consumer rights act 2015 tradesmen
The Consumer Rights Act 2015: A Cheat Sheet for Tradespeople
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies to every domestic job you do, whether you've read it or not. Here's the whole thing translated: do the work with reasonable care and skill, stand behind what you say, charge a fair price where none was agreed, and put genuine defects right at your own cost. Get those four right and the Act is your friend - it's the law that separates you from the cowboys.
Reasonable care and skill: the standard for every job
Every service you provide must be carried out with the reasonable care and skill of a competent member of your trade. Fall short and the customer's first legal remedy is repeat performance: you put it right at no extra cost, within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to them. Refuse, or fail again, and they can claim a price reduction instead - which in practice means money off your invoice or a claim through the courts.
Translate that to site level: turning up promptly to snagging is good service, and legally the cheap option too. A callback you handle costs you a morning. A callback you dodge becomes another firm's quote deducted from what you were owed.
Anything you say can be held against you
Under the Act, anything you say or write that the customer relies on when deciding to hire you becomes part of the contract. 'That boiler will handle two bathrooms no problem' is a binding statement, not sales patter. Be as careful with words on a survey or a WhatsApp message as you would be with a signed spec - because legally, they carry the same weight.
No price agreed? Only a reasonable price
Where no price was fixed before the work, you're entitled to a reasonable price and not a penny more - whatever you had in your head. Same for timing: no agreed date means the work must be done within a reasonable time. Both cut against the trade who keeps things vague, which is one more reason to confirm the price in writing before the first tool comes out of the van.
Materials count too
Materials you supply must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. If the merchant sold you a duff batch, that's still your problem as far as the customer is concerned - you fix it for them, then pursue the merchant yourself. Keep your supplier receipts for exactly this reason.
The 14-day cooling-off rule most trades miss
This one comes from the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 and it has teeth. Agree a contract worth over £42 in the customer's home - which is most domestic trade work - and they get a 14-day right to cancel. You must give written notice of that right. Miss it, and the cancellation window can stretch to twelve months, and you risk not being paid for work done inside it. If the customer wants you to start within the 14 days, get their express written request first - then if they cancel, they still pay for the work completed.
I confirm I have received notice of my 14-day right to cancel. I request that work begins before the cancellation period ends, and I understand that if I then cancel, I will pay for the work carried out up to the point of cancellation.
- ✓ Written notice of the 14-day cancellation right given before work starts
- ✓ Customer's express written request if starting within the 14 days
- ✓ Price, scope and terms confirmed in writing
- ✓ Copy of the cancellation wording kept on file with the job
From the tools: My brother fitted a bathroom where the customer reported a weeping waste joint three weeks after handover. Old-school instinct says argue; the Act says fix it. He was back within two days - a forty-minute job and £8 of fittings. That customer has since sent him three referrals worth around £14,000. Compare a plasterer he knows who ignored a callback on a £900 skim: the customer got another firm's quote, recovered £350 through a court claim, and left a one-star review that still tops his Google listing. Repeat performance is nearly always the cheapest door out of the room.
This is general information for UK tradespeople, not legal advice. Every dispute turns on its facts - for anything serious, speak to a solicitor or Citizens Advice.
Quotato puts your price, scope and terms in writing on every job - the paperwork the Consumer Rights Act assumes you already have.
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