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The rules you have to work to
Plain explanations of the UK regulations, deadlines and pricing decisions that decide whether a construction business makes money. Written for contractors, with the statute cited, and useful whether or not you ever buy anything from us.
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Why your quote and your invoice should be the same record
Most disputes on a small job start when the invoice and the quote were written separately. One record from quote to final account is the fix, and it costs nothing to start.
18 September 20261 min Regulatory changeAwaab’s Law Phase 2: what changes on 30 November 2026
Nine hazard categories join the clocks, one definition moves, one carve-out arrives, and Scotland starts its own version seven weeks earlier. The dates, the instruments, and what a landlord and its contractors record.
16 September 202610 min Regulatory changeCIS, VAT and MTD in 2026: what changed, and the dates fixed for 2027
One thing changed in April 2026, and it landed on labour-only subcontractors first. Two things people expected to change did not. And the dates for April 2027 are already on the statute book.
16 September 20268 min Regulatory changeCDM, the F10 and the Building Safety Act: where the rules stand in 2026
The F10 thresholds are what they were in 2015. The thing that changed is that a principal contractor in England is now two appointments with one name, and a tall residential building is a different regime altogether.
16 September 20268 min PricingWhat does construction software actually cost a UK contractor?
Five categories, six billing units and several vendors who publish nothing. The total a ten-person firm pays every month is arithmetic nobody sat down and did.
15 September 202617 min Running the businessReplacing five systems with one: what actually happens
Five subscriptions become one, but not over a weekend. The data that imports, the month you run both, the person who liked the old way, and the one tool that does not go.
15 September 202610 min Running the businessHow to audit your construction software spend
Most firms cannot say what their software costs. It arrives as a dozen small direct debits nobody reviews, and two of them are for tools nobody has opened this year.
15 September 202613 min ContractsWhat is practical completion, and who decides it?
It has no definition in any statute, and six things change the moment it is certified, retention, damages, insurance and the defects clock among them.
7 September 20265 min HandoverWhat is a snagging list, and what makes one hold up?
Most snagging lists are a spreadsheet of complaints. The ones that settle arguments record who, where, when and what a fix looks like.
7 September 20265 min EstimatingWhat are preliminaries, and how do you price them?
The cost of running a site rather than building anything, and the part of a tender most often guessed at, then paid for out of the margin.
7 September 20265 min Health & SafetyConstruction phase plan: who writes it, and when is it required?
Required on every construction project, including the domestic ones most people assume are exempt. A generic template is the commonest failing an inspector finds.
7 September 20265 min ContractsVariations in construction: how to record and price them
The commonest reason a job finishes on a loss is not bad pricing. It is work done on a verbal instruction that nobody wrote down.
7 September 20265 min ContractsLiquidated damages: when can they be deducted?
A pre-agreed daily rate for lateness. Three conditions have to be satisfied first, and employers regularly deduct without meeting them.
7 September 20264 min HandoverDefects liability period: what it covers and what it does not
It gives the contractor a right to come back and fix things, which is cheaper for everybody. It does not end liability when it closes.
7 September 20264 min ContractsExtension of time: what you must prove and by when
It moves the completion date and stops damages running. It does not by itself pay for anything, and the notice deadlines are where most claims are lost.
7 September 20264 min PricingMarkup and margin: the mistake that costs builders money
Adding 20% to your cost gives you a 16.7% margin, not 20%. On a £200,000 turnover that gap is around £6,600 a year, every year.
7 September 20264 min EstimatingProvisional sums and PC sums: what each one commits you to
A defined provisional sum is in your programme. An undefined one is not, and that distinction decides who owns the delay.
7 September 20264 min PricingDayworks: when they apply and what the sheet must show
The valuation method of last resort, and the one most often used first. An unsigned sheet is an invoice nobody agreed to.
7 September 20264 min ContractsSubcontractor agreements: what must be in writing
The Construction Act applies whether you signed anything or not. What it implies, what you should still write down, and the two clauses that no longer work.
7 September 20264 min Health & SafetyScaffold inspections: the seven-day rule and what else triggers one
Every seven days, before first use, and after any event that could affect stability. The report has to be completed before the end of the working period.
7 September 20264 min Health & SafetyToolbox talks: what the law asks for and what makes one work
No regulation uses the phrase. The duty behind it is statutory, and the attendance record is what proves you met it.
7 September 20264 min Health & SafetyAsbestos surveys: which one you need before work starts
A management survey does not cover work that disturbs the building. Starting refurbishment on one is the commonest and most serious mistake on older buildings.
7 September 20264 min PaymentFinal accounts: how to agree one without losing money
The last chance to be paid for anything. Miss the challenge period and the final certificate becomes conclusive evidence against you.
7 September 20264 min PricingHow to price a job properly: labour, materials, plant and overhead
Most underpriced jobs aren’t underpriced on the trade rate. They’re underpriced because the overhead was never in the number at all.
21 July 20267 min PricingWhat is a Schedule of Rates, and when should you price work with one?
A pre-agreed price list for units of work. It takes the argument out of every small job and shifts the risk onto how accurately you measure.
14 July 20266 min GasLandlord gas safety certificates: the CP12 rules explained
Twelve months, 28 days, two years, two months. Four numbers cover almost every landlord gas safety question.
7 July 20266 min ElectricalDo I need an EICR, and how often?
For rented homes in England it’s five years, and it’s the law. Everything else depends on the installation, and the inspector sets the interval.
30 June 20266 min Health & SafetyCDM 2015: when do I need to notify HSE on an F10?
Two thresholds decide it, and one of them has an "and" in it that half the industry reads as "or". Notification is also the least important part of CDM.
23 June 20266 min Health & SafetyWhat must a RAMS actually contain?
A risk assessment says what could go wrong. A method statement says how the work will be done so it doesn’t. Most rejected RAMS have plenty of the first and none of the second.
16 June 20267 min Social housingAwaab’s Law: what social landlords must do about damp and mould
Ten working days to investigate, three to report back, five to make safe. The deadlines are statutory, they run in working days, and they’re enforceable in the county court.
9 June 20268 min Getting paidGetting paid faster: quoting, invoicing and chasing
Most late payment is caused before the invoice is sent. Fix the quote and the terms, then chase on a schedule rather than a feeling.
2 June 20268 min PaymentWhat is retention, and how do you actually get it released?
Three per cent of a year’s turnover sitting in someone else’s bank account is a real number. Here’s how retention works, and how to get it back.
26 May 20266 min PaymentApplications for payment vs invoices: what is the difference?
They look similar and behave completely differently. One starts a statutory notice clock in your favour. The other doesn’t.
19 May 20266 min PaymentWhat is a pay less notice, and when must it be served?
Miss the deadline and the notified sum becomes payable in full, however wrong it is. It’s the single most expensive date in a UK construction contract.
12 May 20267 min CISCIS gross payment status: how to get it, and how firms lose it
Being paid gross is worth real money in cash flow, because the 20% stops being withheld at source. Three tests get you there. One late VAT return takes it away.
6 May 20265 min CISCIS tax months explained: why the 6th to the 5th matters
A payment dated the 3rd belongs to last month’s return. Get the tax month wrong and you file two returns incorrectly instead of one.
28 April 20266 min CISHow CIS deductions are calculated, and why materials are excluded
Take 20% off the whole invoice and you’ve underpaid your subcontractor. The deduction runs on the labour element only. Here’s the arithmetic, with examples.
21 April 20266 min VATWhat is the VAT domestic reverse charge, and does it apply to my job?
Five conditions decide it, and one of them is a question only your customer can answer. Here’s how to work it out before you raise the invoice, not after it bounces.
14 April 20267 minBuilt for the way UK contractors actually work
Estimating, quoting, job management, timesheets, invoicing, CIS and site safety, with an offline field mode that installs to a phone and keeps working with no signal.