How To Find a Local Builder

For most building works especially to your own home, finding a good local builder is a high priority.

The views & opinions offered by the author are intended as a ‘guide’ to assist a prospective client in selecting their builder. The views may not be concise & may even conflict with other recommendations. The client is therefore recommended to seek as many alternative views as possible before selecting a builder.

There is no guaranteed way of selecting a suitable builder that will ensure that your scheme is built on time, to spec. & on budget. Even the most tried & tested methods can result in tears for either the building owner or builder themselves for all sorts of reasons including personality conflicts.

However, there are a few precautions & procedures you can adopt to ensure that the risk of wrongful selection is kept to a minimum. These are as follows:-

1. - RECOMMENDATION

Ask around. Consult family & friends of their previous building experiences & whether they would recommend their own builder for any future work that you or they themselves may be considering.

2. - AGENTS CONTACTS

Planning & Building Design Agents usually have numerous contacts within the building profession. However, Agents do not like to promote any one particular Builder for ethical & codes of conduct reasons so you may be given a list a ‘known builders’ for you to either consult yourselves or use as part of the tendering process.

3. - REFERENCES

Any respectable builder will be able to provide you with at least 3 references of previous work which should be very recent & within the last year. Take up those references & take time to research the builders history.

4. - TRADE ASSOCIATIONS & WARRANTY SCHEMES

Some builders belong to trade associations such as NHBC, FMB etc. Remember that most trade associations are primarily to look after the builders interest as any revenue they collect is from the builders themselves. However, some offer warranty schemes should failures occur either in the work completed or the ruining of the builders finances etc.

These warranty schemes are not free & are often insurance backed with a premium based upon a percentage of the contract price. They can significantly add to the cost of a building project & you should consider its relevance & value to your own particular situation. Some of these builders have higher operating overheads such as dedicated offices, yards & full time employees which is often reflected in their tender prices so they are often discounted by the building owner seeking the lowest possible price.

However, there is an aspect called ‘best value’ where often the cheapest quote does not guarantee best value so please think twice before accepting the lowest price from an unwarranted builder. Remember that employing a trade associated builder in still no guarantee of quality but it does reduce the risks.

Many builders are commonly termed ‘jobbing builders’ working from home & employ sub-contract labour as & when required. These builders often do not belong to any trade bodies & therefore unable to offer warranties or back up administration services.

However, it is predominantly these types of builders that complete extension works due to their lower overheads & margins. These builders should not be overlooked or categorized as unworthy as many have excellent trade skills, managerial assets & are happy just going from job to job.

However, regretfully most builders associated with the ‘cowboy’ element can come from this arena & you must do your homework first. Employing a builder for work completed ‘cash in hand’ may be very tempting but you are at risk of falling into the usual traps & encouraging this ‘tarnishing’ element upon other very respectful jobbing builders.

5. - LIMITED OR UNLIMITED BUILDERS

Most builders operate under the limited company status & it must be remembered that their financial responsibility to the building owner is very limited although most people seem to respect the Ltd. status far more than unlimited Builders. Builders that are unlimited may have additional assets at risk & therefore could offer the extra bonus to yourselves in the event of contractual breakdown or defects.