Welcome to DIY Doctor's blog

If you are planning building work this year we recommend that you draw up a contract with your builder.

There has been a lot of talk recently about Cowboy Builders, and what a drain they are on our economy, but not so much focus on what you can do about it. Regulation and Government intervention can only work so far, the most effective vehicle for change is to use market forces which are driven by consumers, so DIY Doctor decided to make it their mission to help eradicate Cowboy Builders by giving homeowners the tools they need to avoid them.

There are things you can do to help you find a good tradesman and avoid the Cowboy Builder. We have a section on the site called HIPS which stands for Home Improver Protection Solution. This section is dedicated to helping you avoid Cowboy Builders by providing you with useful information to arm yourself with before you choose your builder, then it gives you valuable information on how to choose and contract a builder and finally keeping control of costs and processes throughout the build.

What is HIPS?

There are five main sections in our Home Improvers Protection Solution (find out more by clicking here):

Price Doctor
Online software that allows you to get a costing of an extension before you meet your builder to discuss prices, the free version will arm you with a rough figure so that you can tell if your builder is quoting a reasonable figure. There is a paid version which allows you to put in a much more detailed set of choices and will break down the costs of materials for you into a ‘shopping list’ which is ideal if you are planning your own build.

Desired Outcome Contract
This is a contract, written by DIY Doctor and checked by legal professionals, which has been designed to make it clear what you expect from your builder, and what he can expect from you. Disputes often arise over unreasonable expectations on either side, but if all stages of the build and payment are discussed at the beginning then this leads to fewer arguments.

If a Cowboy Builder is presented with a contract before they start work they are much less likely to take the job on. Even better it is provided free to DIY Doctor users.

Desired Outcome Contract – Notes
By reading through the accompanying help notes you will know which questions to ask to make sure you have a legitimate builder eg. are they insured, how long have they been trading, can they provide references for similar jobs. You will also be prompted to ask for proof of the answers to these questions.

Third Party Payment Plan
We recommend you use a third party payment plan. They are designed to hold the money for the build securely for you. This will reassure your builder that you can pay for the job, and will release the money in pre-agreed stages such as: on delivery of materials; on completion of first fix; and on completion of the build but with a percentage held back against ‘snagging’. They often have warrentees and dispute resolution procedures attached too.

Trustmark
Trustmark is a Government approved body which lists tradesmen who are insured and belong to trades bodies. Although this is not a failsafe method of choosing a builder it will rule out any fly-by-night traders who do not want to join trades bodies because of the way they do business. The attitude of a builder who bothers to get insurance is much more professional, and trades bodies often have dispute ombudsmen attached to their organisations. You can easily check the details out online.

For more information on how to make a Desired Outcome Contract work for you when you are planning building work, please watch this explanatory video.

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The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has expressed concerns about
installers of energy-efficient products using high-pressure tactics to ensure that customers sign up.

Following their investigation the OFT have written to fifty leading installers of energy-saving products to insist that they improve their practices.

The OFT found various problems which ranged from, paperwork issues, to staying in a customers home for up to three hours, to failing to provide information on the customers rights to cancellation.

Energy Saving Installations expected to increase because of the Green Deal
As the Green Deal comes into effect this month this sector of the building industry is expected to experience growth, while the rest of the building industry is suffering from contraction. So it is vital that steps are taken to improve consumer confidence in installers of energy-efficient products.

The Green Deal will allow homeowners to have energy saving work carried out on their house and then pay for that work by adding the cost to their energy bills. We have written more about the Green Deal in our Projects section.

How to Avoid Cowboy Builders
DIY Doctor has been working to help consumers avoid Cowboy Builders for years. we do this with a variety of measures listed under our Home Improvement Protection Solution (HIPS) section of the website.

The information is free and includes a ‘Desired Outcome Contract’ designed to be used by homeowners who are employing builders and installers, there is also information on finding reputable tradesmen through Trust Mark. To help protect your payments there is information about Bond Pay which securely holds the money for the contracted work; only paying the contractor once each stage of the work is completed.

How to stay safe when employing energy-saving installers

If you are considering having energy saving work on your house, then you can read through the information in our Home Improver Protection Solution section to help you employ the right installer for the job. As a brief guide to avoiding a situation where you feel pressured into buying energy-saving products follow these steps:

• Don’t employ cold callers
• Ask friends for recommendations, if they have had similar work to yours
• Ask the installer for references from customers who have had similar work to yours
• Don’t expect an installer to be able to give you a price over the phone
• When booking appointments make it clear you will not decide on the day they call
• Ask about cancellation procedures when booking the appointment
• If the installers seem pushy on the phone don’t book an appointment
• Make appointments with three installers and keep notes on each one, so you can compare like-with-like
• It is a good idea to have someone else with you who can ensure you ask all you should and help you take notes

There is more information on our HIPS package here.

If you want to find out more about the Green Deal we have project pages under our Green Living section which you might also find very useful.

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New estimating software helps avoid cowboy builders by taking the guess-work out of building costs

Price Doctor is a new online application that will allow homeowners and builders to effectively work out the price of building jobs, and order materials.

Price Doctor – Extension quote and price checking software

Price Doctor helps the user to understand all the costs involved in home improvement projects, from basic DIY, to project management of an extension, and even self-build. Homeowners can also use it to compare builders’ quotes for their job. Builders can price the job using their own labour and material rates, together with the mark-up they need to cover overheads and profit.

The system displays options at every stage, using pictures with captions. No building experience is required, nothing needs to be downloaded, and using it involves minimal computer skills. The user just clicks on the picture that matches the design and material they want, and then displays the total cost of the chosen extension. Other options available include access to labour costings, and materials breakdown lists.

The basic design package is free to all users. Additional features are available for domestic through to commercial use, from £10 to £80.

Home Improvement Doctor, which also owns the online advice site DIY Doctor, have developed Price Doctor as part of their campaign to improve the reputation of the building trade in this country. Director Mike Edwards explains “Price Doctor is a really important tool in our drive to arm the consumer with the information they need to avoid cowboy builders, and all the financial implications of that”. Recent reports indicate that 13% of homeowners have been affected by cowboy traders costing some £3.7 billon [Sainsbury’s Home Insurance].

The software has been in the planning or BETA stage for the last two years while it has been rigorously tested. Price Doctor developer Jim Gardner said “Ironically the fact that we wanted to make Price Doctor easy to use made building it more difficult. The information in the programme is incredibly detailed and comprehensive in order that it can cope with everything from a simple extension to a complete build, but we recognised that the system itself would have to be as easy to use as possible, so that anyone can use it, even if they have minimal computer skills”.

Builders can use Price Doctor to accurately quote for jobs ensuring that their prices are fair and make a reasonable profit, avoiding those ‘guestimates’ on time and materials that can cost them money. Quotes can be prepared immediately and left with the customer at the first meeting.

Mike Edwards says “Creating the quote with the customer there to make choices in design, cuts down on office paperwork for the builder, and allows for alternative materials and dimensions to be considered to fit in with the customer’s budget. This creates complete transparency in the quoting process and builds trust in the builder/customer relationship from the beginning.

If Price Doctor is used with our Desired Outcome Building contract, our Payment Protection Plan and our own reliable, insured Tradesmen, there is absolutely no reason why any rogue tradesman should set foot through your door. “

The labour list itemises all of the different trades involved in the build and gives a total cost per trade as well as how long each should take in days. The materials list gives a complete overview of all the construction materials needed to complete the chosen job including individual quantities and prices for each item. It automatically includes all new regulation calculations for home insulation.

The Trade version allows tradesmen to alter the materials and cost per hour quoted by Price Doctor to take account of their own pay rates and trade discounts on materials.

No downloads are necessary and customers simply log into the Price Doctor page to start using the product.  Completed projects can be saved and edited later to adjust both design and price.

For more information about Price Doctor follow the link http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/price-doctor/

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While DIY Doctor is broadly in favour of making planning regulations less bound up with red tape they have to agree with TrustMark who warn that consumers need more advice when planning building works – and the bigger the project the more guidance they may need.

TrustMark and DIY Doctor are both very keen to promote good, honest, reliable tradesmen and to try to eradicate the cowboy builder.

As the chairman of Trustmark, Liz Male, comments: “. . . through initiatives like this and the forthcoming Green Deal, the risk is that we leave too many people at the mercy of rogue traders and cowboy builders . . . If Government wishes to deregulate this sector, even for a short period, then it must also help by signposting people to reputable firms and good sources of advice.”

Trustmark is a government-endorsed agency which has over 21,000 licenced tradespeople on their website. To be eligible to be be listed every firm is inspected and checked by experienced inspectors.  DIY Doctor has chosen to work solely in conjunction with TrustMark to help homeowners find reputable tradespersons to carry out building works on their homes. They are the only online trades listing who ensure the firms are accredited. To find suitable tradespeople in your area visit DIY Doctor’s find a tradesman area.

Liz Male adds: “We would always advise anyone considering building an extension, conservatory, loft conversion or other major building work to use a contract with their tradesmen. The free TrustMark app is a particularly important tool that can help with that, prompting you to ask all the right questions.”

We have a free building contract on DIY Doctor which will help to clarify all the stages of your project and if used properly will improve communication between you and your builder, avoiding some of the pitfalls, and helping to resolve any possible disputes.

Go to our section on Home Improvement Protection Solution (HIPS) where you can download a free Desired Outcome Contract.

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As our regular blog readers will know DIY Doctor have a bit of a crusade going to try to improve standards across the building industry. One of the ways we aim to do this is by supplying customers with the information they need to make sensible and informed choices when employing tradesmen.

This interest is shared by the NHIC (National Home Improvement Council) and we are pleased to see that they are releasing a series of articles which aim to highlight some of the most popular home improvement projects that homeowners want to tackle, and give them the information they need to do it (or get it done) safely efficiently and cost effectively.

We will be keeping an eye out for such subjects as

Basements & cellars
Home insulation
Extensions
Green Deal
Lighting
Kitchens
Bathrooms
Renewable heating

In the mean time have a browse through our project pages to see similar themes.

If you are considering employing workmen then check out HIPS (Home Improvers Protection Scheme), by clicking on the button on the left.

Here you will find lots of help in avoiding cowboy builders including a FREE desired outcome contract.

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