If a builder stops turning up, does poor work or takes far too long, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 lets you require them to come back and put it right at their own cost. If they don't do that within a reasonable time, you can ask for a reduction in the price, up to the full price. Start by putting it in writing, with a clear date.
Does this apply to you? The Act covers a trader supplying a service to a consumer: an individual acting mainly outside their own business. So it covers a homeowner hiring a builder. It does not cover a friend doing you a favour, or a job you hired for your business. The Act doesn't require the contract to be in writing.
1. Your rights, in plain English
- The work must be done with reasonable care and skill (section 49).
- What the builder told you counts. Things they said or wrote about the job, such as a start date or the materials, are part of the contract if you took them into account when you agreed (section 50).
- No price agreed? If you haven't paid and no price was fixed, you only have to pay a reasonable price (section 51).
- No finish date agreed? The builder must finish within a reasonable time. What's reasonable depends on the facts (section 52).
- Right to repeat performance. You can require the builder to do the work again, as far as needed to make it right, within a reasonable time, without significant inconvenience to you, and at their own cost for labour and materials (section 55).
- Right to a price reduction. If repeat performance is impossible, or the builder doesn't do it within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience, you can require a price reduction. That can be the full price. Any refund is due within 14 days of the builder agreeing you're entitled to it, using the same payment method (section 56).
- Your other rights stay open. Where they apply to your situation, you can also seek other remedies, such as damages or treating the contract as at an end, but not recover twice for the same loss (section 54(6)–(7)).
- The small print can't take this away. A term that tries to exclude the duty of reasonable care and skill isn't binding on you (section 57).
2. Which right applies to your situation
| What's happened | The right that applies | What to ask for in writing | By when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Builder stopped turning up and the job is unfinished | Reasonable care and skill (s49) and what was agreed (s50); repeat performance (s55) | Come back and finish the work, at their cost. Ask them to confirm a start date. | A specific date. What's reasonable depends on the kind of work and what it's for (s55(4)). |
| Work done badly | Reasonable care and skill (s49); repeat performance (s55) | Put each defect right, at their cost. List every defect with the date you noticed it. | A specific date, as above. |
| Took far too long | Reasonable time where no date was agreed (s52); an agreed date is a term of the contract (s50) | Confirm a finish date. Say you will ask for a price reduction if it isn't met. | A specific date. Where no date was agreed, the Act's remedy for delay is a price reduction (s54(5)), not repeat performance. |
| The deadline passes with no repair or no reply | Price reduction (s56), plus other remedies such as damages (s54(7)) | A reduction in the price, set out as a figure, with how you worked it out. | Refund due within 14 days of the builder agreeing (s56(4)). |
3. What to gather now
- The contract or quote. Any written quote, estimate, invoice or terms. If it was agreed by phone or in person, write down what was said and when.
- Messages. Texts, emails and WhatsApps about dates, price or materials. Screenshot them with dates showing.
- Payments. Bank and card statements and receipts. Note how you paid each instalment.
- Dated photos. The unfinished or faulty work, wide and close-up.
- An independent quote. Ask another trader to price finishing or fixing the job. This puts a real figure on the work left to do.
Want the letters written around your job? The Builder & Trades Dispute Pack (£125) is three documents written from one set of facts: a Notice of Breach and Demand for Remedial Work, a Letter Before Action, and a draft Particulars of Claim for the county court. It comes with a Case Assessment and Action Plan. Word and PDF, within 10 minutes. See the Builder & Trades Dispute Pack · See samples
4. Illustrative example — fictional names and amounts
Everything below is made up to show how the steps fit together.
Priya agreed a kitchen fit with a local builder for £10,000, on a written quote. She paid £8,000 in stages. The units went in, then the builder stopped turning up. The worktops and tiling weren't done, and two cabinet doors were hung out of line.
- Step 1: ask for repeat performance. On 2 March, Priya writes to the builder. She lists the unfinished items and faulty doors, with photos, and asks him to confirm by 16 March that he will return and finish by 6 April, at his own cost (s55).
- Step 2: the deadline passes. No reply. Priya gets an independent quote: £4,500 to finish the kitchen and rehang the doors.
- Step 3: work out the figure. She asks for a price reduction (s56). Reducing the £10,000 price by £4,500 gives £5,500. She has paid £8,000, so she asks for the £2,500 she paid above the reduced price (s56(1)). The £2,000 she hasn't paid is already part of that sum, so she doesn't count it twice.
- Step 4: letter before claim. She sends a formal letter with the facts, the sum and how it's worked out, and the date she needs a response by.
Whether £4,500 is the right reduction depends on the facts. The independent quote is her evidence for it.
5. Next steps, in order
- Formal letter. What was agreed, what's wrong, and what you require by a date (see the table).
- Trade association or dispute scheme. If the builder says they belong to a trade association or scheme, check whether it has a complaints or dispute-resolution service. The court expects you to consider settling or another way of resolving things before going to court.
- Letter before claim. If the builder still won't put it right, send a letter before claim. There is also a pre-action protocol for construction disputes. It says it applies to all construction and engineering disputes, and that in cases of modest value the letter can be simple. Under it, the builder should acknowledge within 14 days and respond in full within 28 days. How strictly a court applies it to a small householder claim depends on the case, so allowing 28 days is the safer course.
- Small claims. Claims of £10,000 or less normally go to the small claims track. Court steps described here are for England & Wales. See the Small Claims Pack
If you only need the first letter, a Legal Letter (£59) is one formal letter written around your facts.
6. When to get professional help
- Safety or structure. If anything looks unsafe, such as exposed wiring or cracked walls, stop using that area and get a qualified person to check it first.
- Building regulations. If the work needed building regulations approval, contact your council's building control. The person doing the work can be prosecuted and fined for not complying, and the building control body can make you pay to fix faulty work. Without approval, you may not have the certificates you need when you sell.
- Large sums. If your claim is over £10,000, it won't normally be on the small claims track. Consider legal advice before you start a claim.
FAQ
Can I withhold the final payment? It depends on what your contract says about payments and how much is left to do. The Act lets you rely on the builder's breach against their claim for payment (s54(7)(e)). If you hold back, keep it in proportion to the unfinished or faulty work and say in writing why. Holding back far more than the problem is worth can give the builder a dispute of their own.
Can I hire someone else to finish and charge the builder? Usually, give the builder a chance to put it right first. Where repeat performance is possible, the Act lets you ask for a price reduction only once it's impossible or the builder hasn't done it within a reasonable time (s56(3)). Photograph the original work before anyone else touches it; the independent quote then helps show what a fair reduction or claim is.
What if I paid by credit card? If you paid at least part of the price by credit card, and the job's cash price was over £100 and not more than £30,000, you may have a claim against the card company as well as the builder (Consumer Credit Act 1974, s75). Try to resolve it with the builder first, then contact your card provider.
How long do I have to make a claim? For a claim about a contract, you have six years from when the cause of action arose (Limitation Act 1980, s5, England & Wales). Working out that date can depend on the facts, so don't leave it late.
Want the letters written around your job?
- Builder & Trades Dispute Pack — £125. Notice of Breach and Demand for Remedial Work, Letter Before Action, and draft Particulars of Claim, written from one set of facts so the names, dates and figures match. Plus a Case Assessment and Action Plan. Start my Builder & Trades Dispute Pack
Word and PDF within 10 minutes. Free revision if you reply within 24 hours of delivery. If the revision doesn't fix it, a full refund within 7 days of your order. WriteForMe is not a law firm; you decide whether and when to send each document.