Build-Check
Lambert Home Builds — Client Due-Diligence Tool
Build-Check
Work through the checks below as you vet a builder. Each tick adds weight to your score — critical checks (marked ×2) count double.
Build-Check is an independent tool, not an official accreditation or licensing scheme. No such scheme currently exists for UK domestic builders. Completing this scorecard doesn’t certify, endorse, or guarantee a contractor’s work — it’s a structured way to organise your own due diligence, so you can ask better questions and make a more informed choice.
Red flags — tick anything that applies
The FMB estimates over half of UK homeowners who’ve hired a builder have encountered a rogue trader, at an estimated cost of RRP £3.5bn a year. These are the tactics that come up again and again. Even one ticked box is a serious warning sign — don’t let a good score elsewhere talk you out of it.
If something feels wrong, here’s who to call
- Citizens Advice Consumer Service — 0808 223 1133, free, weekdays 9am–5pm. Advice on any consumer issue, including builders and rogue traders — they’ll pass reports on to Trading Standards.
- Police — 999 if a rogue trader is on your property right now, or 101 if you believe one is operating in your area.
- Action Fraud — 0300 123 2040, for reporting fraud specifically.
- If the builder is FMB or TrustMark registered, both run their own dispute resolution processes — but only once you’ve already engaged them.
There is no single body that covers every one of these questions before you’ve hired someone — checking a builder’s legitimacy, finances, and conduct in advance is still down to you. That’s exactly the gap Build-Check exists to help with.
Alignment with the Licence to Build model
Build-Check is a working, in-market example of the four compliance pillars proposed in the FMB’s Licence to Build report — built independently by Lambert Home Builds to give homeowners today the protection a national licence would require in future.
Health & Safety
Covered by Professionalism & Site Conduct (RAMS, PPE, signage, waste handling) and Insurance & Bonding (public liability, employer’s liability, Contract Works cover).
Competence
Covered by Certifications & Training (NVQs, CSCS cards, specialist training) and Company Profile (years operating, employees vs subcontractors).
Quality Management
Covered by Warranty & Insurance-Backed Guarantees, Trade Body & Accreditation, and Track Record & Reputation.
Dispute Handling & Customer Service
Covered by Official Complaints & Dispute History and the written-contract, staged-payment, and named-contact checks within Professionalism.
Company registration, VAT, credit history and trade account checks sit alongside these four pillars, giving homeowners the financial due-diligence layer the Licence to Build model doesn’t cover directly.
The Building Safety Act 2022 already applies statutory competence duties and criminal enforcement to higher-risk buildings — tower blocks, hospitals, care homes. Ordinary domestic extensions, retrofits and refurbishments sit largely outside that scope. Build-Check exists specifically to cover the gap the Building Safety Act leaves for everyday domestic work, until a Licence to Build closes it properly.
A record that follows the project, not just a score
The Building Safety Act requires a “golden thread” of accurate, up-to-date safety and competence information to run through every regulated project. Build-Check borrows that principle: use “Print / save as PDF” below to keep a dated record of exactly what you checked and confirmed — useful to hold onto for warranty claims, resale, insurance, or if a dispute ever arises later.