Consumer Rights for Building Work: A Plain Guide
What the law expects of a builder, what you can ask for if the work falls short, and where the law is less helpful than people expect.
The short version
When a business does building work for you, the law sets a baseline standard. Knowing it helps you ask for the right thing, in the right way.
Most building work that a business carries out for a homeowner is covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2015. In outline, the work must be done with reasonable care and skill, materials supplied must be of satisfactory quality, and what the business told you about the work can be binding. If the work falls short, the law generally looks first to the business putting it right, and in some cases to a price reduction.
These rights apply whether or not you have a formal written contract or a warranty, and they cannot be taken away by the small print. They are practical rather than dramatic: they give you a clear basis for asking a builder to come back, not a quick route to a refund.
This guide sets out the main rights, the remedies, time limits, cancellation rights for work agreed at home, and where the law is less helpful than people expect. It is part of our guide to when building work goes wrong. This is general information, not legal advice. Citizens Advice publishes free, current guidance, and the legislation itself is on legislation.gov.uk.
The main rights
What the law expects of a builder
These apply when you are a consumer dealing with a business. Our answer on your rights under the Consumer Rights Act gives a shorter summary.
Reasonable care and skill
The work must be carried out to the standard of a reasonably competent tradesperson in that trade. It is not a promise of perfection, but it rules out careless or incompetent work.
What you were told counts
What the builder said or wrote about the work, such as the materials or the finish, can become part of the contract if you took it into account when deciding to go ahead.
Materials of satisfactory quality
Goods supplied as part of the job must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. If the business installs them and installs them wrongly, the goods are treated as not meeting the contract.
A reasonable price
Where no price was agreed in advance, you only have to pay a reasonable price. Where a price was agreed, that is the price, subject to any changes you agree.
A reasonable time
Where no timescale was agreed, the work must be done within a reasonable time. What counts as reasonable depends on the job.
Rights you cannot sign away
A business cannot use its terms to remove or restrict these rights. Terms that try to do so are not binding on you.
When work falls short
What you can ask for
If a service is not carried out with reasonable care and skill, the first remedy is for the business to perform the service again, which in practice means putting the defective work right. They must do this within a reasonable time, without significant inconvenience to you, and at their own cost, including any materials.
If putting it right is impossible, or the business does not do it within a reasonable time or without significant inconvenience, you can ask for a price reduction. Depending on how serious the problem is, that can be anything from a small amount up to the full price. For faulty goods supplied as part of the job, the remedies include repair or replacement and, in some cases, a price reduction or refund.
Other claims can arise too. If poor work damages other parts of your home, such as water getting into a ceiling below a faulty roof repair, you may be able to claim for the resulting damage. That is more complex, and it is where advice is worth having.
Our guides to dealing with defective workmanship and getting remedial work done turn these rights into practical steps.
Work agreed at home
Your right to cancel
When you agree a contract at your home rather than at the business's premises, or at a distance by phone or online, consumer contract rules usually give you a cancellation period of 14 days. The business should give you information about this right, including a cancellation form, before you are bound by the contract.
If you ask for work to start within the cancellation period and then cancel, you may have to pay for the work done up to that point. If you were not told about the right to cancel, the position can be different. There are also exceptions, for example for some urgent repairs. Citizens Advice explains how the rules apply, and our guide on what to do before accepting a quote covers this from the other side.
Delays and price
When work runs late or the price changes
Where a completion date was agreed, the builder is expected to meet it, subject to anything the contract says about delays such as bad weather. Where no date was agreed, the work must be done within a reasonable time. If a job is badly delayed without a good reason, it is reasonable to write asking for a firm completion date. If it has been left unfinished altogether, the position depends on the circumstances, and our guide to abandoned building jobs covers what to do.
The same approach applies to price. If you agreed a fixed price, extra charges need a basis in the contract or a change you agreed to. If you were given an estimate, or no price was agreed at all, you pay a reasonable amount for the work done. Our answer on whether a builder can change the price after quoting covers this in more detail.
Time limits
How long you have to make a claim
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the general time limit for bringing a claim for breach of contract is six years, usually counted from when the breach happened, which for building work is often when the work was done. Scotland has a different system, and the usual period there is five years. Some claims, such as those for damage that only comes to light later, can follow different rules.
In practice, do not wait. The sooner you raise a problem, the easier it is to show what caused it, and the more likely it is to be put right without a dispute. A warranty may also ask you to report a defect promptly. Check the position that applies to you with Citizens Advice or a solicitor.
Rights and warranties
How your rights and a warranty fit together
They work alongside each other. Our guide to workmanship warranties covers the second in more detail.
Your statutory rights
- Apply automatically, with or without a warranty
- Cover the standard of the work and the materials
- Cannot be removed by the builder's terms
- Are enforced, if it comes to it, through a claim
- Last as long as the legal time limit
A workmanship warranty
- Is given voluntarily by the contractor
- Sets out a process for putting defects right
- Adds to your rights and does not replace them
- Usually runs for a stated period from completion
- Depends on the business still trading
Where the law is less helpful
What consumer rights do and don't reach
Consumer rights set a standard for the work. They do not promise a result you will like. If the work was done competently and to what was agreed, a disagreement about taste, colour or layout is not usually a breach. That is why a clear quote and a written record of any changes matter so much. Our guide to variations and extra costs covers keeping changes on the record, and our answer on whether you need a written contract explains what to put in writing.
Rights are also only as useful as your ability to use them. They are enforced against the business you contracted with. If that business has closed, or you are not sure exactly who it is, enforcing them becomes hard. Knowing who your contract is with, by full legal name, is one of the simplest safeguards there is.
The rights also assume you have given the business a fair chance. Having another builder redo the work before the first has seen it can make it harder to recover the cost. Normal wear and tear, storm damage, and problems caused by other people's later work usually fall outside what the original builder is responsible for.
Finally, these rights apply to consumers dealing with businesses. If you hire someone privately who is not trading, the Act does not apply in the same way, although ordinary contract law still does.
Using your rights
Putting your rights into practice
You rarely need to quote the law. A clear request based on it is usually enough.
Identify who you contracted with
Check your quote or contract for the business's full legal name. That is who your rights are against.
Describe the shortfall
What was agreed, what was delivered and how it falls short. Link it to the quote, the description or what you were told.
Ask for it to be put right
In writing, with evidence and a reasonable deadline. Our guide to raising a complaint with a builder covers how.
Consider a price reduction
If the business will not or cannot fix it within a reasonable time, set out what reduction you think is fair, and why.
Get help if you are stuck
Citizens Advice, a trade body's dispute service, mediation or, as a last step, a court claim.
If you use Mortaro
Always clear who your contract is with
Mortaro coordinates domestic building projects. We appoint a contractor from our network, prepare your written quotation, and handle communication and payment administration throughout. The work is carried out by an independent main contractor, and your quotation names them before you commit. Your construction contract is with that contractor, so your consumer rights for the work, and the workmanship warranty, sit with them.
That clarity is deliberate: you always know which business did the work. The warranty is a minimum of 12 months across our network, usually from completion, with the exact terms in your quotation. If something needs putting right, tell us and we escalate it with your contractor, push for a resolution and keep you updated. We do not guarantee the work ourselves, and contractors who fail to put their work right are removed from our network. Who you're dealing with explains the arrangement in full.
Straight answers
Questions about consumer rights for building work
Does the Consumer Rights Act apply to building work?
Yes, where a business carries out the work for you as a consumer. It covers the service itself and any goods supplied with it.
Can a builder's terms and conditions cancel out my rights?
No. A business cannot use its terms to exclude or restrict the core rights described here. Other terms can still apply, such as payment dates or how to report defects.
Am I entitled to my money back for bad work?
Usually the first step is for the builder to put it right. A price reduction, which in serious cases can be the full price, comes in if that is not possible or is not done within a reasonable time.
Do my rights still apply if I had no written contract?
Yes. The rights apply whether the contract was written or agreed in conversation, but proving what was agreed is harder without paperwork. A written quote, messages and emails can all show the terms.
Do these rights apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies across the UK, but court processes and time limits differ between the nations. Citizens Advice, Citizens Advice Scotland and Consumerline in Northern Ireland publish guidance for each.
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