Great 'how to find decent tradesmen' hunt

grandy_2 · 10 March 2010 at 9:35AM

I dont know if this applies to all areas but our Trading Standards Department have trades people that are recommended and you can get a list from them. If they get reported for bad workmanship over charging etc they are taken off the list plus you can read what other people say about them on the website of Trading Standards.
Its worth a try.

Browntoa · 10 March 2010 at 9:35AM

down my way trading standards operate a "fair trader" scheme

http://www.medway.gov.uk/index/business/tradingstandards/fairtrader.htm

The Medway Fair Trader Scheme is operated by Medway Trading Standards Service and helps businesses comply with the law and improve consumer protection. It operates within Medway for businesses that are based there. They can become members provided they meet the terms and conditions of the scheme.

hc25036 · 10 March 2010 at 9:36AM

+1 for checkatrade. You need to be sensible (for instance look at those with more than one or two reviews as no-one will fake 50+ entries unless they are very sad!) and do some other checks. We have used them for 2 big jobs (fencing and a boiler) and every trader we contacted turned up, gave sensible quotes and knew their stuff.

Delighted with both jobs too. We are lucky in that we live in an area with hundreds of traders - a relative I recommended them to had a choice of 1 trader in his area!

SailorSam · 10 March 2010 at 10:05AM

Is there any correlation between the decline in decent tradesmen and the rise in Diy.

Jaymar_2 · 10 March 2010 at 10:38AM

I am a partner in BM Painting, Decorating & Maintenance based in Hertfordshire, I thought I would share with you some of the things we come across on a daily basis.

All of the internet sites that are supposedly made to help the consumer are false. They all charge the tradesman extremelly high fees without any vetting what so ever. Ratedpeople and trust a trader for instance charges the tradesman depending on the cost of the job between £6-£16 although a £6 lead is only for work under £100.

We get bombarded with calls from the sales people of all these internet sites on a weekly basis. However I don't know any good tradesmen that we work with that are members of these sites. Unfortunately becuase there is a reccesion the consumer gets hit even worse. The more people that get made redundant the more painting and decorating trademen seem to appear, as everyone thinks they can paint.

The trademen that are using these sites are NOT the good ones, all the good tradesmen I know have work on a regular basis through word or mouth or previous customers. If you want to find someone that is NOT qualified or only been in the trade a matter of months then go for a internet site. Bare in mind that is takes 3 years to complete any building apprenticeship and another 7 to be see most things. I am the younger partner of our business and I have been in the game for 15 years, I still learn something new every week and I haven't seem everything yet. My father is 62 and been in the game over 40 years and although he won't admit it still finds new challenges throughout the year.

So my advice is talk to your friends even go on forums and chat to others and ask if they know a good tradesman. You can checkout trade associations but beware they aren't many good ones the only two I would recommend as I know that vet everyone are The federation or Master builders and the painting and decorating association. A good trade association will tell you how they started, when and their vetting procedures.

Mrs_Pay · 10 March 2010 at 10:50AM

It does annoy me that there is so much bad press against tradesmen, that they are all made out to be crooks. My husband is a plasterer and a completely honest one at that, but sometimes the customers are the ones that try to take advantage. People have to realise that tradesmen are in business to make money to live otherwise there is no point and they should get another job. My husband will go in with an honest price and if asked to reduce it will show the customer different things that can be done to reduce it, but will turn down the work if it means there is no money to be made.

Luckily for us my husband survived well on word of mouth recommendations for a few years, and now spends alot to advertise on checkatrade.com. It is mostly for the advertising leaflets that are sent out to homes and also because he gets the feedback and so can improve or see how he is going. There was alot of vetting before he could join and they also make sure his insurance is up to date otherwise you can be kicked off. I agree with 'hc25036' in that how can so many people give similar feedback and it not be true????

My suggestion to people looking for tradesmen, to ask friends etc, and I can only endorse checkatrade.com as I have experience of it. It may also be worth getting a few quotes and meeting the tradesmen to see who you feel most comfortable with.

welfy09 · 10 March 2010 at 11:00AM

I think this is so hard - I have had mixed experiences from both recommendations and websites. Perhaps my only piece of edvice follows on fromthis thread - if you find a good one, keep hold of them!

Had a nightmare finding a good electrician. Had some major work done and used a 'friend of a friend' who was highly recommended. Did the work fine but have received no paperwork for any of it and he won't get back to us. Had him booked in for some smaller work and he didn't turn up.

Got a couple of people to come round and quote for the same electrical job out of the local 'ad mag'. Neither turned up.

Posted the job on ratedpeople.com, a couple came round to quote and chose my favourite, mostly on professionalism and the fact he took his shoes off when walking on my new carpet! But he was also the cheapest. No problems so far - he's already done two jobs and have booked him in for more.

Yet also got my kitchen fitter through ratedpeople and he did a pretty rubbish job, the floor tiling is cracking cos its not level but he's out of the country so can't come and look until April. Will see what happens when he does...

So, moral of the story - I have no idea how to find a good tradesman...

mcgazz · 10 March 2010 at 11:03AM

The following is based on 2 years and £50K renovating a house...

Ask work colleagues for recommendations - a lot of good tradesmen don't need to advertise, as they get all their work through word of mouth.

As someone said above, ask one guy who you know is good to recommend people he knows - my electrician (who is a legend and I trust completely) put me in touch with a joiner and a plasterer, who both turned out to be great.

If someone is grumpy/rude/late/constantly on their mobile when they turn up to look at the job, they'll be like that when they come to do the job.

Find out roughly what the job should cost and avoid anyone who gives you a miraculously cheap quote (make sure they're quoting you for the whole job). We live in a world where everything is now built by the people who supply the lowest quote (even nuclear power stations - yikes) and it shows.

Avoid anyone who wants paid before the job is finished (apart from materials costs, etc).

Tilers tend to take pictures of their work to show it off. If your doesn't, why not?

Avoid anyone who claims to be able to do anything. Jack of all trades, and all that.

If possible, get someone in to do a small job before offering them a big bit of work. If your joiner hangs a door beautifully, he's probably okay to do your hardwood flooring; if a spark can't put a new electrical socket in, don't let him rewire the house.

DebP1 · 10 March 2010 at 12:29PM

Hi. I also work in the business with various tradesmen. There is already good advice posted. I want to add that customers should use some common sense!

Ask for a price in advance, get 3 quotes if the work is expensive. Don't just choose the cheapest - all 3 quotes should be similar if the people are quoting for the same job. So assess on how professional they are:

Have they been working in that area for a long time or are they new guys in town. a rogue tradesman will not last for years working in your local area.

How do they present themselves?
Check that they reallly are members of Gas Safe Register or any other professional body if they claim to be.
Get references from other customers.
Word of mouth...

NickyMP · 10 March 2010 at 1:01PM

I've used checkatrade.com on two occasions - one was a plumbing emergency for water leaking from the bathroom throught the kitchen ceiling and the other for a broken lock on a patio door. The plumber rang me back within a minute of leaving a message and diverted one of his plumbers from a job to deal with the emergency. He was very efficient, fixed the problem of the leaking toilet base and even replaced a part in the cistern for a long standing dripping water problem and finally explained about my central heating boiler as when I had bought the house there was no information about the boiler. The bill was £50 which I considered very reasonable for the time and work done. I had a similar experience with the locksmith.

Great 'how to find decent tradesmen' hunt

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