We all know someone who has had a hard time at the hands of workmen and builders. Some of them can be rude, patronising and if you’re a woman who knows what you want and how to use a tape measure, woe betide you. We’ve all seen or heard about the programmes on television exposing “cowboy builders”. If you don’t take precautions, this could be your reality. Don’t ever believe it couldn’t happen to you!
As a builder there are no formal qualifications necessary and so any cowboy can set himself up as a builder or a building company and begin to offer crap service.
Why even take the chance………. There are precautions that you can take to ensure that your experience with builders is a positive one that gives you the results you had in mind when you hired them to do the job. You’ve saved your money, taken out a second mortgage, borrowed from family and friends, had a loan approved. This is a very important and serious undertaking, don’t let a cowboy builder take your hard earned and not easy to come by cash and then still ruin your life.
I’m sure you don’t want to pay out twice for a job. This is often the case when “cowboy builders” get their hammers on property. Home owners have spent billions of pounds paying out for jobs to be redone or rectified after the “cowboy builders have gone leaving upset devastation and unsatisfactory work in their wake.
Don’t take shortcuts, do your investigations, don’t be tempted to invite them in because they gave you a good price or a discount for cash, I’m sure in the long run you would rather pay out the money and take the necessary precautions rather than have your house condemned or left unfinished with all manner of problems.
Don’t be embarrassed to undertake the following steps to protect yourself, tell your builder exactly what you want, make sure he understands what it is you want. If you don’t feel comfortable speaking to him or feel that you can’t be understood, he isn’t listening, get rid of him, walk him to the door, and get someone else for the job. Interview your builders, they will be working in your home and they will be in your life for weeks or months. You are giving them a job. Knowing what you want and what you intend to do will give you the confidence that you need to be able to deal with the situation.
- Start looking for your builder: Word of mouth recommendation is always a good place to begin. Speak to family and friends who have had work done. Don’t be afraid to ask the builder how long he has been trading for and how much experience he has especially in doing the type of work that you need done.
- Check them out: get references, don’t be complacent or lazy, check your builder out, call the referee, go and visit. Most people are only too happy to recommend a good builder and show off the work that the builder has done in their home. Use this to your advantage, go and take a look at the quality of work, speak to the referee ask if they had any problems or issues with the builders. Never trust a badge; these can be knocked up on the home computer if you know how. Check their membership of any building federation that they claim to be a member of, this can be confirmed by making a simple phone call to the federation.
- Once your investigations have been done and you have chosen at least two or three builders contact them in order to get a quote, do not take an over the phone quote. Get multiple quotes from different builders, take a look at the highest and lowest prices, this will help you to gauge how much the job will realistically cost you. Don’t be tempted by Make an appointment for your builder to come and take a look and get the full details of the job in writing including the time in which the job is expected to be completed. Be clear about what is included:
- The cost of the work to be done
- What work will be done
- Payment plan; sign and date (each time there is a change or whenever money is handed over)
- When will the job begin
- Hours of work
- Expected completion date
- Who will clear the rubbish and how will it be disposed of
- Who will supply the materials
- Cost of materials
- Safety and security aspects
- Is planning permission required?
- What building regulations need to be approved and adhered to?
- Cleaning up
- Toilet arrangements
- Do not hand over all of the money upfront, make sure that monies are paid over a period of time as the work commences and is ongoing. Pay a deposit or cash upfront only if you are paying for materials or the job will take some time to complete.
- Is a guarantee being offered on the job? New build will always require a guarantee on the property. There is no valid contract and you do not have proof of payment if you get into a “VAT free” deal. Is your builder insured? Ask the question, don’t be afraid to ask and check, there should be cover for the builder, members of the public, personal insurance, protection against damage to your property, and protection for accidents or injury.
Follow these steps carefully to have a positive building experience, they will help you to avoid “cowboy builders” that could cost you much more than you ever expected both in terms of money and time. It isn’t good enough to cover just one or two steps, cover all points diligently.
Happy building!
