How to spot a cowboy builder  

There are around 100,000 complaints every year about builders - cowboy builders that is. The building trade has a very poor reputation - probably quite deserved, but just because one third of the apples in a barrel are rotten it doesn't make the whole barrel rotten! But it does make it a fairly rotten barrel, none the less.

Complicity is involved in 75% percent of cases where a customer has been the victim of a cowboy builder. And by complicity, I mean the customer has colluded with the builder to defraud the Inland Revenue or another company that the builder is supposed to work for. Most people will be tempted to avoid paying tax on a building project. And when you make that offer to the builder or he makes it to you and you accept it, your builder knows that you are someone who can be played. You've now taken a giant leap into the murky world of cowboy builders. You may be about to become it's latest victim.

So, how can you spot a cowboy builder?

NO VAT - Well, as you might have guessed the first warning sign is a request to be paid in cash with a promise on no VAT to be added. Legitimate businesses just don't work like that. So avoid this guy immediately. It goes without saying that you shouldn't be making that offer yourself.

No building contract - Check to see if they have a standard contract. If they don't - don't use them. A contract is vital in a building project - for both parties. Without it your legal position is even more flakey.

No insurance - Always check the insurance. Get a copy of the certificate - it's not too much to ask. Rogue builders don't carry insurance - but they will be only too happy to sue you when they fall from their ladder and break a leg or drop a pallet of bricks on your neighbour's car or smash the fence - you get the idea.

No written estimate or a badly written one - Just you make sure you get a written estimate and costings for the project. Get a time frame for each stage of the work, too. And if it doesn't look professional. i.e. a computer printout or pdf document then walk away. Because a sloppy quote means a sloppy job. And if they can't operate a computer in the 21st Century then they probably too stupid to be in the building trade as well.

The low quote - Always get at least 3 written quotations. This will provide you with a sanity check. If you get a very low quote from one of the builders - be on your guard - especially if they want to start quickly.

The limited offer time close - If your builder tries to pressure you into a decision by saying they can squeeze your project in before another big project starts, and that maybe they can give you a substantial discount to 'keep the lads working' - be wary. A good confidence trickster uses a time pressure close to hurry your decision making process, bypass your common sense and appeal to your own greed. A devastating combination.

Do they have references? - Well nearly everyone does. So, my personal opinion is to take them all with a pinch of salt. Family members and friends will tell you anything. Unless you go around and spot visit the sites they are working on you can't really be 100% sure here. But why not ask them to show you around a recent project? This is much harder to fake and a very reasonable request.

A landline number - I am astonished at the amount of people who employ any tradesman - let alone a builder - who doesn't have a landline number. Check on Google to see whether they have a physical address. If they don't they have either just started out (so let them gain experience on someone else) or they are not a professional company. Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying, they are not professional if they simply have a van and a mobile number. Walk away, this is not someone you should be employing on a building project.

Wide boys and geezers - Yes, these clowns are still working in the industry. Immediatley denigrating the work of another builder is a sure sign that you're not talking to a professional. 'I'll be honest with you' is a statement that generally means 'I am not usually honest with anyone'. 'I'll be straight and upfront' means 'I will be bent and deceitful - if you can ever get hold of me'. The man who comes to give you the quote should be clean and presentable. If he calls you 'luv' or 'guvnor' humour him but don't employ him. If he is dirty, unkempt, in a dirty tracksuit, smells of fags or beer or tells you he's just been working on site - he is not the man you're looking for. Because quality builders have assessors and managers to meet their potential clients. Assessors and managers don't get their hands dirty - but builders need managers and assessors. Someone has to organize materials to be delivered to site and be able to read schematics!

Any and all of the above should raise a red flag. Just take your time to make a decision and don't allow anyine to pressure you. Use your common sense. Switch your middle class radar on - find someone like minded who shares the same values as you do. Educated people make better builders - it's as simple as that.

If the builders and members of some trade group - this can be a good sign. Although check that as well, as cowboy building firms have been known to fake membership. Also, some of the actual trade associations have no government backing or accreditation themselves. For example, the Painters and Decorators Association is run out of a house in Nuneaton. And I have never met anyone who couldn't get a membership with them!

Finally - Good luck!

Thankfully, we do not provide building or refurbishment services at Serviceteam. Although we provide almost everything else! The nearest we get to building is high end landscape gardening in London.

Back to DIY articles