Burnham pledges to ‘put cowboy builders out of business’ with new approved code and trusted payments scheme

Andy Burnham has announced new measures to target “cowboy tradesmen” including a database of trusted people.

The prime minister has today set out plans to launch a new scheme to “help people identify and hire trusted traders with confidence”.

Under the plans builders will be able sign up to a new ‘approved code’ to demonstrate they meet high standards of customer service, transparency and dispute resolution.

The code, expected to be fully in place by December, is being developed by the Furniture and Home Improvement Ombudsman and the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.

The government is also backing a new trusted payments system to protect people’s money during building projects with payments directly linked to key project milestones. The trusted payment app will go live next week.

Burnham said: “Cowboy builders don’t just rip people off. They leave families with months of stress, the disruption of unfinished work, and that horrible feeling of being taken advantage of. Not only that, but they give the vast majority of decent, hardworking tradespeople a bad name.

“So we’re putting the cowboys out of business. These changes mean you’ll now have the option to make sure your money is held safely and released bit by bit as the work gets done.”

Reacting to the announcement, Richard Beresford, chief executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said the body is “broadly supportive of measures to encourage better practice and support consumers.”

But he said: “There does feel to be a level of replication as Professional Associations such as the National Federation of Builders already provide a code of conduct, resolution service and quality marks, such as NFBs Heritage Approved Contractor Mark (HACM).

“We therefore hope this move is the first step to better-digitise industry and culminates in every building receiving a Digital Building Passport (DBP). This passport would serve as a building’s ‘logbook’, record all construction works, alongside those delivering them and be publicly searchable.”

Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders said: ”“The prime minister’s push to crackdown on rogue builders is a great move for the industry. However, it is a real concern that this is just another voluntary programme without regulation behind it. That said it signals a positive change in the government’s commitment on the issue. We look forward to seeing more detail and working with the government to deliver the best result for builders and consumers alike.”

He said: ”In the long term the government should be looking at a compulsory licensing scheme for building companies. Currently anyone can call themselves a builder with no minimum competence level required to run a building company. Voluntary schemes have never filled the gap for good regulation that protects both reputable builders and consumers. Without statutory licensing any voluntary scheme, however well intended, is likely to struggle to gain traction.”

In its announcement, the government referenced figures showing more than one in four UK adults who carried out home improvements work in the past 18 months experienced problems, while more than 1 in 3 of these faced extra costs, losing an average of £750.