12 questions to ask a tradesman before hiring (and what the answers tell you)

Most jobs that go wrong were mispriced or misunderstood before anyone picked up a tool. These twelve questions take about five minutes to ask in a message thread and remove nearly all of it.

The questions matter less than the shape of the answers. A professional gives you specifics without being pushed. Vagueness under direct questioning is the signal.

Price and scope

1. "Is that a fixed price or an estimate, and what would change it?"

Good: "Fixed at £280, unless the wall turns out to be solid brick rather than plasterboard, in which case it is £320 because of the fixings and the extra time." Bad: "Depends what I find when I get there." That is not a quote, it is an open account. Some jobs genuinely cannot be fixed-priced, drainage, damp, anything hidden, but a good tradesperson names the specific uncertainty and caps it.

2. "What is included, and what is not?"

Good: an actual list. Materials, waste, making good, cleaning up. Bad: "Everything." Ask specifically about making good, filling, sanding, touching up paint, because it is the single most common unstated exclusion, and about waste removal, which is the second.

3. "Am I buying the materials, or are you?"

Good: a clear answer with a rough materials figure, and a note on whether their price includes a mark-up. Trade markup is normal and worth paying for if it saves you three trips. Bad: silence on the number. If they buy, ask for receipts. If you buy, get the exact specification in writing, including sizes and fixings, before you go anywhere.

4. "How did you arrive at that number?"

You are not haggling, you are testing whether the price is a calculation or a guess. A good answer breaks into labour time and materials. This question also sorts out day rates: half a day of labour on a job that takes two hours is normal and fair, but you should know that is what you are buying.

Timing

5. "When can you start, and how long will it take?"

Good: two dates, a start and a finish, with a caveat named. Bad: "Next week sometime." Availability that is too immediate on a job that should be booked out, in a trade that is busy, is worth a second thought. So is a start date that keeps moving before any work has happened.

6. "Will it be you doing the work?"

Important on anything larger than an hour. If a team is coming, ask who is leading it, and whether subcontractors are used. This matters practically, the person who quoted knows the plan, and it matters for insurance, because platform cover typically excludes subcontracted work.

7. "What happens if it overruns?"

Good: "The fixed price stands, that is my risk." Or, for time-and-materials work, a clear hourly rate for extra time agreed in advance. Bad: no answer, which becomes a conversation on the day when you have a half-finished bathroom and no leverage.

Insurance, registration and competence

8. "Do you hold public liability insurance? Can you send the certificate?"

Good: a PDF within minutes. Sole traders commonly hold £1m to £5m of cover. Bad: any delay or deflection. There is no innocent reason to hesitate, and it takes ten seconds to forward. Note that public liability covers damage they cause to you or your property. It does not cover the quality of their work.

9. "Is any part of this notifiable or regulated, and who is doing that part?"

This one question separates people who understand the rules from people who do not. Gas work legally requires Gas Safe registration. Notifiable electrical work under Part P in England and Wales requires competent-person scheme registration or a building control notification. Waste removal requires waste carrier registration. A good tradesperson volunteers this before you ask. See what a handyman can legally do.

10. "Have you done this exact job before? What went wrong last time?"

The second half is where the value is. People who have done a job forty times have a story about the one that went sideways, and they tell it easily. People who have not done it say it is straightforward.

Waste, guarantees and payment

11. "Who is taking the waste, and are you a registered carrier?"

If they are taking it, ask for the registration number and check it on the free Environment Agency public register, then keep the receipt. This is not pedantry. The householder duty of care means you can be fined if your waste is fly-tipped, even though someone else dumped it. If they are not taking it, agree now who is, and whether a skip permit is needed.

12. "What guarantee is there, and what does it actually cover?"

Good: a stated period on workmanship, with a plain description of what would and would not be covered, and manufacturer warranties on parts passed to you. Bad: "lifetime guarantee", offered verbally with nothing behind it. A workmanship guarantee is only as good as the business still existing.

Whatever they say, you already have a statutory right. Under section 49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015, every contract to supply a service includes a term that the trader performs it with reasonable care and skill. If they do not, your remedies are repeat performance or a price reduction, and a term in their paperwork cannot exclude that liability or cap it below what you paid.

Payment terms: the answer that should stop you

Ask how they want to be paid, and when.

Normal: payment on completion; or, on a longer job, staged payments against milestones you can see; or a materials deposit on a job with an expensive, job-specific order, with a receipt.

Not normal: a large deposit up front on a small job. Cash only, framed as a discount but with no invoice. Any pressure to pay outside the platform on a job you found through one, which removes payment protection and voids most platform insurance. Requests to change bank details by email or message mid-job, that is invoice redirection fraud, and it is common in the trades.

Where you booked through a platform, keep the money there. Payment released when you confirm the job is done is the whole point of the arrangement, and it costs you nothing to use it. More on the fraud side in avoiding scams when hiring.

Get the answers in writing

Not a contract, just a message thread. Scope, price basis, what is included, start and finish dates, insurance confirmed, who is taking the waste, payment terms. If anything is disputed later, that thread is your evidence, and on a platform it is what a dispute team reads first.