With over 20,000 listed builders, individual builders or building companies, there seems to be no shortage in finding a builder for your home. This article covers just a few of our observations from the last 30 years to assist you in finding a good, recommended builder.
Consultation and Estimates
A good builder or building contractor will come to your home free of charge to consult with you on your specifications for your home renovation or refurbishment. He will provide this visit and quotation, free of charge, because the need to charge for such a simple step in the over all scope of things shows that he has no care for scraping for pennies. Look out for builders who want to charge you for a 30 minute visit as it shows they have little work and need to collect where possible.
A busy builder is the best builder
You may need to get your building works done fast, but it is suggested you pay attention to whether or not the builder has much work going on. Despite talks of economy and lack of work, this idea is false. With millions of homes in London there is always new projects and planning coming through. A good builder in London will be busy because of word of mouth, recommendations etc. Builders who are not busy, waiting for work to come along and desperate for work are so because they have no word of mouth and usually have a long list of angry clients behind them.
Want the job done well? Get a busy builder.
Building contracts
A good building contractor in London will provide you with a comprehensive building contract. It doesn't have to be a huge quantity survey, but it should list out the previously agreed building works to be done and a price, allowing for a clause for additional works should they arise. A good building contractor will take the time to make sure everything is in writing and agreements are set and that there are no gaps.
Look out for incomplete contracts or just verbal, handshake agreements. These can lead to trouble and being overcharged.
Company address and building company legitimacy
There are too many builders in London who have jumped into the trade for lack of anything else to do. Some "builders" give themselves this title because they lack skills in any other work line. They think that "anyone can lay bricks, fit a sink or decorate a home."
A good way to detect a builder who is not legitimate is to ask for their company address and even company registration number or VAT details. Builders who don't care about these things are usually builders who have just decided to own the title and will cause all sorts of problems.
A good builder in London will be able to provide these things, even if his building company is registered to a home address. There will be no hiding of personal details and he will be open about his company status.
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Decorwise has been established for 30 years. Our pride is in customer satisfaction and the quality of our building works. Our London building teams are vetted and are friends. Each member of our team is qualified in one or more lines of work and has the credentials to show it.
