How to choose a reputable builder

When you hire a professional to carry out building work on your home

, you invest a great deal of faith in this person to do a good job and you need to be sure they can be trusted to get the work done. The task of choosing a reputable builder needn't be difficult, if you follow a few simple pieces of advice.

The fact remains that the best kind of recommendation for trusted tradesmen is a word-of-mouth recommendation. So, start off by contacting close friends and family to ask them if they have recently had building work done. If the answer is yes and they were happy with the end result, ask for details of the builder they used and, if possible, take a look at the work they completed.

Don't worry if you can't find anyone to give you a referral; thanks to the internet, you can access thousands of testimonials and reviews to help you choose the right tradesman. By typing a search query such as builders in Dundee, builders in Suffolk, Norfolk builders & so on, you will be able to locate lists of building professionals in your area and read through customer reviews of the service provided. Many sites now specialise in helping customers choose reputable local tradespeople, and these can make your job a lot less stressful.

Another option is to contact your local builders association and get them to show you a list of their members. There are 14 National Federation of Builders dotted around the UK, and these can be a valuable source of information.

Once you have put together a shortlist of builders, contact each of them and ask them for references from previous clients. Give the referees a call or, even better, go and visit them in person and have a look at the building work that was done for them. Ask them about the builder's conduct, whether he turned up on time, was considerate of your needs and worked in a safe, tidy manner. This is extremely important, as a builder's behaviour will give you a very good idea of his levels of professionalism.

The next step is to find out whether the recommended tradesmen belongs to a respected trade organisation, and if they are accredited for the skills they practice. If they claim to have accreditation or belong to a particular group, give the group a call and make sure the builder's membership is still valid. This is important, because it shows that the builder has a proven ability to work to high standards of quality and professionalism.

If the builder passes all of these tests, you can be fairly sure that they can be trusted to do a good job. While it may seem like a lot of effort to check a builder's credentials, a few minutes' research could potentially save you months of extra work and a hefty bill for fixing a bad job

How to choose a reputable builder

By: Debbie Fisher

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