How to Check a Tradesman Is Legit

Some trades have a legal register; most do not. Knowing which is which tells you how much weight the other checks have to carry.

• Gas engineers must be on the Gas Safe Register by law. Check the licence number at gassaferegister.co.uk, text Gas and the number to 85080, or call 0800 408 5500.
• Electricians doing notifiable work in England and Wales must be registered with a competent person scheme or the job goes through building control. Check at electricalcompetentperson.co.uk.
• Plumbers, roofers, builders, decorators, landscapers and most other trades have no licence. Voluntary schemes exist: WaterSafe for plumbers, NFRC for roofers, FMB for builders. Check membership on the scheme's site, not the trader's.

Two schemes cover every trade. TrustMark is the government-endorsed quality scheme for work in and around the home; search by trade and location at trustmark.org.uk/homeowner. Buy With Confidence is run only by local authority Trading Standards services, and every business listed has been checked and vetted by Trading Standards; search at buywithconfidence.gov.uk. Some councils also publish their own approved trader lists.

Companies House. If the trader is a limited company, search the name free at find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Read the registered address, the date of incorporation, the current and resigned directors, the filing history and any insolvency notes. Companies House does not check the accuracy of what is filed, so a clean page is a start rather than proof. Sole traders do not appear; they register only with HMRC, so ask a sole trader how long they have traded and for two or three references you can call.

VAT. If the quote adds VAT, ask for the VAT number and check it at gov.uk/check-uk-vat-number. The check returns the name and address the number is registered to. A VAT line on a quote with no valid number behind it is a straightforward fraud.

An address and a landline. A trading address you could visit and a phone number that is not only a mobile. Citizens Advice lists no postal address and mobile-only contact among the signs to walk away from.

Ask to see the public liability insurance certificate. This is the policy that pays if a trader damages your property or injures someone while working. If a trader has no insurance, Citizens Advice's warning is direct: you might need to pay to put things right yourself.

Read the certificate rather than taking the word for it. Check the insured name matches the business quoting you, check the expiry date falls after the job will finish, and check the cover level. WaterSafe sets £2 million as the minimum for an approved plumber, which is a reasonable yardstick for domestic work in any trade. A trader with employees should also hold employers' liability insurance.

Since 6 April 2025 it has been a banned practice under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act to publish a fake review, to publish a review that hides the fact it was paid for, or to present reviews in a misleading way. The Competition and Markets Authority can fine a business up to 10 per cent of global turnover. The law removes the incentive; it does not remove every fake review already online.

What to look for:

• Detail. A real customer names the job, the street type, how long it took, what went wrong and was fixed. "Great job, highly recommend" tells you nothing.
• Spread over time. Ten five-star reviews in one week is a pattern worth asking about.
• How the trader answers a bad review. A calm, specific reply is a better sign than a perfect score.
• Cross-check. Read the Google Business Profile reviews, then ask the trader for two references you can actually phone.

A quote and an estimate are different things in law. A quote is a promise to do the work at an agreed price. An estimate is the trader's best guess, and the final bill can differ. Ask for a quote, in writing, as a fixed total rather than a day rate, and ask when the price can go up. A quoted price can only rise for extra work you asked for, extra work you agreed to, or a genuine mistake in the calculation.

Get three. Three written quotes show you the market price, and they show you which trader took the time to understand the job. Be wary of anyone who will not put a quote in writing.

For a job of any size, agree the rest in writing too: start and finish dates, who clears up, who supplies materials, and when each payment falls due. This does not need a solicitor. One page that says exactly what you are paying for is enough.

Citizens Advice's rules on paying a trader: do not agree to a deposit of more than 25 per cent, pay in stages as work is completed, and avoid traders who only take cash or want everything up front.

Pay by credit card where you can. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act makes the card company jointly liable for a job costing between £100 and £30,000, and the protection applies even if only the deposit went on the card. A debit card payment can be disputed through chargeback. Cash has no route back.

If the contract was agreed at your home rather than at the trader's premises, you have 14 days from the day you agreed it to cancel a service costing £42 or more, and the trader must tell you so in writing. If you asked for work to start within those 14 days, you pay for what was done up to the point you cancel.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 says a trader must carry out a service with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonable time, and for a reasonable price if none was agreed. If the work falls short you can require the trader to do it again, at their cost, within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience. If that is impossible or does not happen, you are entitled to a price reduction, which can be a full refund, paid within 14 days.

The route: write to the trader saying what is wrong and what you want done by when. If they belong to a trade body, use its complaints scheme. Call the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133 (0808 164 6000 in Scotland); the case goes to Trading Standards. For money owed by a trader who exists, the small claims track in England and Wales covers up to £10,000. If it was never a real business, report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040, or 101 in Scotland.