What to check before you pay a tradesperson in Leeds

The company record

Every listing on Gablevale shows the business’s registered company name and number and links to its record on the Companies House register. gov.uk says you can get some details about a company free, including its registered address and date of incorporation, current and resigned officers, document images, mortgage charge data, previous company names and insolvency information, and that you can set up free email alerts for when a company updates its details. Companies House says on the register itself that it does not check the accuracy of the information filed, so the record shows what the company has said about itself. A registered office is often an accountant’s address rather than where the business works from; Gablevale shows the area a business covers and its postcode district, never a street.

Worth looking at: whether the company is active, when it was set up, who the directors are and how long they have been there, whether accounts or a confirmation statement are overdue, and whether there is a proposal to strike it off. gov.uk also keeps a register of disqualified company directors, linked from the same page.

Insurance

The Health and Safety Executive says that by law employers are required to insure against liability for injury or disease to their employees arising out of their employment; that is employers’ liability insurance, and HSE publishes a guide to it. Cover for damage to your property or injury to you, public liability insurance, is a separate policy. A listing says “Insurance stated” only where the business’s own website says it is insured; it doesn’t say what the policy covers or for how much. Ask to see the certificate, and check the dates, the insurer and what is covered before work starts.

The register for the trade

Some trades have a register the law or the Building Regulations turn on. Where a business says on its own website that it is registered, its listing repeats that as the business’s statement; the register is the check.

• Gas. HSE says anyone employed to work on gas appliances in domestic premises must be a Gas Safe registered engineer and competent in that area of gas work. Ask for the ID card and check the licence number with the Gas Safe Register, on 0800 408 5500 or its website. Our gas guide has the detail.
• Electrics. gov.uk lists the competent person schemes whose electricians may self-certify work under the Building Regulations (BESCA, Blue Flame Certification, Certsure trading as NICEIC, NAPIT and OFTEC) and says their members appear on the Electrical Competent Person Register. Our electrical guide has the detail.
• Roofing, windows, oil and solid fuel. gov.uk’s list names NAPIT and CompetentRoofer for replacing roof coverings; Blue Flame Certification, CERTASS, Certsure, Fensa, NAPIT and ASSURE for replacement windows and doors; OFTEC among others for oil appliances; and HETAS among others for solid fuel. gov.uk says a registered installer tells the council about the work where needed and gives you a certificate within 8 weeks of completion.
• Other trades. gov.uk’s list covers work that must meet the Building Regulations. For joinery, landscaping, cleaning, decorating and the like, a trade body a business says it belongs to appears in its listing as the business’s statement; check the membership with the body.

Quotes, and your rights if the work is poor

Ask for the quote in writing, saying what work it covers, what materials are included, whether VAT is included and when payment is due. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 says every contract to supply a service is to be treated as including a term that the trader must perform the service with reasonable care and skill (section 49); that where no price is fixed, the consumer must pay a reasonable price and no more (section 51); and that where no time is fixed, the trader must perform the service within a reasonable time (section 52).

If the service is not performed with reasonable care and skill, the Act gives you the right to require repeat performance, meaning the trader puts it right within a reasonable time, without significant inconvenience to you and bearing the cost of labour and materials, or, where that is impossible or the trader fails to do it, a price reduction, which may be the full price, with any refund due within 14 days of the trader agreeing to it (sections 54 to 56). These rights sit alongside any guarantee the business gives: a listing says “Guarantee offered” only where the business’s own website offers one, and its terms are the business’s own.

For advice on a dispute, gov.uk says to contact Citizens Advice on 0808 223 1133 in England and Wales, which can refer a complaint to local Trading Standards officers.

Cancelling a contract agreed in your home

Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, a contract agreed with a trader in your home, or anywhere else that is not the trader’s business premises, is an off-premises contract; one agreed by phone or online is a distance contract. For a service contract of either kind you may cancel without giving a reason within a cancellation period that ends 14 days after the day the contract is entered into (regulations 29 and 30). The trader must not begin the work within that period unless you expressly ask, and for an off-premises contract the request must be on a durable medium such as email; if you ask for an early start and then cancel, you pay for what has been done in proportion to the price (regulation 36).

The cancellation rights do not apply where you have specifically requested a visit from the trader to carry out urgent repairs or maintenance (regulation 28), though they still cover any further work or goods the trader supplies on that visit beyond the repair. A contract agreed at the trader’s own premises is covered by neither right.

Anyone taking waste away

Section 34(2A) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 places a duty on the occupier of any domestic property in England to take all such measures available to him as are reasonable in the circumstances to secure that any transfer by him of household waste produced on the property is only to an authorised person. The government’s waste duty of care code of practice says that if you engage a private business to take away your waste, including a business that approaches you and offers to, you should check that it is an authorised carrier with an up-to-date and valid upper tier registration, and that each carrier should have a registration number starting CBDU. Household waste for this purpose includes construction and demolition waste from your property, old furniture and household appliances.

The code says you can check a carrier on the Environment Agency’s online public register of waste carriers, brokers and dealers by registration number, business name or postcode, or by calling 03708 506 506. There is no legal requirement to keep a record of the check, but the code says a receipt with the registered business’s details, or a note of the vehicle’s registration, make, model and colour, can quickly show you met your duty if the waste is later fly-tipped. Failing in the duty is an offence; the code says a fixed penalty notice may be given for a breach.

This applies whenever a roofer, builder, landscaper or clearance firm takes rubble, old materials or cleared items off your property. Ask for the registration number before the van leaves.

Landscapers and gardeners by area

Every landscaper and gardener listed on Gablevale, by the area it names, with the features its own website states.

Alarm and CCTV installers by area

Every alarm and CCTV installer listed, with the features each states.

Pest control, window cleaning and locksmiths by area

Pest controllers, window and gutter cleaners and locksmiths listed on Gablevale, with the features each states. Where a locksmith states a price, it is on its listing.