Whether you use a JCT form or the builder’s own paperwork, the test is the same: does the document answer the twelve questions below? Run any contract you’re offered against this list before signing, each gap is a future argument with your name on it.

1. Who, exactly, are the parties?

The builder’s limited company name and company number, not just a trading name, you need to know who you’d actually sue, and who carries the insurance. If it’s a sole trader, their full name and address. Check the company on Companies House, where its date of incorporation and any insolvency information are free to view, and be wary of one incorporated three weeks ago.1

2. What is the scope?

The work described by reference to attached documents, drawings, a specification, a room-by-room list. The words “as per quote” only work if the quote itself is detailed and attached. Anything excluded should say so explicitly (“no decoration; skip and scaffold by client”).

3. What is the price: and what isn’t fixed?

The contract sum, VAT position stated, and provisional sums for anything undesigned, each with a stated allowance. A “fixed price” with silent gaps is a variations machine.

4. How is payment structured?

Stage payments tied to completed milestones, never calendar dates, sized so you’re always paying in arrears. State what evidence accompanies each request (photos, a walk-round) and your payment terms (7 days is fair).

5. Deposit: and its protection

If there’s a deposit at all, state what it covers and when it’s earned. On materials-heavy jobs, ask for it to be held against named orders.

6. When does it start and finish?

A start date, a completion date or duration, and the grounds on which the date moves (weather, your changes, genuinely unforeseen work, each notified in writing at the time, not claimed retrospectively at the end). Larger jobs should carry liquidated damages: a stated weekly sum deductible for unexcused overrun.2

7. How are changes handled?

The single most valuable clause: no variation without a written price and time impact agreed before the work is done. Email is fine. This one sentence prevents the classic end-of-job extras stack.

8. Who insures what?

The builder’s public liability insurance, with the amount of cover (£2m to £5m is common), the insurer and the expiry date stated, and ask to see the certificate.2 Confirm who covers materials on site and works in progress, and notify your own home insurer that works are happening (some policies require it, so check yours).

9. Site practicalities

Working hours, toilet access, storage, parking, protection of finished areas, waste removal and who pays for the skip. Thirty seconds each to agree now; daily friction if not.

10. Defects period and retention

A stated period after completion (three to twelve months) during which notified defects are fixed free, and a retention, 2.5–5% held until snagging is complete, half typically released at completion and half at the end of the defects period.2

11. Termination

The grounds on which either side can end the contract (persistent non-payment; abandonment, persistent defective work, insolvency), the notice required, and how work done is valued at that point. You will probably never use it, but its absence is what makes walking-off disputes so messy.

12. Disputes

An escalation clause: good-faith discussion, then mediation or adjudication, court last. Adjudication has to be written in: the statutory right to it under the Construction Act does not apply to a contract with a residential occupier.3 Cheap to include, and it keeps a £3,000 disagreement from becoming a £30,000 one, the full route is in our disputes pillar.

Using the checklist

Score whatever you’ve been handed out of twelve. A professional outfit’s paperwork often covers nine or ten of these. The JCT Home Owner contract covers most of them, from the work, price, payment and working period to insurance, changes to the work, ending the contract and disputes.4 The Home Owner contract costs £40 plus VAT.4 The JCT Minor Works form costs £100 plus VAT.5 If the builder’s own terms fail more than a couple, propose the JCT form, a fair builder has no reason to refuse a contract drafted to be neutral.

This guide is general information for homeowners in England and Wales, not legal advice.

References (5)

Figures in this note were checked against the sources below on 30 September 2026. Superscript numbers in the text point to them. Every source the site cites, by topic.

  1. 1technicalvery strongCompanies House (GOV.UK), guidance.RN-KBZ7STThe GOV.UK entry point to the Companies House search, confirming that company details, officers and filings can be viewed free of charge.
  2. 2technicalstrongThe Joint Contracts Tribunal, guidance.RN-ISI9M3JCT's checklist for completing the Minor Works Building Contract 2024, which lists liquidated damages at clause 2.8 with a rate and period to be entered.
  3. 3technicalvery strongThe National Archives (legislation.gov.uk), legislation.RN-5Q1UW1Section 106(1)(a) disapplies Part II of the Act, which contains the statutory adjudication and payment provisions, to a construction contract with a residential occupier. Section 106(2) defines that as a construction contract principally relating to operations on a dwelling which one of the parties occupies or intends to occupy as his residence, with 'dwelling' meaning a dwelling-house or a flat; a dwelling-house does not include a building containing a flat, and a flat means separate self-contained residential premises divided horizontally from another part of the building. Section 106(3) and 106(4) let the Secretary of State amend the definition only by order approved by a resolution of each House. This is the provision that explains why a homeowner has no automatic statutory right to adjudicate against a builder, and why adjudication is only available if the contract itself provides for it.
  4. 4technicalstrongThe Joint Contracts Tribunal, guidance.RN-267X3CJCT's product page for its homeowner building contract. It says the contract is for a homeowner dealing directly with the contractor and suits small domestic work such as extensions.
  5. 5coststrongThe Joint Contracts Tribunal Limited.RN-RTTY46A price, true at 2026-09. JCT's product page for the Minor Works Building Contract 2024, which prices it at £100.00 plus VAT in hard copy or JCT On Demand.

  1. Get information about a company, GOV.UK (Companies House), accessed 30 September 2026. gov.uk

  2. MW 2024 User Checklist, The Joint Contracts Tribunal Limited, accessed 30 September 2026. jctltd.co.uk

  3. Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, section 106, The National Archives / legislation.gov.uk, accessed 30 September 2026. legislation.gov.uk

  4. Building Contract for a Home Owner/Occupier who has not appointed a consultant to oversee the work (HO/B) 2021, The Joint Contracts Tribunal Limited, accessed 30 September 2026. jctltd.co.uk

  5. Minor Works Building Contract (MW 2024), The Joint Contracts Tribunal Limited, accessed 30 September 2026. Priced at 2026-09 and left there. jctltd.co.uk