Builder Payment Disputes: Your Rights and How to Resolve Them
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a trader must carry out work with reasonable care and skill — and if they have not, your first remedy is to have it put right at their cost, not to stop paying. This guide sets out what you are actually entitled to, when withholding payment is defensible, how to escalate in the right order, and why the independent report has to come before the repair.
Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015
For consumer building work, the law is more helpful than most homeowners realise. Three obligations sit behind every job, whether or not anyone wrote them down.
| The trader must… | What that means in practice |
|---|---|
| Use reasonable care and skill | Work to the standard of a competent trade in that field. Poor workmanship is a breach, not bad luck. |
| Charge a reasonable price where none was agreed | If you never fixed a price, the trade cannot invent one at the end. "Reasonable" is judged against the market. |
| Complete within a reasonable time where no time was agreed | Open-ended delay is itself a breach, even with no completion date in the contract. |
Your primary remedy is repeat performance — they come back and fix it, at their cost. If they cannot or will not within a reasonable time, you move to a price reduction. Detailed guidance is on Citizens Advice.
Step 1 — put it in writing, specifically
Almost every dispute that resolves well resolves at this stage, and almost every one that goes badly skipped it. The goal is a record, not a confrontation.
- Write to the trade — email is ideal — setting out what is wrong, where, and when you noticed.
- Attach dated photographs. Photograph everything, including work you are happy with.
- Refer to the quote and any written variations, quoting the relevant wording.
- State plainly what you want: the work put right, by roughly when.
- Give a reasonable deadline to respond — days for something urgent, a couple of weeks otherwise.
- Keep it factual and unemotional. This letter may be read later by a third party.
Step 2 — give a genuine chance to put it right
This step is not a courtesy; it is part of the remedy structure. Refusing to let a trade return, then claiming the cost of someone else doing it, materially weakens your position.
- Offer reasonable access and confirm the dates in writing.
- Agree what "fixed" looks like before they return, so the second visit does not end in the same argument.
- If you no longer trust them to work in your home, say so in writing and explain why — that reasoning is what a third party will assess.
- Keep paying for undisputed work while the disputed part is resolved.
Steps 3 to 5 — escalation, in order
Escalate one step at a time, and document each. Skipping straight to court is slower and more expensive than it looks.
| Step | What it involves | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Independent report | A surveyor or specialist inspects and writes an opinion on standard and cost to remedy. | When the dispute is technical, or the trade denies there is a defect. |
| Trade body or scheme complaint | TrustMark, FMB or a competent-person scheme complaints process; sometimes ADR. | Where the trade is genuinely a member — verify with the body. |
| Card or finance claim | Section 75 with a credit card, or chargeback with a debit card. | Where you paid by card and the trader will not engage. |
| Letter before action | A final written demand setting out the claim and a deadline. | Immediately before court — often the letter that finally produces a response. |
| Small claims | Claims up to £10,000 in England and Wales, designed for use without a solicitor. | Last resort, when everything else is exhausted. |
Dispute checklist
- Everything in writing, from the first concern onwards. Follow up phone calls with a short email summarising what was said.
- Dated photographs at every stage, including before work started.
- The quote, variations and invoices kept together, so the paper trail tells the story on its own.
- Proof of payments and the method used — this determines which recovery routes are open.
- A note of who said what and when, written the same day.
- Independent evidence before you commission remedial work — once it is fixed, the evidence is gone.
One practical warning: get the independent report before someone else puts the work right. Homeowners frequently fix the problem first and only then discover they have destroyed the evidence their claim depended on.
Payment dispute FAQs
Need the Work Put Right? Get 3 Free Quotes
BestBuilders matches you with up to 3 vetted local trades who can assess and quote for remedial work. No cost, no obligation.