1. Check that a company has a long established trading record and hasn't previously gone bust and reopened under a similar name

2. Don't use companies that insist on being paid in cash, and who are not prepared to give you an invoice. Your work will not have a valid guarantee and you may be liable to prosecution for VAT fraud.

3. Don't use a company if their workers offer to do work privately for ‘cash' at a lower price. Again you will not have a guarantee and there's the risk of prosecution for VAT fraud.

4. Do not use a company that has County Court judgements lodged against it.

5. Do not use companies that charge for non productive time (Tea/Lunch breaksetc).

6. Do not pay anybody who charges for materials or equipment that is not used or left at the premises.

7. Avoid any company that will not provide a full detailed breakdown oftime of arrival at job, time of job completion and anindication ofthe Labour and Material cost.

8. Never give the go-ahead for work to start without an estimate or the hourly rate you will be charged - You might get a nasty shock when you get the bill!

9. Do not use companies that do not have a verifiable address - If they won't tell you where they are, perhaps they don't want to be found!

10. Avoid tradesmen who don't have a land based telephone line - What sort of response will you get from a switched off mobile phone if there's a problem?

11. Avoid companies that charge for any the following: callout charges; travelling time; excessive time for picking up materials; more than 20% mark-up on materials; congestion fees; or for parking.

12. Avoid smooth talking tradesmen who recommend extra work and once they arrive at you house behave more like salesmen than tradesmen.

13. Never use companies without a history or bone fide references - There could be a very good reason why they don't have a good reputation and satisfied customers happy to sing their praises.

14. Never use companies who don't guarantee their work - If they don't believe in the quality of their work, why should you?

15. Do not pay in cash or in full up front - What kind of tradesmen demands to be paid in cash, or wants his money before you've seen his work?

16. Never use an unknown company that has not been recommended to you.

17. Do not employ an unqualified or inexperienced tradesman - Putting things right afterwards can be a very expensive operation.

18. Do not employ tradesmen who are not members of the appropriate, reputable, trade association - In the case of plumbing, the Institute of Plumbers.

19. Never allow any tradesman who doesn't carry photo identification into your house.

20. Make sure you can communicate with your tradesman - He might be cheap, but can he understand what you want him to do?

21. Don't employ scruffy tradesmen with no company uniforms who drive rusty old vans - Their work will probably be of a similar standard as their appearance.

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