The commitments we make on every project, written down. Not aspirations — the things we actually do, specific enough that you can check whether we have done them.
Most people choosing a builder are trying to answer one question that nobody can answer for them: can these people be trusted with my home and a substantial amount of money?
Trade accreditation schemes exist to help with that, and we are working towards the relevant ones. But a badge is a proxy for how a company behaves. Rather than ask you to wait, we have written down the behaviour itself.
Everything below is a commitment we make on every project regardless of size. If we fall short of any of it, tell us — a standard nobody is held to is not a standard.
£10M employers liability, £3M public liability and £1M professional indemnity.
Certificates are available on request and we would encourage you to ask any contractor for theirs — including us. Professional indemnity is the one most residential builders do not carry; it covers the design advice we give, not just the building work.
Every quotation is itemised and issued against an agreed design with the specification attached.
You can clearly see what is included, what is excluded, what is provisional and how the overall price has been constructed. If something is provisional we say so and explain what would change it. We do not issue single-figure prices, because a figure you cannot interrogate is not something you can compare or hold anyone to.
Payments are tied to defined stages of work agreed before we start, not to arbitrary dates.
You know at the outset what triggers each payment and roughly when it falls. Payments are agreed in advance and tied to clearly defined stages of the project, and we do not ask for money for work that has not been done.
You get an update as the work progresses, without having to chase for it.
Silence on a building site is what makes people anxious. If something has been delayed — a delivery, an inspection, the weather — you hear it from us at the time rather than discovering it at the end of the month.
One point of contact, one programme, one contract.
You are not coordinating between an architect, an engineer and a builder, and you are not the person chasing a subcontractor you have never met. Sequencing trades, ordering materials to arrive when they are needed and managing the programme is our job, not yours.
Sites are run safely, tidily and in compliance with CDM Regulations.
Risks are assessed before work starts, the site is left secure at the end of each day, and access is controlled — which matters particularly where children or pets are in the property. A chaotic site is usually a sign of chaotic work.
Work is checked at the stages where a problem is still fixable.
Levels, damp-proofing, drainage falls, structural connections and substrate preparation are inspected before they are covered up. Almost every serious defect in residential construction is something that was buried before anyone looked at it properly.
If something goes wrong or costs more, you hear it immediately and in writing.
Variations are priced and agreed before the work is done, not presented as a surprise on the final invoice. If we get something wrong we will tell you we got it wrong.
Dust protection, floor protection, and the site left clean at the end of each day.
In most cases you are living in the house while we work in it. Access routes are protected, work areas are sealed where practical, and we do not play music you have not agreed to. It is your home before it is our site.
We are not currently members of a trade accreditation scheme, and we do not offer an insurance-backed warranty. We would rather say that plainly than let you assume otherwise.
Both are things we are working towards, and this page will be updated as each is awarded. In the meantime, our insurance certificates, written quotations, payment schedule and references from previous clients are all available on request — and those are the things a badge is standing in for anyway.
Eight stages from first conversation to aftercare, including what we need from you at each one.
Ask us anything — including for our insurance certificates and client references.
We carry £10M Employers Liability · £3M Public Liability · £1M Professional Indemnity
