What are the red flags when hiring a builder?

The biggest red flags when hiring a builder are on paper: a vague one-line quote, no contract, a large deposit demanded before materials are ordered, a shrug about building regulations, and silence on what happens if something fails later.

A quote that says 'supply and fit new kitchen extension' with a single total is not a quote, it is an opening position. Without a breakdown of labour, materials and provisional sums, every disagreement later resolves in the builder's favour because nothing was pinned down. The same goes for the contract. It does not need to be forty pages; even an exchange of emails confirming scope, price, dates and payment stages will do. A builder who resists putting that in writing is keeping room to renegotiate.

Money and compliance tell the rest. Payments should track work done, and no reputable firm needs thousands from you before a single delivery arrives. Anyone who tells you not to bother with building control is handing you a problem that surfaces when you sell, because your buyer's solicitor will ask for completion certificates you will not have. And ask directly: if a crack opens in eight months, what happens? A good firm answers with specifics about coming back. A vague answer now is a no later.

Behavioural warning signs, the doorstep pressure and the vanishing acts, are a separate question. On paperwork, our rule is simple: we survey, then give a fixed written quote, and the price we quote is the price you pay. Hold every builder to that standard.