Three quotes on the kitchen table, one firm you liked more than the others, and a start date floated for a fortnight on Tuesday. This is where most UK homeowners stop asking things, because asking feels rude and the bloke seemed decent.
The questions to ask a tradesman are not about catching anyone out. They establish, in ten minutes and before any money moves, whether the firm is registered for the work it is about to do, insured for the damage it might cause, and organised enough to write down what it has agreed. A well-run firm answers all twelve without breaking stride. A firm that bristles at question four has told you something useful.
Ask on the phone, by email, or standing in the hallway. Write down the answers.
Before you agree anything
1. What is your business name, address and company number?
A trading name on a van is not a business. Ask for the legal entity — sole trader, partnership or limited company — the registered address, and the company number if there is one. Check it on Companies House. You want a firm that has existed for more than five minutes, and a name you could pursue if it came to that.
2. Which scheme are you registered with, and what is your number?
People skip this one because it sounds confrontational. It is the most useful question on the list.
Gas — Gas Safe Register. Ask for the licence card and ID number.
Electrics — NICEIC, NAPIT or ELECSA, competent-person registered under Part P.
Windows and doors — FENSA or CERTASS.
Oil-fired heating — OFTEC.
Building, renovation and retrofit — TrustMark, plus a trade body such as the FMB.
Then check the number on the scheme’s own website. Registration cards are easy to print; registers are not.
3. Are you insured, and can I see the certificate?
Public liability at minimum, with the certificate emailed rather than described. Check the policy name matches the business you are hiring, the expiry date falls after your job finishes, and the cover suits the work — demolishing a chimney breast in a semi needs materially more than hanging a door. If they employ anyone, employers’ liability is a legal requirement.
4. Who is actually doing the work?
The person who quotes is often not the person who turns up. That is normal in UK building; finding out on day one is not. Ask how many will be on site, whether any work is subcontracted, and who supervises when the named contact is elsewhere. Subcontracting is fine. Undisclosed subcontracting to someone whose registration you have not checked is not.
5. Can I see two recent jobs like mine — and speak to those customers?
Photographs are pleasant. Phone numbers are evidence. Ask for two customers from the last twelve months with a job of similar type and size, and ring them. Do not ask “were you happy?” — ask “what went wrong, and how did they handle it?” Every job has a problem. The answer tells you how the firm behaves on a bad day.
Before you sign
6. Is this quote fixed, and what would change it?
A quote is a price. An estimate is a guess. Establish which you are holding, then ask what would increase it. Rotten joists, an unexpected soil pipe, plaster that comes off with the wallpaper — a good trade names two or three likely candidates. A vague “we’ll see how we get on” is a blank cheque.
7. What is excluded?
Skip hire, scaffolding, making good, decorating, removing the old bathroom suite, connecting the appliance, VAT. Exclusions are where quotes diverge, and why the cheapest often isn’t. Get the list in writing.
8. What deposit do you need, what is it for, and when is the balance due?
A deposit covering materials bought up front is reasonable. A large one before anyone has set foot on site is not, and cash to secure a “cancellation slot” is a well-worn scam. Tie the payment schedule to completed stages rather than calendar dates, and pay the last slice after you have inspected the work.
If a trade will not put the payment schedule in writing, walk away, however good the price. Not because they are dishonest — most are not — but a firm that cannot write down when it gets paid will not write down anything else, and you will spend the job arguing from memory.
9. Do I need building regulations approval, and who is handling it?
Rewires, structural openings, new drainage, loft conversions, replacement windows and most heating work sit under Building Regulations. Either the trade self-certifies under a competent-person scheme or someone applies to Building Control. Ask which, and who submits it. Unapproved work becomes your problem years later, when a buyer’s conveyancer asks for a certificate nobody has.
10. What warranty comes with the work, and is it backed by anything?
Separate the manufacturer’s product warranty from the installer’s workmanship guarantee. Ask the length of each, what voids them, and what happens if the firm ceases trading. An insurance-backed guarantee through a scheme provider survives the company. A promise on headed paper does not.
11. What are the start date, the working days and the finish date?
Get all three in writing, with working hours, whether they need the drive, where materials go, and which days nobody will be there. If you agreed the contract in your home, ask about your cancellation rights — UK consumers generally have a cooling-off period on contracts signed at home, and a professional firm mentions it unprompted.
12. If something goes wrong, what is the process?
Ask who you call, how fast they respond, and whether their scheme offers a dispute or conciliation route. TrustMark and the major trade bodies run complaints processes; an unaffiliated sole trader has only goodwill. You are not expecting trouble — you are finding out what exists if there is.
What to do in the next 30 minutes
Check your preferred trade’s registration number on the scheme’s own website, not a copy of a card.
Email the firm for the insurance certificate and two recent customer contacts.
Read the quote for exclusions, and write down three things you assumed were included.
Ring one past customer and ask what went wrong.
Put the start date, payment stages and warranty length in one short email ending “please confirm this is right.”
That last email costs nothing and turns a conversation into a record. Keep the answers somewhere you will find them in three years, when a buyer’s solicitor asks who did the work and whether it was signed off. Save the question list to Home+ with the registration numbers, certificates and the quote itself, so the job has a paper trail from day one.
FAQ
Is it rude to ask a tradesman for their insurance certificate? No, and a professional firm expects it — they send certificates to commercial clients every week. If asking makes things awkward before work has started, that is information about the relationship.
How do I check a tradesperson is properly registered? Use the scheme’s own online checker — Gas Safe Register, NICEIC or NAPIT, FENSA, OFTEC, TrustMark. Search the number they gave you and confirm the business name matches. Never rely on a website logo or a card handed over on the doorstep.
How much deposit is normal for building work in the UK? Enough to cover materials the firm must order before starting, and no more. Large up-front deposits before any work has begun are the most common pattern in UK home-improvement disputes. Tie the rest to completed stages.
Do I need a written contract for a small job? For anything beyond a couple of hundred pounds, yes — though it need not be a formal document. An email setting out price, scope, exclusions, payment stages and dates, confirmed in a reply, is a contract.
What if the trade refuses to answer some of these questions? Refusing to give a registration number, show insurance, or put a payment schedule in writing are the three that should end the conversation. The rest are judgement calls — one awkward answer is not a verdict, three is. Asking all twelve does not make you difficult, either; it makes you organised, and clear clients are easier to work for than vague ones.
