Quality checks on new FMB members

Tightening the membership criteria is designed to make the organisation more professional and give customers more confidence that when they use an FMB member they are safe from cowboys.

Building companies wanting to join the UK’s largest construction trade association already have to prove they have been trading for 12 months or more, have liability insurance, are VAT registered (if applicable), pass various financial and public record checks as well as provide a professional referee. Now they will have to undergo an inspection as well.

Director general Richard Diment said: “Inspecting the work of our new members is a further step forward for both members and their clients to raise standards in the building industry. It shows that FMB builders have high standards of workmanship as well as having good business acumen. The introduction of inspections is part of an ongoing process of professionalisation for the FMB and its members. We believe our members are the best in construction and the inspection helps prove that.”

Mr Diment added:  “According to Trading Standards each year home owners in the UK give £170m to rogue traders. The increase in VAT earlier this year will only add to this as more homeowners take a gamble and use a builder who claims he can make VAT disappear. But we know this is a false economy and many homeowners lose money or have to pay more to have work put right. Using an FMB member means using a builderwho has undergone checks and shown the company wants to behave responsibly. Plus if something were to go wrong you can turn to the FMB’s complaints procedure.”

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