Steering clear of the cowboy builders

By Tom Gard

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IT is the stuff of nightmares and fly-on-the-wall docu-soaps. The firm of builders you hire to work on your house turns out to be a bunch of cowboys, emptying your bank account and leaving your house in a worst state than it was in when they begun.

Over 100,000 complaints about cowboy builders are made every year. There are plenty of them about.

Many of us rely on recommendations and word of mouth when choosing a builder, and more often than not this proves perfectly satisfactory.

But what if this is not an option Perhaps you've just moved into a new area and don't know anyone. How can you make sure you find a reputable firm that will do the job at a reasonable price

The first and most obvious step is to check out the builders' credentials. Are they, for instance, a member of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), the industry's benchmark for quality workmanship and business practice To find an FMB member in your area log on to the organisation's website, www.fmb.org.uk.

Before calling a builder in, it is always worth getting clear in your own mind exactly what work you want done. A lot of disputes arise when changes are made half way through a job, causing unanticipated problems and costs.

When you have settled on what you want done it is worth getting more than one quote, if possible at least three. That way you should be able to establish roughly what the going rate is for the job and weed out unrealistically high or low estimates.

Take your time in making a decision. If a builder pressures you for an answer or isn't prepared to put in the time to discuss your needs it is probably worth finding one who is.

Following this course should lead you to the right people. However, if you want to make absolutely sure that there are no hidden pitfalls you can now enter into a legally binding contract before the work starts.

The Joint Contracts Tribunal has devised a simple to follow Building Contract, essentially a checklist of all the items you and the builders should discuss and agree on before work begins. For more information contact Construction Industry Publications on 0121 722 8200.

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