It’s never easy trying to find a builder, plumber, electrician, scaffolder or any trades-person that perhaps you have never met or used before. Many people get contacts via friends and family, which is a great way, as you often can see work before using them. However, if you new to the Island and are just using a search engine or the Yellow Pages, then it must feel like a minefield!

Things to think about when you make contact:

Have they got a website or Facebook page so that you can take a look at them and any feedback or testimonials?

Are they very busy or is their diary empty? In other words, can they turn up the very next day and start the work? Red flag ALERT! Any decent trades-person worth their salt, will be busy and have work already booked in to their schedules for some time ahead? The exception being in January, when no-one wants any work doing because they are still paying for Christmas! That doesn’t mean they cannot come along to your home at relative ease and make notes so they can send you an estimate for future work.

If they are too readily available, be suspicious. Ask them if they are fully insured? Every decent and honest trades-person has indemnity and public liability Insurance. Scaffolders insurance is so expensive and if they are decent they too will have evidence of insurance. If you are given an estimate of e.g. £500 for scaffold, please be wary of accepting the uncut of £200 from another firm.

Chances are they are not insured, or qualified or taking Health & Safety into consideration. Up to you of course, but I wouldn’t be doing my website justice if I didn’t mention this sort of thing. If the trades-person has insurance, ask to see it. They may not have it on them at that particular time, but I personally can send copies of my paperwork on e-mail.

I would have the same concerns for everyone else too. If in doubt, or you think that the estimate you have been given is extortionate get three quotes from different firms and go for the middle one. That is the rule of thumb in my house! Remember, these people are qualified and knowledgeable and some of the work may not be noticeable to you (under the floor stuff or behind walls etc.) but will require doing in order to do the job right. That all takes time and time costs money.