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 3 of 8.
- very strong RN-AJNJD0 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 57 is the anti-exclusion clause for service contracts. Subsection (1): a term is not binding on the consumer to the extent it would exclude the trader's liability under section 49 (reasonable care and skill). Subsection (2): the same for section 50 (information given about the trader or service being binding), subject to section 50(2). Subsection (3): a term restricting liability under sections 49 to 52 is not binding if it would stop the consumer recovering the price paid. Subsection (4) extends this to terms that exclude or restrict a right or remedy, make it subject to a restrictive or onerous condition, disadvantage a consumer for pursuing it, or exclude rules of evidence or procedure. Subsection (5) covers preventing a duty arising at all; subsection (6) preserves arbitration agreements; subsection (7) points to Schedule 3 for enforcement.
Cited in Unfair Terms in Building Contracts: What Doesn't Bind.
- very strong RN-8QHXF5 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 62(1) and 62(2) make an unfair term of a consumer contract and an unfair consumer notice not binding on the consumer, while 62(3) still lets the consumer rely on the term if they choose. Section 62(4) sets the test: a term is unfair if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations under the contract to the detriment of the consumer. Section 62(5) requires fairness to be judged by the nature of the subject matter and by all the circumstances existing when the term was agreed, together with all the other terms of that contract or any contract it depends on; 62(6) and 62(7) apply the same test to notices. Section 62(8) preserves the separate exclusion-of-liability rules in sections 31, 47, 57 and 65. This is the provision for challenging a non-refundable deposit clause or a one-sided variation clause in a builder's terms.
Cited in Construction Law for Homeowners: The Complete Guide, Unfair Terms in Building Contracts: What Doesn't Bind.
- very strong RN-VHZKSA cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 64 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. It exempts the main subject matter and the price from the fairness test, but only where those terms are transparent and prominent.
Cited in Unfair Terms in Building Contracts: What Doesn't Bind.
- very strong RN-UTN1TY cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 65 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. It bars a trader from excluding or restricting liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence.
Cited in Unfair Terms in Building Contracts: What Doesn't Bind.
- very strong RN-0DFEWU cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 67 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. It provides that when an unfair term does not bind the consumer, the rest of the contract continues to have effect.
Cited in Unfair Terms in Building Contracts: What Doesn't Bind.
- very strong RN-HKXILM cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 68 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. It requires written consumer contract terms to be transparent, meaning plain, intelligible and legible.
Cited in Unfair Terms in Building Contracts: What Doesn't Bind.
- very strong RN-VFZILX cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 69 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. It settles that an ambiguous consumer contract term takes the meaning most favourable to the consumer.
Cited in Unfair Terms in Building Contracts: What Doesn't Bind.
- very strong RN-DACV3X cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 71 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015. It places a duty on the court to consider fairness itself, provided it has sufficient legal and factual material.
Cited in Unfair Terms in Building Contracts: What Doesn't Bind.
- very strong RN-TD41J9 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 1(1) imposes a duty on anyone taking on work for or in connection with the provision of a dwelling, whether by erection, conversion or enlargement, owed both to the person to whose order the dwelling is provided and to every person who later acquires a legal or equitable interest in it, to see that the work is done in a workmanlike or professional manner, with proper materials, and so that the dwelling will be fit for habitation when completed. Section 1(2) treats a person working to another's instructions as discharging the duty to the extent the work follows them properly, except where they owed and failed in a duty to warn of defects in the instructions; section 1(3) says merely agreeing to a specified manner, materials or design is not giving instructions. Section 1(4) brings a business that arranges for another to do the work within the duty. Section 1(5) fixes the accrual of the cause of action at the date the dwelling was completed for Limitation Act 1980 purposes, with a fresh accrual for any later rectification work when that further work is finished. The duty runs to subsequent owners, which contract claims do not.
Cited in Construction Law for Homeowners: The Complete Guide, Contract vs Negligence: Building Claims Compared, Defective Premises Act 1972: A Homeowner's Guide.
- very strong RN-D47WL4 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 34(1) imposes a duty on any person who imports, produces, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of controlled waste, or who controls it as a dealer or broker, to take all reasonable measures to prevent a section 33 offence or a breach of regulation 12 of the Environmental Permitting Regulations, to prevent waste escaping, and on transfer to pass it only to an authorised person or for authorised transport purposes together with a written description of the waste. Section 34(2) exempts an occupier of domestic property in respect of household waste produced on the property, but section 34(2A) still requires that occupier in England or Wales to take reasonable measures to ensure any transfer of that household waste is only to an authorised person. Section 34(3) lists authorised persons, including waste collection authorities, waste management licence holders and carriers registered under the Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989. This is why a homeowner must check a waste carrier licence before paying for a clearance or grab lorry.
Cited in Asbestos in the Home: Survey, Removal & Cost, Skip Hire Costs & Sizes.
- very strong RN-43Q4DG cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The definitive list of what counts as a statutory nuisance in England and Wales, which is the legal hook for most neighbour and building-work complaints. Section 79(1) names, among others: (a) any premises in such a state as to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance, which is the route used against damp and disrepair; (b) smoke emitted from premises; (c) fumes or gases emitted from premises; (d) dust, steam, smell or other effluvia arising on industrial, trade or business premises; (e) any accumulation or deposit; (fb) artificial light emitted from premises, which covers security lighting; (g) noise emitted from premises; and (ga) noise from a vehicle, machinery or equipment in a street. Each limb requires the matter to be prejudicial to health or a nuisance. Section 79(1) also places a duty on every local authority to inspect its area for statutory nuisances and, where a person living in its area complains, to take such steps as are reasonably practicable to investigate. Section 79(1A) excludes matters caused by land being in a contaminated state, and section 79(2) excludes Crown defence premises from the smoke, artificial light and noise limbs.
Cited in Security Lighting & PIR Sensors.
- very strong RN-UFY1XP cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Regulation 3(1) makes it unlawful for any person to carry out work in relation to a gas fitting or gas storage vessel unless he is competent to do so, and 3(2) places the duty to ensure that on the employer, on every other employer or self-employed person with any control over the work, and on anyone who required the work to be done at a place of work under their control. Regulation 3(3) goes further: no employer may let an employee, and no self-employed person may themselves, carry out work on a gas fitting or service pipework unless that employer or self-employed person is a member of a class of persons approved by the Health and Safety Executive, which in practice is registration with the Gas Safe Register. Regulation 3(4) exempts only replacing a hose or regulator on a portable or mobile space heater and replacing the hose connecting a re-fillable cylinder to installation pipework. Regulation 3(7) makes it an offence to falsely pretend to be a member of an approved class. This is the legal basis for saying a boiler must be fitted by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
Cited in Alcove Cupboards & Built-in Storage: Cost & Ideas, Boiler Problems & Common Faults, Combi vs System vs Regular Boilers, Fire Pit Cost & Garden Ideas and 12 more.
- very strong RN-5Q1UW1 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 106(1)(a) disapplies Part II of the Act, which contains the statutory adjudication and payment provisions, to a construction contract with a residential occupier. Section 106(2) defines that as a construction contract principally relating to operations on a dwelling which one of the parties occupies or intends to occupy as his residence, with 'dwelling' meaning a dwelling-house or a flat; a dwelling-house does not include a building containing a flat, and a flat means separate self-contained residential premises divided horizontally from another part of the building. Section 106(3) and 106(4) let the Secretary of State amend the definition only by order approved by a resolution of each House. This is the provision that explains why a homeowner has no automatic statutory right to adjudicate against a builder, and why adjudication is only available if the contract itself provides for it.
Cited in Adjudication for Home Building Disputes Explained, Builder Contracts & JCT: Protecting Yourself, Builder Dispute Resolution: A Step-by-Step Guide, Builder Disputes: The Complete Guide and 4 more.
- very strong RN-LOJL3V cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The statutory adjudication timetable, which is fast by design and is why builders and subcontractors use it against each other, though section 106 excludes contracts with a residential occupier so a homeowner cannot rely on it unless their contract adopts it voluntarily. A party may give notice at any time of an intention to refer a dispute, dispute including any difference. The contract must provide a timetable aimed at appointing the adjudicator and referring the dispute within 7 days of that notice, require the adjudicator to reach a decision within 28 days of referral or a longer agreed period, and allow the adjudicator to extend the 28 days by up to 14 days with the consent of the referring party. The adjudicator must act impartially and may take the initiative in ascertaining the facts and the law, and may correct a clerical or typographical error in the decision. The decision is binding until the dispute is finally determined by legal proceedings, arbitration or agreement, and the parties may agree to treat it as final. The adjudicator and their employees and agents are not liable except for acts or omissions in bad faith. Where a contract fails to comply with subsections (1) to (4), the adjudication provisions of the Scheme for Construction Contracts apply instead.
Cited in Adjudication for Home Building Disputes Explained, Builder Contracts & JCT: Protecting Yourself, Builder Disputes: The Complete Guide.
- very strong RN-NT0BCV cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 14B of the Limitation Act 1980 is the absolute cut-off for negligence claims against a builder, designer or engineer where no personal injury is involved. Subsection (1): an action for damages for negligence, other than one to which section 11 or 11ZA applies, shall not be brought after the expiration of fifteen years from the date, or if more than one from the last of the dates, on which there occurred any act or omission alleged to constitute negligence and to which the damage is alleged to be attributable. The fifteen years runs from the negligent act itself, not from the date the homeowner discovered the problem, and it overrides the more generous three-year date-of-knowledge extension in section 14A. In practice a latent defect discovered sixteen years after the work was done is out of time in negligence however reasonable the delay in noticing it.
Cited in Construction Law for Homeowners: The Complete Guide, Contract vs Negligence: Building Claims Compared, Defective Building Work: Your Rights & Remedies UK, Limitation Periods for Building Defect Claims UK.
- very strong RN-NAVTMP cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 2 of the Limitation Act 1980 sets the six-year limit for claims in tort, including negligence, from when the cause of action accrued, which in negligence is when damage occurs.
- very strong RN-FKNOW7 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 32 postpones the start of the limitation period where the claim is based on fraud or a relevant fact was deliberately concealed, until the claimant discovered it or could with reasonable diligence have done so.
- very strong RN-AUJII4 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 8 of the Limitation Act 1980 explains why a building contract executed as a deed is worth insisting on. Subsection (1): an action upon a specialty shall not be brought after the expiration of twelve years from the date on which the cause of action accrued. Subsection (2) confirms this does not override any shorter period prescribed elsewhere in the Act. A specialty is a contract executed as a deed, so where a homeowner and contractor sign the building contract as a deed the claim window for breach is twelve years from breach rather than the six years that section 5 gives for a simple contract. That difference matters for defects that take years to surface, such as inadequate foundations, failed damp proofing or a roof that only leaks under sustained driving rain. Read alongside section 14B, which imposes a fifteen year longstop on negligence claims, and the Defective Premises Act 1972 periods extended by the Building Safety Act 2022.
Cited in Construction Law for Homeowners: The Complete Guide, Limitation Periods for Building Defect Claims UK.
- very strong RN-6CCBA1 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Regulation 16(1) bars starting building work until notice of intention to start has been given to the relevant authority and at least two days have elapsed since the end of the day the notice was given. Regulation 16(3) lets the authority serve written notice requiring notification when a specified stage is reached, and may set a period before or after the work within which to notify and a period during which the work must not be covered up; under 16(3A) and 16(3B) a stage may only be specified if the authority intends to inspect it, based on its assessment of the risk of a breach. Regulation 16(3C) requires notice that work has commenced within five days of commencement, with a rejection notice possible within four weeks (16(3E)), deemed commencement if no rejection is given (16(3F)), and an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal within 21 relevant days (16(3H)) on grounds of error of fact, error of law, unreasonableness or failure to follow procedure. Regulation 16(4) requires notice within five days of completion.
Cited in Bedroom Extension Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Building Control Inspections Explained, Building Control: What It Is & When You Need It, Building Notice vs Full Plans Application and 7 more.
- very strong RN-0BAHFU cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Regulation 17(1) requires the relevant authority to give a completion certificate in all cases where, after taking all reasonable steps, it is satisfied that the relevant provisions have been complied with following completion of the building work. Regulation 17(2) sets the specified period at eight weeks starting from the date the authority receives the regulation 16(4) completion notice, or the equivalent notice under regulation 22A(1) of the Building (Registered Building Control Approvers etc.) (England) Regulations 2024. The relevant provisions checked are listed at 17(2A) and include regulation 25A high-efficiency alternative systems, regulation 26 target CO2 emission rates, regulation 26A target fabric energy efficiency, regulation 26C target primary energy rates, regulation 36 water efficiency, regulation 38 fire safety information, Schedule 1, and regulation 7A of the Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012. Critically, regulation 17(4) states the certificate is evidence but not conclusive evidence of compliance, and 17(5) requires the certificate itself to say so. This version applies to England only.
Cited in Building Control Inspections Explained, Building Control: What It Is & When You Need It, Building Regulations Explained for Homeowners, Completion Certificates & Why They Matter and 1 more.
- very strong RN-TISY8O cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Regulation 20 of the Building Regulations 2010 is the legal basis for every competent person certificate and, importantly, the deadline attached to it. Paragraph (1) applies the regulation where the building work consists only of work of a type described in column 1 of the Table in Schedule 3 carried out by a person described in column 2. Paragraph (2): the building control authority is authorised to accept, as evidence that the requirements of regulations 4 and 7 have been satisfied, a certificate to that effect from the person carrying out the work. Paragraph (3): within 30 days of completing the work that person must give the occupier a copy of the certificate and either notify the building control authority or send it the certificate. Paragraph (3A) requires the authority to keep a retrievable copy. Paragraph (5) is the sting: such a certificate is evidence, but not conclusive evidence, that the requirements have been complied with. If an installer has not produced the certificate within 30 days, chase it before final payment.
Cited in Building Control Inspections Explained, Completion Certificates & Why They Matter, Moving Boiler Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Signs You Need a Rewire and 1 more.
- very strong RN-R1JW5D cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The 2023 amending regulations that inserted the dutyholder rules into the Building Regulations 2010, including notice to building control when a principal contractor is appointed after an application or building notice.
Cited in Replacing a Builder Mid-Project: How to Do It Safely.
- very strong RN-H5ML1E cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Civil Procedure Rule 7.2 says proceedings start when the court issues the claim form, which is the point at which a claim is brought for limitation purposes.
- very strong RN-X9NPAR cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Regulation 9 of CDM 2015 sets what an architect, architectural technologist or engineer must do before drawing anything, and the first duty is the one most homeowners never see performed. Paragraph (1): a designer must not commence work in relation to a project unless satisfied that the client is aware of the duties owed by the client under the Regulations, so a designer who never mentioned CDM to a domestic client is already in breach. Paragraph (2): in preparing or modifying a design the designer must take into account the general principles of prevention and any pre-construction information to eliminate, so far as is reasonably practicable, foreseeable risks to anyone carrying out or liable to be affected by construction work, maintaining or cleaning the structure, or using it as a workplace. Paragraph (3): where risks cannot be eliminated they must be reduced or controlled through the design, with information given to the principal designer and included in the health and safety file. Paragraph (4): the designer must take all reasonable steps to provide sufficient information with the design to help the client, other designers and contractors comply with their own duties.
Cited in CDM Regulations 2015 for Domestic Clients Explained.
- very strong RN-FD217U cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 173 of the 1990 Act, which sets what an enforcement notice must contain: the breach, the steps or activities required and the compliance period.
- very strong RN-2SY5QL cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 174 of the 1990 Act, which lists the grounds of appeal against an enforcement notice, including that permission ought to be granted, no breach, and time expired.
- very strong RN-LSZAVB cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 175 of the 1990 Act, under which an enforcement notice has no effect while an appeal against it is pending.
- very strong RN-L645KG cited
The National Archives / legislation.gov.uk
Section 16 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979: ownership of unascertained goods cannot pass to a buyer until the goods are identified, which is why unallocated stock stays with the builder.
- very strong RN-O4N1GL cited
The National Archives / legislation.gov.uk
Section 19 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 lets a seller keep ownership of delivered goods until conditions such as payment are met, the statutory basis of a retention of title clause.
- very strong RN-MEGM1Q cited
The National Archives / legislation.gov.uk
Section 21 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 states the general rule that a person who is not the owner of goods cannot pass a better title than they have.
- very strong RN-F098UD cited
The Planning Inspectorate (GOV.UK)
The Planning Inspectorate's official statistical release of 30 July 2026; it reports that 31% of section 78 planning appeals were allowed in April to June 2026.
- very strong RN-Q0PEAS cited
UK Supreme Court (The National Archives, Find Case Law)
The Supreme Court judgment that restated the penalty rule: a damages clause is unenforceable only if it is out of all proportion to the innocent party's legitimate interest.
Cited in Builder Running Late? Delays & Liquidated Damages UK.
- strong locally RN-Y63P3L cited
Camden Council
Camden Council's page on booking a parking bay suspension, for example for building work or a move: book at least 17 days ahead, with a short notice charge for later bookings and trade permits as an alternative.
Cited in Working With Trades: The Complete Guide.
- strong locally RN-KAR7T2 cited
London Borough of Camden
A London borough's published permitted hours for noisy building work, with none on Sundays and bank holidays, and the Control of Pollution Act route for work outside them.
- strong locally RN-KWRC49 cited
Ministry of Justice
The Civil Procedure Rules on expert evidence; the rule on restricting expert evidence says no party may call an expert or put in an expert's report without the court's permission.
- strong locally RN-J6RSES cited
Ministry of Justice
Practice Direction 27A on the small claims track; paragraph 7.3 caps the experts' fees one party can be ordered to pay the other at £750 for each expert.
- strong locally RN-4CFNI6 cited
Ministry of Justice
Practice Direction 35 on the form and content of expert reports; paragraph 3.3 requires the report to be verified by a statement of truth in a set wording.
- strong locally RN-EP2ZGT cited
Ministry of Justice
The Civil Procedure Rules pre-action protocol for construction disputes, which requires a letter of claim before proceedings and lets the court treat its standards as the normal approach when judging conduct.
Cited in Builder Dispute Resolution: A Step-by-Step Guide, Letter Before Action to a Builder: Guide & Template.
- strong locally RN-LDFNHA cited
Ministry of Justice (justice.gov.uk)
Part 1 of the Civil Procedure Rules for England and Wales, which makes promoting ADR part of the overriding objective and lists ordering or encouraging ADR among the court's case management duties.
Cited in Mediation for Building Disputes: Costs & How It Works.
- strong locally RN-7K5XOL cited
Ministry of Justice (justice.gov.uk)
CPR 15.3 and 15.4: a defence is due 14 days after service of the particulars, or 28 days if service is acknowledged, and default judgment follows if none is filed.