Trades & Labour
285 sources in the library on trades & labour, 40 on this page cited in a published note. Each one says what the document covers and what it is good for. Name a source to see which document it is and where to read it. One at a time. Page 2 of 8.
- very strong RN-XTSHQQ cited
The National Archives
Defines the buildings to which the remediation order, remediation contribution order and leaseholder protection provisions apply: at least two dwellings and at least 11 metres high or at least 5 storeys.
Cited in Building Safety Act 2022: What Homeowners Should Know.
- very strong RN-J2JP1E cited
The National Archives
Lets the High Court extend a company's Defective Premises Act or building-safety-risk liability to associated companies, including where the original company has been dissolved.
Cited in Building Safety Act 2022: What Homeowners Should Know.
- very strong RN-LEM6X3 cited
The National Archives
The section that inserted s.2A into the Defective Premises Act 1972. It came into force on 28 June 2022 and applies only to work completed after that date.
Cited in Building Safety Act 2022: What Homeowners Should Know, Defective Premises Act 1972: A Homeowner's Guide, Limitation Periods for Building Defect Claims UK.
- very strong RN-E88EH4 cited
The National Archives
The section that replaced the penalty in s.35 of the Building Act 1984, making contravention of building regulations triable on indictment, and extended the s.36 notice period from 12 months to 10 years.
Cited in Building Safety Act 2022: What Homeowners Should Know, Construction Law for Homeowners: The Complete Guide.
- very strong RN-T0WG41 cited
The National Archives
Section 75A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 makes a lender under a linked credit agreement liable for a supplier's breach where the cash price is over £30,000, once the consumer has first pursued the supplier.
- very strong RN-2WPPUU cited
The National Archives
The duty inserted by the Building Safety Act 2022. It requires work done in the course of a business on a building containing a dwelling to be workmanlike, with proper materials, leaving the dwelling fit for habitation.
Cited in Building Safety Act 2022: What Homeowners Should Know.
- very strong RN-RRXDAJ cited
The National Archives
Section 6(3) makes void any contract term that tries to exclude or restrict the Act's duties or the liability arising from them.
- very strong RN-MHLPHL cited
The National Archives
The latent damage rule inserted by the Latent Damage Act 1986: a negligence claim for damage other than personal injury may be brought within six years of accrual or three years from the date of knowledge, whichever is later.
Cited in Construction Law for Homeowners: The Complete Guide, Contract vs Negligence: Building Claims Compared, Limitation Periods for Building Defect Claims UK.
- very strong RN-2HF4IT cited
The National Archives
The limitation section inserted by the Building Safety Act 2022 on 28 June 2022. It sets a 15-year limit for Defective Premises Act s.1 and s.2A claims, and 30 years for s.1 claims that accrued before that date.
Cited in Building Safety Act 2022: What Homeowners Should Know, Construction Law for Homeowners: The Complete Guide, Defective Building Work: Your Rights & Remedies UK, Defective Premises Act 1972: A Homeowner's Guide and 1 more.
- very strong RN-90H0DE cited
The National Archives
The Act's interpretation section. It defines a party wall surveyor by appointment under section 10, not by any professional qualification, so engineers and building surveyors can both act.
Cited in Structural Surveyor vs Structural Engineer: The Difference.
- very strong RN-PJNWVL cited
The National Archives
The regulations that brought in registered building control approvers in England. They came into force on 6 April 2024, which dates the change from approved inspectors.
Cited in Structural Surveyor vs Structural Engineer: The Difference.
- very strong RN-VKHGPO cited
The National Archives
Regulation 2 of CDM 2015, the definitions, including contractor (someone acting in the course of a business) and domestic client (a client not acting in a business).
Cited in CDM Regulations 2015 for Domestic Clients Explained.
- very strong RN-8N9L39 cited
The National Archives
Schedule 2 of CDM 2015, the minimum welfare facilities required on construction sites, including toilets, washing facilities and drinking water.
Cited in CDM Regulations 2015 for Domestic Clients Explained, Working With Trades: The Complete Guide.
- very strong RN-2PE7T1 cited
The National Archives
Regulation 29 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, the consumer's right to cancel a distance or off-premises contract within the cancellation period without giving a reason.
Cited in Cancelling a Building Contract: Cooling-Off Rights UK.
- very strong RN-J1Y65Z cited
The National Archives
Regulation 31 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, which extends the cancellation period by up to 12 months where the trader fails to give the required cancellation information.
Cited in Builder Deposits: How Much Is Normal in the UK?, Building Contracts: The Complete Guide, Cancelling a Building Contract: Cooling-Off Rights UK.
- very strong RN-COZTNN cited
The National Archives
Regulation 32 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 sets how to cancel: the model form or any other clear statement, treated as in time if sent before the period ends.
Cited in Cancelling a Building Contract: Cooling-Off Rights UK.
- very strong RN-OIK8LW cited
The National Archives
Regulation 34 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 requires the trader to refund all payments on cancellation, for a service contract within 14 days of being told.
Cited in Cancelling a Building Contract: Cooling-Off Rights UK.
- very strong RN-4KYUTJ cited
The National Archives
Regulation 36 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 governs services started in the cancellation period: an express request, on a durable medium for off-premises contracts, and a proportionate payment on cancellation.
Cited in Builder Deposits: How Much Is Normal in the UK?, Cancelling a Building Contract: Cooling-Off Rights UK.
- very strong RN-K1DZZK cited
The National Archives
Regulation 5 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 defines off-premises, distance and sales contracts, including contracts concluded on business premises straight after an approach made elsewhere.
Cited in Cancelling a Building Contract: Cooling-Off Rights UK.
- very strong RN-820095 cited
The National Archives
Regulation 6 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 lists contracts outside the Regulations, including those for the construction of new buildings or substantially new buildings by conversion.
Cited in Builder Deposits: How Much Is Normal in the UK?, Cancelling a Building Contract: Cooling-Off Rights UK.
- very strong RN-QD0JG3 cited
The National Archives (Find Case Law)
Supreme Court judgment on a negligent structural design claim. Paragraph 27 explains that the loss from a defective building needing repair is pure economic loss, and that in general no duty of care in negligence protects against it.
- very strong RN-8Z5K1W cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 20(1) prohibits practising or carrying on business under any name, style or title containing the word 'architect' unless the person is registered with ARB. Section 20(2) preserves the designations 'naval architect', 'landscape architect' and 'golf-course architect'. Section 20(3) lets a company, firm or partnership trade under a name containing 'architect' only where the architecture side of the business is under the control and management of a registered person who does not act in that capacity for another business at the same time, and where the work is carried on by or under the supervision of a registered person at every premises. Section 20(6) makes clear that being employed by another person does not stop someone from practising, section 20(7) defines business to include any undertaking carried on for gain or where services are not provided free, and section 20(8) preserves the validity of building contracts in customary form. This is why an architectural technologist or designer may lawfully do the same drawings but not use the protected title.
Cited in Do I Need an Architect? Architect vs Designer vs Draughtsman.
- very strong RN-0GJHBJ cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 35 of the Building Act 1984, as amended by the Building Safety Act 2022, makes contravening building regulations a criminal offence and sharply increased the punishment. A person who contravenes a provision of building regulations, or a requirement imposed by virtue of such a provision, commits an offence. Under subsection (4) a person guilty of the offence is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding the maximum summary term for either-way offences, or to a fine, or both; and on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for up to two years, or a fine, or both. After conviction, continued default attracts a further fine on summary conviction not exceeding level 1 on the standard scale for each day the default continues. Building regulations may exempt prescribed provisions from creating an offence or provide defences. Note the separate two-year enforcement time limit in section 35A and the section 36 power to require removal or alteration of offending work.
Cited in Building Regs Enforcement: Section 36 Notices Explained, Building Control Inspections Explained, How to Tell If a Wall Is Load-Bearing.
- very strong RN-NKK4KZ cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 36(1) lets the building control authority, without prejudice to prosecuting for a fine, serve notice on the owner requiring work that contravenes building regulations to be pulled down or removed, or at the owner's election altered so as to comply. Section 36(2) applies the same power where work was executed without an application for building control approval, despite refusal of one, or otherwise than in accordance with the requirements of a granted application. Section 36(3) gives the owner 28 days, or longer if the appropriate court or tribunal allows, before the authority may carry out the work itself and recover the reasonable expenses. Section 36(4) is the key protection: a section 36 notice may not be given after 10 years from the date the work was completed. Sections 36(5) and 36(5A) bar a section 36 notice where a building control approval application for work that is not higher-risk building work was granted and the work was executed in accordance with the approved plans and any requirement imposed.
Cited in Building Regs Enforcement: Section 36 Notices Explained, Completion Certificates & Why They Matter, Construction Law for Homeowners: The Complete Guide, How to Tell If a Wall Is Load-Bearing and 3 more.
- very strong RN-BQQ9FL cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Regulation 10 requires a trader making an off-premises (doorstep) contract to give the consumer the prescribed information and a cancellation form on paper before the consumer is bound.
Cited in Cancelling a Building Contract: Cooling-Off Rights UK, Cowboy Builders: Warning Signs Before & During a Job.
- very strong RN-OWDEOS cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Regulation 19 makes it a criminal offence for a trader to enter an off-premises contract without giving the consumer the required information about the right to cancel.
Cited in Cancelling a Building Contract: Cooling-Off Rights UK, Cowboy Builders: Warning Signs Before & During a Job.
- very strong RN-DOFH7Q cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Regulation 28(1) removes the Part 3 cancellation rights for goods or services whose price depends on financial market fluctuations outside the trader's control, for goods made to the consumer's specifications or clearly personalised, for goods liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly, for certain alcohol contracts, for contracts where the consumer specifically requested a visit for urgent repairs or maintenance, for newspapers, periodicals and magazines other than subscriptions, for contracts concluded at a public auction, and for accommodation, transport of goods, vehicle rental, catering or leisure services tied to a specific date or period. Regulation 28(2) preserves cancellation rights for any additional services or for goods other than replacement parts necessarily used, supplied during an urgent repair visit. Regulation 28(3) ends the rights where sealed goods unsuitable for return on health or hygiene grounds are unsealed, where sealed recordings or software are unsealed, or where goods become inseparably mixed with other items after delivery. The made-to-measure and mixed-goods exclusions are why cut timber, mixed mortar, made-to-order windows and delivered aggregate cannot be cancelled.
- very strong RN-514PQF cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Regulation 30(2) sets the cancellation period for a service contract, or a contract for digital content not supplied on a tangible medium, at the end of 14 days after the day the contract is entered into. Regulation 30(3) sets it for a sales contract at the end of 14 days after the day the goods come into the physical possession of the consumer or a person other than the carrier identified by the consumer. Where multiple goods ordered in one order are delivered on different days (30(4)), or goods consisting of multiple lots or pieces are delivered on different days (30(5)), the 14 days run from the last delivery; for regular delivery over a defined period of more than one day (30(6)) they run from the first. Regulation 31 extends the period where the trader has not given the required cancellation information. This is the cooling-off clock for a builder's contract signed at the homeowner's house.
Cited in Builders' Merchants: The Complete UK Guide (2026), Solar Panels for Your Home: Cost & Payback (2026).
- very strong RN-JFS7HZ cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 75(1) gives the debtor under a debtor-creditor-supplier agreement within section 12(b) or (c) a like claim against the creditor for any misrepresentation or breach of contract by the supplier, making creditor and supplier jointly and severally liable. Section 75(2) entitles the creditor to be indemnified by the supplier. Section 75(3) sets the limits: the section does not apply to a non-commercial agreement, nor so far as the claim relates to any single item with a cash price not exceeding 100 pounds or more than 30,000 pounds, nor to certain short-period running-account credit agreements. Section 75(4) preserves the claim even where the debtor exceeded the credit limit or breached a term of the agreement, and section 75(5) lets the creditor join the supplier to the proceedings. This is the basis for claiming a builder's default from a credit card issuer where any part of the payment was made on the card.
Cited in Builder Deposits: How Much Is Normal in the UK?, Builder Disputes: The Complete Guide, Builders' Merchants: The Complete UK Guide (2026), Section 75: Paying Your Builder by Credit Card and 1 more.
- very strong RN-AWCFS4 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The services chapter of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Sections 49, 51 and 52 imply terms that a trader uses reasonable care and skill, charges a reasonable price where none is fixed, and performs within a reasonable time.
- very strong RN-U0OGJW cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Schedule 2 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the indicative list of terms that may be regarded as unfair, including deposit retention, disproportionate compensation and unilateral variation.
Cited in Unfair Terms in Building Contracts: What Doesn't Bind.
- very strong RN-C5N0TC cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 1 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which applies Part 1 to consumer contracts whether written, oral or implied from conduct.
Cited in Consumer Rights Act 2015 & Building Work Explained.
- very strong RN-0UBLTS cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 20(4) lets the consumer reject goods and treat the contract as at an end under the short-term right to reject (subject to section 22), the final right to reject (subject to section 24) or the section 19(6) right. Section 20(5) and 20(6) say the right is exercised by indicating rejection to the trader in words or actions clear enough to be understood. Section 20(7) then imposes a duty on the trader to give a refund and on the consumer to make the goods available for collection or return them as agreed, and section 20(8) makes the trader bear any reasonable costs of return except where the consumer chooses to return them in person to the place they took possession. Section 20(15) requires the refund without undue delay and in any event within 14 days beginning with the day the trader agrees the consumer is entitled to it, section 20(16) requires the same means of payment unless the consumer expressly agrees otherwise, and section 20(17) forbids any fee for the refund. Applies to materials bought from a merchant by a consumer, not to a trade account purchase made in the course of a business.
- very strong RN-F06Z1F cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 49(1), in Part 1 Chapter 4 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, states that every contract to supply a service is to be treated as including a term that the trader must perform the service with reasonable care and skill. Section 49(2) directs the reader to section 54 for the consumer's rights when that implied term is breached. This is the single provision that makes poor workmanship by a builder a breach of contract without the homeowner having to prove anything was written down, and it cannot be excluded to the extent it would stop the section 54 to 56 remedies applying.
Cited in Builder Contracts & JCT: Protecting Yourself, Builder Disputes: The Complete Guide, Building Regs Enforcement: Section 36 Notices Explained, Building Contracts: The Complete Guide and 12 more.
- very strong RN-EQVKC0 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 50(1) treats anything said or written to the consumer by or on behalf of the trader about the trader or the service as a term of the contract, if the consumer took it into account when deciding to enter into the contract or when making any later decision about the service. Section 50(2) subjects that to anything said on the same occasion that qualified it, and to any change expressly agreed. Section 50(3) treats information provided under regulations 9, 10 or 13 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/3134) as contract terms, and section 50(4) makes any change to that information ineffective unless expressly agreed. This is the basis for holding a builder to a verbal promise, a written quotation figure or a stated completion date.
Cited in Construction Law for Homeowners: The Complete Guide, Consumer Rights Act 2015 & Building Work Explained, Variations & Extras: Managing Changes to Building Work, Quote vs Estimate: What's the Difference.
- very strong RN-BXZ3F2 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 51 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 governs the case where no price was ever fixed. It applies where (a) the consumer has not paid a price or other consideration, (b) the contract does not expressly fix a price or say how it is to be fixed, and (c) nothing treated as included under section 50 fixes one either. Where all three apply, subsection (2) treats the contract as including a term that the consumer must pay a reasonable price and no more, and subsection (3) makes what is reasonable a question of fact. This is the provision a homeowner relies on when a trade started work on a handshake and later issued an inflated invoice: the invoice is not automatically the price.
Cited in Are Quotes and Estimates Legally Binding? UK Rules, Construction Law for Homeowners: The Complete Guide, Consumer Rights Act 2015 & Building Work Explained, Variations & Extras: Managing Changes to Building Work and 1 more.
- very strong RN-WUJM74 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 52(1) applies where the contract does not expressly fix the time for the service to be performed or say how it is to be fixed, and where no information treated as included under section 50 fixes the time either. In that case section 52(2) treats the contract as including a term that the trader must perform the service within a reasonable time, and section 52(3) makes what is reasonable a question of fact. Section 52(4) points to section 54; the remedy for breach of the reasonable time term is a price reduction under section 56, not repeat performance. This is the provision to cite when a builder has no contractual completion date and has overrun.
Cited in Builder Running Late? Delays & Liquidated Damages UK, Building Contracts: The Complete Guide, Construction Law for Homeowners: The Complete Guide, Consumer Rights Act 2015 & Building Work Explained.
- very strong RN-ZQCZ3Z cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 54(3) gives the consumer two statutory remedies where the service does not conform to the contract: the right to require repeat performance under section 55 and the right to a price reduction under section 56. Section 54(4) gives a price reduction where the trader breaches a section 50 term that does not relate to the service itself, and section 54(5) gives a price reduction for breach of the section 52 reasonable time requirement. Crucially section 54(6) preserves other remedies instead of or in addition to these, provided the consumer does not recover twice for the same loss, and section 54(7) lists them: claiming damages, recovering money paid where the consideration has failed, specific performance, specific implement, relying on the breach against the trader's own claim under the contract, and treating the contract as at an end. Section 54(1) confirms these rights do not displace consistent contractual rights.
Cited in Can I Withhold Payment From My Builder? UK Rules, Consumer Rights Act 2015 & Building Work Explained, Defective Building Work: Your Rights & Remedies UK.
- very strong RN-H89TBV cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 55(1) defines repeat performance as requiring the trader to perform the service again to the extent necessary to complete it in conformity with the contract. Section 55(2) requires the trader to provide it within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer, and to bear any necessary costs incurred in doing so, expressly including the cost of any labour or materials. Section 55(3) removes the right where completing performance in conformity with the contract is impossible. Section 55(4) says what counts as a reasonable time or significant inconvenience is judged by the nature of the service and the purpose for which it was to be performed. This is the legal answer to a builder who offers to come back but wants paying again for the return visit.
Cited in Builder Dispute Resolution: A Step-by-Step Guide, Builder Disputes: The Complete Guide, Construction Law for Homeowners: The Complete Guide, Consumer Rights Act 2015 & Building Work Explained and 4 more.
- very strong RN-CPGOMA cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 56(1) gives the consumer the right to require the trader to reduce the price by an appropriate amount, including a refund of anything already paid above the reduced amount, and section 56(2) allows the reduction to be the full price where appropriate. Section 56(3) restricts the choice: a consumer who also has the right to repeat performance may only take a price reduction where repeat performance is impossible under section 55(3), or where the consumer required repeat performance and the trader failed to do it within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience. Section 56(4) requires any refund without undue delay and in any event within 14 days beginning with the day the trader agrees the consumer is entitled to it, section 56(5) requires the same means of payment unless the consumer expressly agrees otherwise, and section 56(6) forbids any fee for making the refund.
Cited in Can I Withhold Payment From My Builder? UK Rules, Construction Law for Homeowners: The Complete Guide, Consumer Rights Act 2015 & Building Work Explained, Defective Building Work: Your Rights & Remedies UK and 1 more.