Where can I find a good builder?

There are four places to find a builder: word of mouth, online directories, trade bodies, and referrals from architects or surveyors. Each works, and each has a blind spot.

Word of mouth is the strongest signal because your friend has nothing to sell. The blind spot is scope. A mate delighted with his new fence tells you nothing about how that builder copes with a kitchen extension and six trades to coordinate. Directories like Checkatrade and MyBuilder give you volume and years of review history, but builders curate their own profiles and unhappy customers often give up rather than write it up, so the picture skews rosy.

Trade bodies such as the Federation of Master Builders check insurance and accounts before letting a firm join. That filters out the worst, but membership is a subscription, not proof of craftsmanship. Professional referrals are the sleeper option: architects and surveyors see work with the plaster off and know who they would trust with their own house. The catch is that you usually only meet them once you have already appointed a designer.

Use two channels at once and shortlist the names that appear in both. A builder your neighbour recommends who also holds ten years of directory reviews is a far safer bet than a star performer on a single platform. Wherever a name comes from, ours included, run the same checks before you commit; how to vet a shortlist once you have one is a separate question.