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Most builders are hard-working tradesmen and women, doing their best to deliver a quality result for their customers.

A few, though, aren’t. And it’s not that easy to spot if you have a wrong ‘un. There is some excellent advice about on spotting a cowboy, such as this from Citizens Advice, but in practice it’s not always that easy. Keep reading the articles here for more tips on checking your builder’s background.

Cowboy builders can cost the innocent customer tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds. This site originated when a friend of mine had exactly that happened to her, and is a collection of pieces of very expensively obtained hindsight that might have prevented disaster. If you know other other warning signs or tips, please drop me a line.

This site is NOT related to any TV programme you might have seen. Sorry, but I can’t help rectify ongoing problems, or discuss specific traders.

Let’s be careful out there.

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VAT registered?

Another little tool that can be of use is to check the business VAT registration. If you have a VAT number, you can currently check the number is legitimate using the EU VIES system. Alternatively, VAT-Search.co.uk will let you find if a business is VAT registered, using the business name and locality. Here we find more …

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This site is a personal response to a terrible encounter with a cowboy builder which cost a close friend dearly, both financially and emotionally.

This site is NOT related to any TV programme you might have seen. Sorry, but I can’t help rectify ongoing problems, or discuss specific traders.

But of you have found a mistake on the site, or have a tip you’d like added, email woody@cowboybuilder.org.uk.