Do you need a contract with a builder?

Luke Nixon · 13 June 2026 · 7 min read

Homeowner and builder reviewing a written agreement before work starts

You're not legally required to have a written contract with a builder in England and Wales. But the moment you give the go-ahead – verbally, by text, or with a handshake on the doorstep – you already have one. A written agreement just makes that contract provable and enforceable, which is the part that matters when something goes wrong. This guide covers what the law gives you with or without one, what a good agreement should include, your 14-day right to cancel, and how to put it in place without buying a paper form.

A few years back I paid a builder a deposit, took his word on the scope, and never saw him again. There was no signed quote, no payment schedule, no record of what the deposit was for – just a verbal go-ahead and a bank transfer. Losing the money stung, but the bigger loss was the leverage to chase it: nothing was written down, so nothing was provable, so nothing was enforceable. A written agreement is what closes that gap.

Do you need a written contract with a builder?

Not by law – but you already have one the moment you tell the builder to go ahead. UK contract law treats any clear agreement to do work for an agreed price as binding, whether you sign a document or just say yes on the driveway. So the choice isn't contract or no contract; it's provable contract or unprovable one. A written record fixes the scope, the price and the payment terms in one place, so if a disagreement comes up you're not relying on memory or trawling through old WhatsApp messages. Citizens Advice puts it plainly: any contract you agree should be in writing, with a copy for both sides [1].

What does the law give you even without a written contract?

Quite a lot. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 sets a baseline for any service a tradesperson provides to you as a consumer, regardless of whether you've signed anything [2]:

Reasonable care and skill – the work has to be carried out properly (section 49).
A reasonable time, if no deadline was agreed (section 52).
A reasonable price, if no price was agreed (section 51).
Anything the builder said or wrote is binding if you relied on it. Promises made in quotes, emails or in person about the work or how it would be done get pulled into the contract under section 50.

If the work falls short, the Act gives you two routes. First, repeat performance – the builder fixes the work within a reasonable time, at no extra cost (section 55). If that's impossible, or they don't put it right, you can ask for a price reduction, which can be up to the full amount you've paid (section 56).

The catch is that without something written down, proving what was promised falls on you. Builders rarely admit to a verbal quote they later regret, and "reasonable" is doing a lot of work in those sections. A written agreement is how you make the law usable.

What should a contract with a builder include?

A useful contract names both sides, sets out the work, the price, and how and when you'll pay, then covers the things that actually go wrong: changes, delays, materials, and permissions. As a homeowner's checklist:

Both sides. Your name and address, the builder's trading name, business address and company number if they have one. If you're hiring a sole trader – a tradesman working under their own name – get their personal name and address too.
Scope of work. What's being done, in enough detail that an extra is obviously an extra. "Refit downstairs bathroom" isn't enough; itemise the suite, tiles, fittings, and finish.
Price. The total, whether it includes VAT, and what's excluded.
Payment schedule. Tied to completed stages of work, not advance payments. Standard practice is a small deposit plus payments released as each stage finishes, with a balance on completion – never the full cost upfront.
Start and finish dates. Either fixed dates or a window with an agreed completion target.
Materials. Who supplies them, who pays, and at what point ownership passes to you.
Permissions and building control. Who's responsible for arranging planning permission, building control sign-off, and party-wall notices.
Insurance. Public liability cover for the builder, and any guarantees on the finished work.
Variations (changes). Any change to the scope or price must be agreed in writing, by both sides, before the work happens.
Guarantees and snagging. What's covered, for how long, and how snags at the end of the job are handled. A short retention – often around 5% held for a few weeks after completion – is common on larger jobs.
Disputes. A short paragraph saying you'll try to resolve issues directly first, and a backstop if you can't.

Can you cancel after you've agreed?

Yes – often. If you agree the job at your home, or remotely (over the phone, by email, or on the builder's website), the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 give you 14 days to cancel without giving a reason. Regulation 29 sets the cooling-off period, and regulation 30 starts the clock from the day you agree to the contract [3]. This is the bit most "do I need a contract" guides skip, and it can save you a lot of money on the rare jobs that go wrong before they even start.

There's a sting in the tail for traders who don't mention it. Regulation 31 says the trader has to tell you about your right to cancel, in writing, before the contract is agreed. If they don't, the 14-day window extends by up to 12 months, or shrinks back to 14 days from the date they finally tell you [3]. Most builders aren't aware of this, and very few hand over a written cancellation notice on the doorstep.

Two exceptions worth knowing about:

Bespoke or made-to-order items – a worktop cut to your kitchen, joinery built for a specific opening, anything personalised – fall outside the cooling-off right once they've been ordered.
If you ask the work to start within the 14 days, and you cancel partway through, the builder can charge a proportionate amount for what's already been done. Gov.uk's plain summary of how cancellation interacts with deposits and part-done work is here [4].

This is general guidance, not legal advice. For your own situation, Citizens Advice is the place to start.

How do you put a contract in place?

Get something in writing before any work starts. There are three practical routes:

A detailed quote, accepted in writing

For small and medium jobs, a clear written quote the builder emails over and you accept by reply forms a binding contract on its own. Make sure the quote actually says what's included, what the price covers, how payment is staged, and what isn't included – not just "supply and fit kitchen, £6,200". A quote that's specific enough to hang a dispute on is specific enough to be a contract.

A standard industry contract

For larger projects – extensions, full renovations, anything running several weeks or more – the off-the-shelf options are the JCT Homeowner contract, the RIBA Domestic Concise contract, and the Federation of Master Builders' Domestic Building Contract. They cover delays, insurance, variations and dispute resolution in more depth than a quote ever will. The trade-off is admin: you and the builder both have to fill the form in, agree the appendices, and sign paper copies.

A digital agreement

A digital agreement does the same job as a paper contract without the paperwork. The scope, the price and the payment schedule sit in a shared record, both sides sign it off in the app, and any changes during the job get agreed and dated the same way. That's what Renofy is for: a shared written agreement between you and the builder, with payments released as each stage of work is completed. You get the protection of a written contract – clear scope, payments tied to completed stages, a record both sides agreed – without buying and filling out a paper form. It's a written agreement, not legal advice or a guarantee, but for most domestic jobs it's the simple, modern version of exactly what the formal contracts are trying to do.

Renofy gives homeowners and builders a shared digital agreement, with payments tied to photo-backed milestones – so you can see the work's been done before money is released, and both sides are protected.

References

Citizens Advice – Before you get work done on your home (agree any contract in writing, with a copy for both sides; get quotes; check insurance and qualifications). https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/before-you-get-building-work-done/
Consumer Rights Act 2015 – services chapter (sections 49 to 52 cover reasonable care and skill, reasonable price and reasonable time; sections 55 and 56 cover the remedies of repeat performance and price reduction). https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/contents
Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 – regulations 29 and 30 set the 14-day cooling-off period for off-premises and distance contracts; regulation 31 extends the right to cancel by up to 12 months where the trader has failed to give the required information. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134
Gov.uk – Cancelling goods or services (plain-English consumer guide covering what a trader can deduct when you cancel after work or materials have started). https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cancelling-goods-or-services-guide-for-consumers/cancelling-goods-or-services

Frequently asked questions

Is a verbal agreement with a builder legally binding?

Yes. Saying go-ahead to a builder forms a contract under UK law, even with no paperwork. The problem is proving what was agreed: without something in writing, disputes come down to one person's word against another's. Get the scope and price down in writing before any work starts, even as a quote accepted by reply.

Do I need a solicitor to draw up the contract?

No. For a typical domestic job – a tradesman doing a bathroom refit, a builder running a small extension – a detailed quote that you both sign, or one of the off-the-shelf forms (JCT Homeowner, RIBA Domestic Concise, the FMB Domestic Building Contract), is enough. Solicitors normally only get involved on much larger or more unusual projects.

What if the builder does extra work that wasn't agreed?

Anything outside the original scope is a variation, and Citizens Advice's guidance is to record any changes to the agreement in writing before the work happens. That protects you from a surprise final bill, and the builder from arguments about whether they were asked. A verbal "can you just…" mid-job is exactly the moment to stop and put it in a message.

Can I get my deposit back if I cancel in the cooling-off period?

It depends. The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give you 14 days to cancel a contract agreed in your home or at a distance, and in principle the deposit comes back with you. But if you asked the builder to start work or order materials inside the 14-day window, they can keep a proportionate amount to cover what's already been done.