find a trusty tradesman

plumb1_2

Word of mouth is the best way to find a good tradesman,Anyone one with limited skills can apply to jion any list be it on the net or yellow pages,you dont think all these advertisers do it for free(payme £50 and I,ll put you on my list) ;)What a load of Ballcocks
And if any tradesman wants to charge you over £200 a day,they are ripping you off,and many before you.
It makes me >:(,when these Bloody so called tradesmen,con people.
In the dark old days,i had to go to collage for 6yrs,to gain my Advanced city&guilds in plumbing,now its 2yrs and of you go(menace the general public)and give us true tradesmen a bad name >:(
Did anybody see that program Posh Plumbers,wish they would do a follow up,and see if the young girl and the plonker from the city is still there,dought it.
Enough of my ranting,WORD OF MOUTH is the best

baldelectrician

As sugested before word of mouth is the best, but if you cannot find a local tradesperson for love or money gou can go to a couple of sites that have vetted tradesmen.

In Scotland:
SELECT (Electrical Contractors Assosiation of Scotland)

http://www.select.org.uk/index.php?page=p/companyfinder/postcode&pn=cf03

UK

http://www.niceic.org.uk/common/contractor_search.html

the National Inspection Council For Electrical Installation Contracting

People listed with these bodies have to meet minimum standards and are asessed. And in the case of SELECT there is a guarantee on the work.

calmgirl

ask freinds neghbours etc to recomend one

calmgirl

another option is to go to your local trade suppliers and get them to recomend one

boofy_2

Apologies if this has been posted before: www.fix-itman.com

starving_artist

Somebody told me about a site called https://www.londontradesmen.co.uk. Haven't used it but it's another resource.

jos22

My local trading standards dept offer a service (at a cost) giving details of "trusted local tradesmen".

emmamaw

Haggis_n_Neeps wrote:

I am a Building Standards Inspector for a Council in Scotland (un-named). I inspect lots & lots of private sector work; domestic, commercial & industrial (from internal house walls to new shopping malls) & I deal with one-man builders to multi-national companies.

FWIW in the domestic market, I would not trust any builder unless I had been recommended them. Always go see their previous work and speak with the property owner/occupier (or the person who got the work done). Do not just ask for a list of addresses of previous jobs and then do a drive-by visit (the builder may not have worked on the job and/or there may have been many problems on it). It is also worth noting that most projects have problems of some sort - what matters is how the builder sorts it out & how much to fix.

Like other posters have advised do not give any money up-front. If asked for money, ask the builder why he/she needs any money up front? Remember if they are reputable, they will have traders accounts with local merchants who give the builder interest free periods after invoice to pay up. So they money cannot be for materials. If the builder says that the money is for materials, they are unlikely to be credit worthy to a Builders Merchant, or they may be having problems paying their accounts there - knowing this you should ask yourself if you still want to give any money up front and take the risk. If they (the merchants) don't want to lend to the builder why should you take the risk and lend to him?

Best advice I can give to you is to ask others who have had work done for recommendations.
Unfortunately, us 'Money Savers' like to save, but sometimes it costs more ££'s in the long run to to be sure of getting things completed in a reasonable time, and less stressful. Also don't pay any more than 75 % of agreed price until you are happy with the work. Tell the builder that this is what you will be doing, right at the start when he is quoting for the job. If you pay it all just as work is finishing, it is commion not to see the builder again as he has no incentive to come back and finish the job. Depending of the scale of the work, a formal contract may be of use - various trade bodies will be able to provide further advice re this.


Anyway enough from me, I am away to see if I can become a consumer advisor now (best not let the Director know or he'll have me in the Trading Standards Section as well ;D ;D, on the same salary as just now )

Hi Haggis
Some great advice there, but I would like to make a point about deposits. My hubby is a landscape gardener, and although he has accounts with his suppliers, he still asks for a deposit for materials. This is because in the past hubby has turned up on day one with all his materials to begin a job, only to find that the customer has either changed his mind/got a mate to do it on the cheap/dissapeared. When the materials are perishable, e.g. turf, you can only keep them going for a few days before they die. This is why he asks for a deposit, but only to cover the cost of the materials.

Joints

Can someone tell me how the following sounds as a quote:

- Change of all gutters and fascia boards
- Change of downpipe
- Checking and correcting roof tiles and pointing (refurbishing the roof in other words)

£850 how does that sound?

nelly_2

Joints wrote:

Can someone tell me how the following sounds as a quote:

- Change of all gutters and fascia boards
- Change of downpipe
- Checking and correcting roof tiles and pointing (refurbishing the roof in other words)

£850 how does that sound?

Cheap!...........