Advice needed to Avoid Cowboy Builders

Furts

bery_451 wrote: »

Ok what about these websites?:


http://www.fmb.org.uk/


http://www.builders.org.uk/


https://www.trustmark.org.uk/


Which is the best to use?

I am with Doozergirl and say take all these with a pinch of salt. The positive with membership is it shows the builder cares about marketing, about image, and about a professional approach. The negative is the reality of the construction industry. Here almost all work is sub contracted and a good company with membership of trade bodies has no relevance to what the man or women on the trowel is actually doing.

So who does control the quality of the man or woman on the trowel? It may sound shocking but the answer is the person having the work done, and that is you, and your relatives, and your family.

You might consider my approach cynical, but to give credence to my view consider this. I could have been a member, or even had a role to play in, FMB. I did not because they were not interested in me - I detected both apathy and cronyism. Then consider Trustmark - I had a dispute in recent times with one of their members over ripping off elderly folk.

Finally consider this. My dispute with the Trustmark member was not settled through any dispute mechanism, or any bureaucratic procedure. It was settled by me calling a meeting with the owner of the company, on the site, with minutes taken and making it clear what would happen if he and his colleagues did not put matters right, and to do this quickly.

Back to OP. Forget the websites and seek a good builder - here you must put in effort and homework. The unfortunate truth is if you do not feel happy operating in this environment then you need professional advice.

bery_451

Thanks for the advice.


Currently I am confused as there was a post earlier saying avoid social media and there's a post saying go to social media.


If I do go to social media route there are there more pages on facebook Birmingham instead of B31 Voices and Bromsgrove Recommendations?


Looking for pages that serves all B postcodes of Birmingham.

Doozergirl

Social media involves a community, you're asking for and seeking recommendations from ordinary people.

Of course there are more pages on Facebook than the ones I suggested - use the facebook search function for pages with relevant town name or postcode for you, but if you actually post on one, you'll get several replies. Birmingham is a big place, people generally stick to their own parts of it for social media. You don't need a page for the whole of Birmingham, just recommendations for people that might cover yours. Any builder in or around Birmingham will cover areas in or around it!

Have you even asked on your own Facebook timeline?

Some will be people just mentioning names, others might give you more detail about work they've had done. Ask more questions on the Facebook thread of people, if necessary.

Googling websites is not social media, those are companies already with a vested interest in selling you the service. You need references.

Ulitimately, you can go anywhere, but you need to be savvy. You already thought one company was a government scheme when it isn't.

References. It's nice to have one before you contact a company. Either way, ask for three references once you feel you're talking with someone you can deal with.

bery_451

Ok according to the Telegraph they say it is a government scheme:


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/shopping-and-consumer-news/11618438/The-free-service-that-could-kill-off-cowboy-builders.html


If I notify my home insurers of the building work and if the worse case scenario happens that is cowboy builders do a right mess of it then will I be covered by my home insurance to fix the mess?


If not is there an extra add on insurance that can be purchased?


Do I have to notify my home insurers on the 1st day of the building work or in advance?

fluffpot

I don't generally approve of websites that recommend tradespeople, as they are skewed in favour of the trades
However, I think this one could be the least worse option if you are stuck. Which? members tend to take no nonsense!

http://trustedtraders.which.co.uk/

Doozergirl

Don't employ a cowboy builder!

If you check references and seek recommendations, why would you still think they are a cowboy? you do realise that there aren't many out there? The vast majority are trying to earn an honest living.

Don't go for the cheapest quote if it's not close to others, pay in stages once certain things are complete. Ask for a copy of their insurance certificate but you want to check references and perhaps view other projects so you know the person is genuine. And then you trust them.

There are bad clients too. If you go in assuming the people working on your house are trying to steal your money, you're not going to build a good relationship. Good relationships build good houses.

Furts

bery_451 wrote: »

Ok according to the Telegraph they say it is a government scheme:


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/shopping-and-consumer-news/11618438/The-free-service-that-could-kill-off-cowboy-builders.html


If I notify my home insurers of the building work and if the worse case scenario happens that is cowboy builders do a right mess of it then will I be covered by my home insurance to fix the mess?


If not is there an extra add on insurance that can be purchased?


Do I have to notify my home insurers on the 1st day of the building work or in advance?

I will repeat what you have already been told on this Forum. It is not a Government scheme.

You are receiving good advice on this Forum which is light years ahead of the standard of journalism in the article you refer to in the Telegraph. Remember most journalists are qualified in diddly squat except the topic in journalism. Yet they write articles and people believe they are experts on all sorts of topics. Also remember the man behind the scheme you refer to is unqualified and a jack of all trades without any particular expertise that has been put across in the article. Which begs the question - who is really the cowboy here - the builder, or the person behind the highly flawed scheme being trumpetted in the Telegraph?

However if you prefer the Telegraph version then that is fine by me. However, it does mean I am out because giving genuine advice appears to be futile.

bery_451

So these independent trade reviews websites are worthless as well?:


www.trustatrader.com

www.ratedpeople.com

www.checkatrade.com

Doozergirl

I give up.

southcoastrgi

Doozergirl wrote: »

I give up.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Horse & water & all that