BEWARE OF DODGY WORKMEN

Despite being a single woman I think I’m fairly competent as most household DIY tasks, tiling, decorating, painting etc. There does however come a time when it’s necessary to get in a ‘professional’ for plumbing or building work.

I use the word professional in the loosest sense, as I’ve learnt to my cost recently, when hiring a plumber to replace the old and stained cast iron bath I had inherited when I moved in six years ago. I ended up with no bath or shower facilities for a month, pending legal action for a job not done; and did I mention that the bath was left for me to dispose of, despite an agreement for it to be taken away?

This is not the first time I’ve been the victim of unscrupulous local tradesmen but I thought, that given that I’d hired the company on the personal recommendation of a friend, I felt fairly safe.

So, let this be a lesson to us all where in a recession those made redundant from other employment often set up their own self-employed business, as plumbers, builders, handymen.

Despite government measures introduced last year, that were designed to protect the public from incompetent "cowboy" builders where tradesmen who operate self-check schemes, assessing their own work, are now required to meet higher standards, with the added protection of independent organisations that carry out unannounced spot-checks, there seems to be little impact.

These new measures were supposed to be a significant step in combating bad workmanship, and intended to enforce compulsory financial protection for householders, following a number of cases where self-check installers failed to finish work properly, as happened in my case.

In each of the last two years over 70,000 complaints were made to the government service Consumer Direct, about building work, general home improvement, maintenance and repairs, but compliance and registration to the scheme seems patchy at best.

With plumbers it is estimated that your chances of hiring a bad operator are 50% and the last thing any homeowner needs is a dodgy plumbing repair job, as I learnt to my cost.

Everyone dreams of a workman who will actually turn up, on time, be polite and respectful to us and our property, and clearing up after themselves, removing any rubbish that accumulates. Sadly there are a lot of plumbers and builders who just don’t fit this profile.

So learn from my lesson, ensure the plumber you choose has enough experience and skill to do the work you require with a high level of competence. As recommended, I did ask plenty of questions, and obtained an estimate for the job, only to find that when I’d gone on holiday, leaving him to it, I discovered, too late, that he was all just ‘talk’ and completely lacking in competence, an expensive mistake.