Welcome to DIY Doctor's blog

DIY Doctor will be presenting at The National Home Improvement Show at Olympia in London at the end of this month. The show is the UK’s leading exhibition for home improvers and brings together high quality suppliers, designers and experts. It is the ideal place for homeowners to source ideas and gather inspiration for any anticipated energy efficient home improvement project. Don’t forget you can register for two FREE TICKETS to the show just by clicking on the banner below and filling in your details.

This year marks the fourth National Home Improvement Awards and is jointly sponsored by the National Home Improvement Council’s Educational Trust and TrustMark, in conjunction with the show’s organisers. Regulars to our blog will recognise TrustMark as being the Government-endorsed body working in partnership with DIY Doctor to eradicate cowboy builders.

Five projects shortlisted for the new award

There will be awards for the winner and a runner-up announced from a shortlist of five completed home extensions. All submissions were closely assessed by the three awards Judges – Michael Homes, TV property expert and editor-in-chief of Real Home magazine; Andrew Leech, executive director of NHIC Educational Trust; and Roman Russocki, chief executive of TrustMark.

The public are invited to vote for their favourite home improvement project from the shortlist published on the award website http://nationalhomeimprovementawards.co.uk. The winner will be announced at The National Home Improvement Show on the 28th September.

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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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The National Home Improvement Council (NHIC) are calling for VAT to be removed from all Home Improvement work.

The NHIC claim the 20% rate is proving a deterrent to many homeowners when it comes to employing workmen. They will soon set up a petition to gauge public reaction to this proposal, and we will keep you informed when they release details.

In DIY Doctor’s opinion this would stimulate the building industry; even if the rate of VAT was cut to 5% for Home Improvements it would make the cost of legal works more affordable. This would help to stop the trend of the unsuspecting public employing rogue traders who often carry out cash jobs to evade paying VAT. Customers avoiding VAT are exposing themselves by effectively signing away any guarantees on materials and workmanship when they pay this way.

The other consequence of a lower VAT rate would be that reputable builders would be operating on a more level playing field, so that the many honest and responsible builders are not excluded from the bidding by homeowners who are cutting corners in this way. This could help squeeze out Rogue Traders from the marketplace entirely. Mike Edwards from DIY Doctor says “It is much easier for a homeowner to see that paying a little extra for peace of mind is good value for money, a Cowboy Builder offering to save them nearly a quarter of their bill in taxes sometimes proves too much temptation, especially in the current economic climate”. For links to reputable tradesman through Trustmark please click here, and read more about the Trustmark scheme.

It must be preferable for the government to collect more taxes at a lower rate than to accept the current black market which is costing the country in non-payment of taxes; honest builders in employment; and the public who are unwittingly employing the Cowboys to save money.

You can find out more information on how to avoid Cowboy builders by clicking through to the DIY Doctor Home Improver Protection Solution (HIPS).

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You still have just over a week to enter the new National Home Improvement Awards 2012 and you could win £1000!

You might be the home owner or the tradesman, but if you think your home improvement project is worth shouting about, you can enter. For more information and to download an entry form just go to www.nationalhomeimprovementawards.co.uk . Once you have filled in your form, just send it with photos of your project to :

National Home Improvement Awards
TrustMark
Englemere
Kings Ride
Ascot
Berkshire
SL5 7TB

The closing date is the 30th June and a shortlist will be announced on the 13th July when the public will be able to vote for their favourite. The overall winner will be announced at the National Home Improvement Awards on the 28th September.

The awards are sponsored by The National Home Improvement Show, National Home Improvement Council, Trustmark and Real Home Magazine.

The criteria for judging will be based on the following:

•    Preliminary research and dialogue with contractor, including plans/designs, 3 quotes
•    Project management, including building regs, planning requirements, site meetings Contractual and financial management, including use of contract, payment terms, variations during job, relevant certificates etc
•    Quality of work including health and safety, energy efficiency
•    Impact of improvement -on quality of life, reduced running costs, maintenance, health of occupants
•    Problem solving during project
•    Design Quality (aesthetics, practicality, suitability for owner’s needs and brief)
•    Build Quality (attention to detail, energy efficiency, site practice, cost)
•    Value for Money (added value, relative value for money)

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DIY Doctor is pleased to announce that it has now become a member of the National Home Improvement Council.

The NHIC was launched in 1975 and since then has set out to support, encourage and promote home improvement and energy efficiency to homeowners and throughout the industry as well as having a close liaison with government, local authorities and housing associations.

Their main objectives are:

• To support and encourage home improvement measures which make households more energy efficient and reduce carbon emissions in line with government targets.
• To support and encourage the improvement of standards throughout the home improvement industry.
• To promote to homeowners the benefits of renovating and upgrading their homes to high energy efficiency standards
• To be the voice of the home improvement industry to government, opposition and Whitehall to ensure that housing policies and public funding are directed at home improvement.
• To act as the catalyst for public sector housing bodies to stimulate modernisation of existing housing.
• To encourage private investment in the housing sector.

They have lots of good, common sense home improvement advice on their website including pages on renewable energy systems, the Green Deal, water conservation, doors and windows, kitchens and bathrooms as well as heating and hot water amongst others.

We will be bringing you more information and news regarding the National Home Improvement Council in the future, so watch this space!

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