How to check a tradesperson before you hire (UK, 2026)
Five minutes of checking prevents most of what goes wrong. Here is exactly what to check, by job type.
Always, for anyone
- Their name and business. A limited company can be checked free on the Companies House register.
- Reviews across more than one place. A perfect rating from three reviews tells you less than 4.7 from ninety.
- Completion rate, if the platform shows it. It reveals no-shows in a way stars do not.
- Public liability insurance for anything in your home. Ask for the certificate; it takes them ten seconds to send.
Gas work, legally required
Anyone working on gas appliances, boilers or pipework must be on the Gas Safe Register. This is not a preference, it is the law under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998. Ask for the licence card, check the number on the register, and check the back of the card for what they are qualified to do. No marketplace should be listing gas work at all.
Electrical work
Notifiable work under Part P of the Building Regulations, new circuits, consumer units, anything in a bathroom or outdoors, must be done by someone registered with a competent-person scheme (NICEIC, NAPIT, ELECSA) or notified to building control. Search the scheme's register by postcode. For changing a socket or fitting a light, registration is good practice rather than a legal requirement.
Waste removal, the one that catches people out
If someone takes waste away from your home, they must be a registered waste carrier with the Environment Agency. The legal duty is yours, not theirs. If your rubbish is fly-tipped, you can be fined for failing your householder duty of care.
Check the free public register and ask for the carrier number and a receipt showing where the waste went. On Taskerama, only taskers with a verified waste-carrier badge can offer on rubbish and clearance tasks, and the number appears on your receipt.
Working with children or vulnerable adults
Ask for a Basic DBS certificate issued in the last 12 months. Anyone can apply for their own Basic DBS for £21.50. For regular unsupervised work with children, an Enhanced check through an organisation is the right standard.
Driving and deliveries
Moving goods for payment needs "hire and reward" insurance, and moving other people's goods commercially needs goods-in-transit cover. Ordinary car insurance does not cover it.
Red flags
- Cash only, or wanting to take the conversation off-platform immediately.
- Pressure to pay a large deposit up front for materials.
- No fixed address, no company, no insurance certificate.
- A price that is far below everyone else's.
- Reluctance to give a registration number you can check.
Primary sources
Everything above is drawn from these. They are the versions to trust if we have fallen out of date.
Next steps
Related guides
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Prices and rules change. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it. How we research and check these guides.