Every month, a new client walks into our office to talk about their build. About one in four of them is on their second contractor: the first one disappeared, ran out of money, walked off the job, or simply stopped picking up the phone. The stories are remarkably similar, and they are almost always preventable.
Here is the framework we share with anyone deciding between contractors, including those who do not end up choosing us.
1. Get Three Quotes, but Compare Like for Like
Always get three quotes. But the lowest price is almost never the best deal, and the spread between quotes is often a sign of how thoroughly each contractor has scoped the work. If quote A is £120k, quote B is £140k and quote C is £210k, the highest is not gouging you. They have probably noticed something the cheap quotes have missed.
Ask each contractor to break their quote down by trade and stage. Compare the breakdowns line by line. The places where they differ are the places where one of them is making an assumption you need to interrogate.
2. Visit a Live Site
Reviews and finished photographs tell you what a contractor wants you to see. A live site tells you what they actually do. Ask to visit one of their current projects. A reputable contractor will arrange this within a week. If they refuse, dodge or stall, that is your answer.
On the visit, look at three things: is the site clean and tidy, is the welfare provision proper (toilet, drying room, kitchen), and do the trades on site know who you are and what you are visiting for? A site that is calm and organised is a site being run by a project manager who is on top of it.
3. Check the Insurance and Accreditations
Ask for, and actually read, the contractor's public liability and employer's liability insurance certificates. Public liability should be at least £5m, ideally £10m. Employer's liability is legally required at £5m minimum.
Beyond insurance, the recognised UK accreditations to look for are CHAS, Constructionline (Gold ideally), and ISO 9001. None of these alone proves quality, but a contractor who holds all three has been audited regularly enough that the basics are in order.
4. Watch How They Quote
The quoting process is a preview of the build. A contractor who turns up on time, listens carefully, asks intelligent questions and produces a thorough written quote within a reasonable timeframe is showing you how they will run the actual project. A contractor who is hard to pin down at quote stage will be impossible to manage on site.
5. Insist on a Proper Contract
For projects over £25,000, use a recognised standard contract, JCT Minor Works or JCT Intermediate is the most common. These contracts are written by industry bodies to be fair to both sides. They cover variations, payment terms, defects liability and dispute resolution clearly. A contractor who pushes back on signing a JCT contract is telling you something important.
6. Pay Only for Work Done
Avoid large upfront deposits. A reasonable schedule of payments runs in stages tied to clearly defined milestones (groundworks complete, structure to first-fix, second-fix, snagging, handover). Never pay more than the value of the work that has actually been done.
"The best protection against a bad outcome is a thorough quote stage and a proper contract. Once you are on site, the leverage you have to fix problems shrinks dramatically. Spend the time at the front end." Priya Anand, Senior Project Manager.