Build-Check

Lambert Home Builds — Client Due-Diligence Tool

Work through the checks below as you vet a builder. Each tick adds weight to your score — critical checks (marked ×2) count double.

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Start ticking to see your score
How this works: tick every item you’ve confirmed with the builder. The bubble on the level above slides right as your score rises — like checking a wall for plumb, this tells you at a glance whether this builder is solid, worth a closer look, or risky. Nothing here is saved once you close the page, so finish in one sitting or note your answers down. Nikki shares Build-Check with homeowners when advising for the FMB at NSBRC shows, so they can check a builder properly before they sign anything.
Why this matters: there’s currently no licence required to call yourself a builder in the UK. The Federation of Master Builders is campaigning for a national Licence to Build, built on four pillars — health & safety, competence, quality management, and dispute handling. This scorecard covers those same areas now, so you get the protection a future licence would require, today.
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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 homeowners have lost RRP £14.3 billion to rogue builders over the past five years, and that fear of being ripped off puts one in three homeowners off having work done at all (FMB, November 2025). 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.

⚠Red flags detected0

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.

Your project’s golden thread

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.

Score breakdown — your golden thread record

Build-Check is an independent tool created by Lambert Home Builds. It is not an official accreditation, certification, or licensing scheme, and a high score is not a guarantee of a contractor’s quality or conduct. It gives a general risk indication only, is not financial or legal advice, and is intended to support — not replace — your own due diligence appropriate to your project’s size and value. Inspired by the standards proposed in the FMB’s Licence to Build campaign.

Copyright © 2020-2026 – Lambert Home Builds is a trading name of Lambert Design and Build Ltd – Registered address: 47 Robsart Place, Cumnor, Oxford OX2 9QT. Company reg. no.: 10906208 – VAT GB290351512.
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