, those could include:
    • certificates for building control, gas or electrical work
    • guarantees and warranties
    • instructions for anything fitted

  9. Don't sign anything saying the work is finished to your satisfaction if it isn't. List what is still to put right.

  10. A written guarantee, and whether it is insurance-backed.

  11. Why: Citizens Advice says: "Always get a copy of the guarantee in writing." A guarantee is in addition to your legal rights.
  12. Insurance-backed. Citizens Advice also suggests checking whether it is "insurance-backed", meaning an insurance policy lets it "still be honoured if the trader goes out of business".
  13. What the law requires. For ordinary building work, we found no law that requires a builder to give an insurance-backed guarantee. Where one is offered, it comes from a scheme's rules or a product the builder offers.
  14. Government-funded energy schemes set their own rules. TrustMark says 25-year guarantees are mandatory for certain energy efficiency measures under ECO.

Keep it all together

Keep each piece with the others: the quote, the contract, the changes, the receipts, the certificates and the guarantee. You may need them for a complaint, a claim on a guarantee, or when you sell your home. These free and paid records help:

If you're a builder: these are the documents

If a customer has sent you this page, these KubitDocs documents cover the quote, contract, changes, handover and guarantee on this list. Insurance and building control or scheme certificates come from your insurer and your building control body or scheme.

Where this applies

This page is written for England and Wales. Consumer advice in Scotland comes from Advice Direct Scotland (0808 164 6000), and in Northern Ireland from Consumerline (0300 123 6262).

General information, not advice

This page is general information, not advice on your own situation. KubitDocs does not check, vet or recommend any builder. What our documents can and cannot promise.