A builder's quote is usually the biggest financial decision in a renovation or extension — and in the UK the paperwork around it matters as much as the price: building-regulations approval and the completion certificate, the Party Wall Act if you share a wall with the neighbours, and a 14-day cooling-off period that usually applies to contracts agreed in your home. Yet quotes regularly lack crucial information about warranties, extra work and liability. A second opinion gives you certainty before you sign — and concrete questions still to ask.
What do we check?
- ✓ Price breakdown — is every item specified or only roughly estimated?
- ✓ Scope — what is and isn't included in this quote?
- ✓ Included / excluded — VAT, materials, transport, waste removal?
- ✓ Extra work — how and when is it communicated and approved?
- ✓ Warranty — on labour and materials, for how long and under what conditions?
- ✓ Schedule — is the completion date binding or only indicative?
- ✓ Payment — are instalments tied to progress or set arbitrarily?
- ✓ Terms — what are the cancellation and liability clauses?
- ✓ Missing information — what isn't stated but should have been?
- ✓ Questions for the supplier — concrete points to clarify.
Common risks
- ⚠ Missing warranty term on the work carried out and the materials used — and no insurance-backed guarantee behind it
- ⚠ Building-regulations approval and the completion certificate are not mentioned: who notifies building control, and is the fee included?
- ⚠ Party Wall Act obligations ignored where the work touches a shared wall or boundary
- ⚠ The extra-work clause is too loosely worded — the builder can decide unilaterally
- ⚠ No contractor's all-risk (CAR) insurance, or unclear whether it exists
- ⚠ Payment schedule tied to fixed dates rather than progress, with no retention on the final payment
- ⚠ The quote shows no VAT position at all — unclear whether the trader is VAT-registered and whether VAT can appear on the invoice later
- ⚠ The completion date is indicative rather than binding
Example questions for your supplier
After our analysis we send you concrete questions to put to the supplier. For example:
- 1 "Who arranges building-regulations approval and the completion certificate, and is the fee in this price?"
- 2 "What warranty applies to the work and the materials separately — and is it insurance-backed?"
- 3 "Do you (or your subcontractors) hold valid contractor's all-risk and public liability insurance?"
- 4 "How is extra work approved — in writing, with a price, before it happens?"
- 5 "Does the Party Wall Act apply to this job, and who serves the notices?"
- 6 "Is the quoted price inclusive of VAT, and are you VAT-registered?"
- 7 "Is the completion date binding and what are the consequences of delay?"
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