Merchants & Suppliers
64 sources in the library on merchants & suppliers, 15 on this page cited in a published note. Each one says what the document covers and what it is good for. Name a source to see which document it is and where to read it. One at a time. Page 1 of 2.
- very strong RN-WG2Q3C cited
Department for Business and Trade
Monthly official commentary on construction material prices and deliveries, the tier 1 series to cite for any materials-inflation claim. The material price index for 'All Work' increased by 6.0% in June 2026 compared with June 2025, and repair and maintenance rose 5.7% over the same period. Fabricated structural steel was the largest single price mover at 17.7% year on year. Deliveries of bricks fell 16.3% and blocks 12.3% in June 2026 against June 2025. Prices of inputs of metals and non-metallic mineral products rose 8.4% in the year to July 2026, against a revised 9.0% in the year to June, driven partly by basic iron, steel and ferro-alloys. Sawn wood over 6 mm thick was a GBP1,176 million import category in 2025 but no timber-specific annual price change is given in this edition. Published monthly, roughly one month after the reference period, with data tables in Excel and ODS.
Cited in How to Read a Builders' Merchant Quote & Avoid Overpaying.
- very strong RN-QB50Q9 cited
Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade
The official accredited statistics series on UK building materials, published monthly by DBT and BIST, first collected here on 2 October 2013 and last updated 5 August 2026 with the July 2026 bulletin. Each edition has a commentary plus Excel and ODS data tables. It carries monthly data on material price indices and on bricks and concrete blocks, quarterly data on sand and gravel, slate, concrete roofing tiles, ready-mixed concrete and imports and exports of construction products, and annual cement data. Methodology, a calendar of future publication dates and DBT's statistics error policy are on the same page. This is the source for verifiable claims about material price movement rather than merchant marketing figures.
- very strong RN-2WADR9 cited
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs / Environment Agency (GOV.UK)
The statutory code issued under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which is what makes a householder or builder legally responsible for waste after it leaves site. Anyone taking waste away commercially must hold a valid upper tier carrier registration with a number beginning CBDU, checkable on the Environment Agency public register (03708 506 506) or, in Wales, Natural Resources Wales (0300 065 3000). A waste transfer note for non-hazardous waste must record the List of Wastes/EWC classification code, the quantity and nature of the waste, the time and place of transfer, the SIC code of the current holder, the names, addresses and signatures of transferor and transferee, the capacity in which each acts with permit or registration number, and a declaration that the waste hierarchy has been applied; hazardous waste needs a consignment note instead. Retention periods: 2 years for non-hazardous transfer notes and season tickets, 3 years for hazardous consignment notes, 6 years for landfill operators on non-hazardous waste and the lifetime of the permit for hazardous. Breach of the duty is an offence with no upper limit on the court's power to fine.
- very strong RN-1VTP3W cited
GOV.UK
Sets statutory interest for late payment between businesses at 8% plus the Bank of England base rate. Statutory interest cannot be claimed where the contract sets a different rate of interest, and a lower rate cannot be used in a contract with a public authority. The worked example on a 1,000 pound debt with a 0.5% base rate gives annual statutory interest of 85 pounds (1,000 x 0.085), daily interest of 23 pence (85 divided by 365) and 11.50 pounds after 50 days. A new invoice should be sent if interest is added to the sum owed. This is the rule behind the interest clause in a merchant's trade account terms and behind a builder's claim for late payment of a stage payment, but it applies business to business, not to a consumer paying a builder.
- very strong RN-ZSNSIE cited
GOV.UK
The guidance that kills the common claim that second-hand building materials get no VAT treatment of their own. Margin schemes let a business pay VAT at 16.67 per cent, one sixth, on the DIFFERENCE between what it paid for an item and what it sells it for, rather than on the full selling price. Eligible goods are second-hand goods, works of art, antiques and collectors' items. The scheme cannot be used for any item on which the business was itself charged VAT, nor for precious metals, investment gold or precious stones. Building materials are not on the exclusion list, so reclaimed brick, slate, timber and fittings bought in without VAT can legitimately be sold on the margin, and a reclamation yard's quote may be on either basis. Separate schemes exist for second-hand vehicles, houseboats and caravans, horses and ponies, pawnbroking and high volume low value goods (global accounting). Records of the purchase and sale of each item must be kept.
Cited in Reclamation Yards & Salvage: Buying Reclaimed Materials.
- very strong RN-KBNHMB cited
HM Revenue & Customs
HMRC's main VAT notice for building work, last updated 26 August 2026. Sets out that construction of a new building and work to an existing building is normally standard rated at 20%, with exceptions: 0% for new qualifying dwellings and for housing association conversions of non-residential buildings, and 5% for a 'changed number of dwellings' conversion (section 7) and for renovation or alteration of a dwelling not lived in during the 2 years immediately before work starts (section 8, conditions at 8.1.2 and 8.3). Cites the law: VAT Act 1994 section 30 and Schedule 8 Group 5 for zero rating, section 29A and Schedule 7A Groups 6 and 7 for the reduced rate. Also explains the developer input tax block on goods that are not building materials (VAT (Input Tax) Order 1992 articles 2 and 6) and points self builders to the DIY housebuilders refund scheme.
Cited in Average Loft Conversion Cost: Real 2026 Breakdown by Type, Bedroom Extension Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Bringing an Old Building Price to Today's Money, Build Basement Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide and 8 more.
- very strong RN-BD8XRO cited
HM Revenue & Customs
HMRC guidance published 7 June 2019 and last updated 24 September 2020. The VAT domestic reverse charge must be used for most supplies of building and construction services at the standard and reduced rates where both parties are VAT registered in the UK and the supply is reported within the Construction Industry Scheme. The covered services match the CIS list of construction operations, except supplies of workers by employment businesses, and include constructing, altering, repairing, extending, demolishing or dismantling buildings or structures, works forming part of the land such as walls and roadworks, and installing heating, lighting and air conditioning. Points to CIS 340 for contractors and subcontractors. Explains why a subcontractor's invoice to a main contractor shows no VAT while the homeowner still pays VAT to the main contractor.
- very strong RN-4W7T33 cited
HM Revenue & Customs (GOV.UK)
Sets the three UK VAT rates: standard 20% on most goods and services, reduced 5% on some goods and services such as children's car seats and home energy, and zero 0% on zero-rated goods such as most food and children's clothes. The standard rate rose to 20% on 4 January 2011 from 17.5%. Some supplies are exempt rather than rated, including postage stamps and financial and property transactions. This is the reference for converting a merchant's ex-VAT trade quote into the figure a homeowner actually pays.
Cited in Average Loft Conversion Cost: Real 2026 Breakdown by Type, Brick Driveway Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide, Builders' Merchants: The Complete UK Guide (2026), Cork Flooring Installation Cost: 2026 UK Price Guide and 10 more.
- very strong RN-DOFH7Q cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Regulation 28(1) removes the Part 3 cancellation rights for goods or services whose price depends on financial market fluctuations outside the trader's control, for goods made to the consumer's specifications or clearly personalised, for goods liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly, for certain alcohol contracts, for contracts where the consumer specifically requested a visit for urgent repairs or maintenance, for newspapers, periodicals and magazines other than subscriptions, for contracts concluded at a public auction, and for accommodation, transport of goods, vehicle rental, catering or leisure services tied to a specific date or period. Regulation 28(2) preserves cancellation rights for any additional services or for goods other than replacement parts necessarily used, supplied during an urgent repair visit. Regulation 28(3) ends the rights where sealed goods unsuitable for return on health or hygiene grounds are unsealed, where sealed recordings or software are unsealed, or where goods become inseparably mixed with other items after delivery. The made-to-measure and mixed-goods exclusions are why cut timber, mixed mortar, made-to-order windows and delivered aggregate cannot be cancelled.
- very strong RN-514PQF cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Regulation 30(2) sets the cancellation period for a service contract, or a contract for digital content not supplied on a tangible medium, at the end of 14 days after the day the contract is entered into. Regulation 30(3) sets it for a sales contract at the end of 14 days after the day the goods come into the physical possession of the consumer or a person other than the carrier identified by the consumer. Where multiple goods ordered in one order are delivered on different days (30(4)), or goods consisting of multiple lots or pieces are delivered on different days (30(5)), the 14 days run from the last delivery; for regular delivery over a defined period of more than one day (30(6)) they run from the first. Regulation 31 extends the period where the trader has not given the required cancellation information. This is the cooling-off clock for a builder's contract signed at the homeowner's house.
Cited in Builders' Merchants: The Complete UK Guide (2026), Solar Panels for Your Home: Cost & Payback (2026).
- very strong RN-JFS7HZ cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 75(1) gives the debtor under a debtor-creditor-supplier agreement within section 12(b) or (c) a like claim against the creditor for any misrepresentation or breach of contract by the supplier, making creditor and supplier jointly and severally liable. Section 75(2) entitles the creditor to be indemnified by the supplier. Section 75(3) sets the limits: the section does not apply to a non-commercial agreement, nor so far as the claim relates to any single item with a cash price not exceeding 100 pounds or more than 30,000 pounds, nor to certain short-period running-account credit agreements. Section 75(4) preserves the claim even where the debtor exceeded the credit limit or breached a term of the agreement, and section 75(5) lets the creditor join the supplier to the proceedings. This is the basis for claiming a builder's default from a credit card issuer where any part of the payment was made on the card.
- very strong RN-0UBLTS cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 20(4) lets the consumer reject goods and treat the contract as at an end under the short-term right to reject (subject to section 22), the final right to reject (subject to section 24) or the section 19(6) right. Section 20(5) and 20(6) say the right is exercised by indicating rejection to the trader in words or actions clear enough to be understood. Section 20(7) then imposes a duty on the trader to give a refund and on the consumer to make the goods available for collection or return them as agreed, and section 20(8) makes the trader bear any reasonable costs of return except where the consumer chooses to return them in person to the place they took possession. Section 20(15) requires the refund without undue delay and in any event within 14 days beginning with the day the trader agrees the consumer is entitled to it, section 20(16) requires the same means of payment unless the consumer expressly agrees otherwise, and section 20(17) forbids any fee for the refund. Applies to materials bought from a merchant by a consumer, not to a trade account purchase made in the course of a business.
- very strong RN-85A077 cited
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 22(3) sets the short-term right to reject at the end of 30 days beginning with the first day after all of the following have happened: ownership or, for hire, hire purchase or conditional sale, possession has transferred to the consumer; the goods have been delivered; and, where the contract requires the trader to install the goods or take other enabling action, the trader has notified the consumer that this has been done. Section 22(4) shortens the period for goods that can reasonably be expected to perish sooner. Section 22(2) makes any agreement shortening the 30 days not binding on the consumer, while 22(1) allows the trader and consumer to agree a later deadline. Section 22(6) stops the clock for the waiting period where the consumer requests or agrees to repair or replacement, and 22(7) then gives either 7 days after the waiting period ends or the original limit extended by the waiting period, whichever is later. This is the statutory floor a merchant's own 30-day goodwill returns policy sits alongside.
- strong RN-GEV0HK cited
BSI
the British Standard that specifies structural plywood, which sets the bonding class and the use class a board is fit for
Cited in Builders' Merchant vs DIY Store: Which Is Cheaper?.
- supplier figure RN-0YMTU2 cited
Howdens
Howdens' own explanation of its trade-only model: it states plainly that it only sells to the trade, so a builder is essential in order to purchase its products, and that although it does not directly recommend tradespeople its depot staff can help a customer locate a professional in the area. Says it has more than 800 depots nationwide. Sets out the buying sequence: get a builder on board, choose products from a range it describes as more than 100 kitchens plus thousands of completing products, book a free design appointment online or in store with one of its designers, and then have products supplied from local stock so a project can start without delay, with changes handled quickly through aftersales. This is the authoritative source for the claim that a homeowner cannot buy directly from Howdens.
- very strong RN-1C52M8
Competition and Markets Authority (GOV.UK)
The CMA's guidance on Chapter 1 of Part 4 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, the regime that now governs how a merchant may advertise and price. The provisions apply to commercial practices occurring from 6 April 2025 onwards, and the guidance updates and replaces the OFT's Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations guidance OFT1008, superseding the 2008 Regulations. Schedule 20 sets out 32 practices banned outright in all circumstances, including fake consumer reviews at banned practice 13, false claims about product availability, misleading endorsements, pyramid schemes and aggressive sales tactics. The total price rule requires a trader to give the total price of the product including any mandatory fees, taxes, charges or other payments the consumer must pay, or to explain how the price will be calculated where it cannot be given in advance, which is the provision that catches drip pricing on delivery and handling charges. Chapter 4 covers material information in an invitation to purchase, with detailed pricing transparency held separately in CMA209.
- very strong RN-C6R9F2
Department for Business and Trade (GOV.UK)
The trader-facing statement of returns law, and the clearest source on why a merchant can lawfully refuse some returns. A full refund is compulsory where goods are faulty, not as described, or do not do what they are meant to. For in-store purchases nothing is owed where the customer knew of the fault, damaged the item themselves, or has simply changed their mind. For online, mail order and telephone sales the customer has 14 days from receiving the item to give notice of cancellation and a further 14 days to return it, and the trader must refund within 14 days of getting the goods back, including standard outbound delivery cost though only up to the standard rate where the customer chose premium delivery. Cancellation rights do not apply to personalised or custom-made items, perishables, newspapers and magazines, unwrapped media, or sealed hygiene goods, which is the basis for a merchant refusing a cut-to-size or special-order return. Faulty goods: repair or replacement without proof inside six months, consumer burden after that, with claims possible for up to six years, or five years in Scotland. An expired warranty does not remove the statutory obligation.
- very strong RN-0KUBSE
Department for Business and Trade (GOV.UK)
The pre-contract information a distance seller must give and the cancellation rules, from the trader-facing side. Before the sale the business must supply, in a form the customer can save (on paper, by email or otherwise), its name, contact details and address, a description of the goods or services, the price including all taxes, payment methods, delivery arrangements, costs and timeframe, any minimum contract length and billing period, termination conditions, cancellation rights and deadlines, any costs for services already supplied if the customer cancels, a standard cancellation form where applicable, digital content compatibility information, and the cost of communication where above the standard rate. The customer has 14 days after delivery to cancel without giving a reason. Notable exemptions from the distance selling regime: goods under £42, NHS prescriptions and treatment, financial services, the construction of new buildings, regular food and drink deliveries, gambling, package holidays and timeshares, residential lettings, vending machines, payphone and internet access charges, and passenger transport tickets. The new-building exemption is why a distance sale of construction services is treated differently from a sale of materials.
- very strong RN-FM022G
Environment Agency / Defra (GOV.UK)
The paperwork obligations on anyone producing hazardous waste from building work, which in a domestic renovation typically means asbestos, solvents, adhesives, treated timber, fluorescent tubes and old paint. The producer must complete the parts of the hazardous waste consignment note that apply to them, keep one copy, and give two copies to the carrier collecting the waste. Records, known as a register, must be kept for 3 years at the premises that produced or stored the waste, and the register must include consignment notes, consignee returns, and related documents such as carrier schedules and rejected load records. That 3 year period is longer than the 2 years required for ordinary non-hazardous waste transfer notes, and is the retention period a homeowner should expect a contractor to observe. The page does not state a premises code requirement or a tonnage threshold.
- very strong RN-93R0C1
HM Revenue & Customs
HMRC's rate table for Aggregates Levy, the per tonne tax due when aggregate, meaning sand, gravel or rock, is commercially exploited. The rate is 2.03 pounds per tonne from 1 April 2024, 2.08 pounds per tonne from 1 April 2025 and 2.16 pounds per tonne from 1 April 2026. Registration is required by anyone who, for commercial purposes, exploits taxable aggregate in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, or moves taxable aggregate into those countries from Scotland. This is the tax component built into every quoted tonne of sand, gravel, ballast or Type 1 sub-base, and the page is the citable source for it rather than a supplier's price list.
- very strong RN-Q24A2A
HM Revenue & Customs
HMRC guidance (published 5 December 2023, updated 6 November 2025) on claiming back VAT on building materials for a self-built new home. Claims must be made no more than 6 months after completion for builds completed on or after 5 December 2023 (3 months for earlier completions). Sets out what a VAT invoice must show, including the customer's name and address on invoices over £250, and gives processing times of 3 weeks for online claims and 6 weeks by post.
- very strong RN-NIGEMM
HM Revenue and Customs (GOV.UK)
HMRC's worked list of which goods count as building materials under Notes 22 and 23, which decides whether a supplier can zero or reduced rate them and whether a builder can recover the input tax. Accepted as ordinarily incorporated: television and radio aerials and satellite dishes, now regarded as ordinarily incorporated in all types of buildings; trees and shrubs supplied with a new home, following Rialto Homes plc; mirrors in student accommodation, all relevant residential purpose buildings and all types of dwelling; solar panels in all buildings when they form part of the heating system; water softeners only where installed in-line with the building's water supply; and manual blinds and shutters. Electric Eco Pocket blinds may qualify where they regulate room temperature by retaining heat in winter and cutting solar gain. Not ordinarily incorporated: safes, following Glenie Eldridge Joel, though policy accepts them in relevant residential and charitable buildings; stand-alone water softeners; and motorised blinds and shutters, which are caught by the input tax blocking order.
- very strong RN-U6IVLX
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
MHCLG guidance on placing construction products on the Great Britain market, covering England, Wales and Scotland, published 1 September 2020 and last updated 21 May 2025. States that on 2 September 2024 the Minister for Building Safety and Homelessness issued a written ministerial statement confirming that CE marking will continue to be available for construction products placed on the GB market, and that the UK mark, also known as the UKCA mark, may also be used. To use the UKCA mark a business must use a UK approved body for testing and certification for all products supplied to the GB market that are covered by a designated standard, or the product must conform to a UK technical assessment issued for it. Points to the Construction Products (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, 2020 and 2022 for the post-transition regime, and notes separate guidance applies for Northern Ireland. Warns that the guidance is a summary and the legislation prevails. This is the source for what a marking on a merchant's product actually means.
- very strong RN-GB57MH
Office for Product Safety and Standards (GOV.UK)
The general product safety regime that sits alongside the construction products rules and catches everything the CPR does not. The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 require all products to be safe in their normal or reasonably foreseeable use. Manufacturers and importers must minimise risks, generate and keep technical documentation, label products appropriately, and give safe usage instructions. Distributors and retailers, which is where a builders merchant sits, must not supply products they know or ought to know are unsafe, and must keep supplier records so a product can be traced back up the chain. Once a business becomes aware of a safety risk it is legally obliged to notify the manufacturer, supplier or local Trading Standards, and failure to do so creates liability for resulting harm. Corrective action can mean new instructions, modification, or recall with direct contact to affected consumers. Enforcement in Great Britain is by local authority Trading Standards and the Office for Product Safety and Standards; in Northern Ireland by local authority Environmental Health and OPSS. Liability frameworks sit in the Consumer Protection Act 1987.
- very strong RN-HVQINY
Office for Product Safety and Standards (GOV.UK)
The rule that governs whether the timber on a merchant's rack may lawfully be sold at all. Operators, meaning anyone who first places timber or timber products on the Great Britain market, must not place illegally harvested timber on that market, and must operate a due diligence system in three steps: gather information on species, quantity, supplier, country of harvest and legal compliance; assess risk against the criteria in the regulations; and mitigate any non-negligible risk through further verification or information. All species in a composite must be assessed separately, though the recycled portion of a product need not be. Scope covers imported and domestic timber and a broad range of products including composites such as furniture, pulp and paper. Enforcement across Great Britain and Northern Ireland is by the Office for Product Safety and Standards, which verifies due diligence systems, keeps trader records and validates FLEGT licences. Legal basis: the Timber and Timber Products (Placing on the Market) Regulations 2013, the FLEGT Regulations 2012, and the 2018 and 2020 EU Exit amendments. The page states no penalty figures.
- very strong RN-Q1TNFA
Office for Product Safety and Standards / Department for Business and Trade (GOV.UK)
The rules for the UKCA conformity mark in Great Britain, covering over 20 product types across the new approach goods plus sectors such as aerosols and rail. The date that matters for buyers of building products: legislation allows CE marking to continue to be recognised in Great Britain alongside UKCA until 11pm on 31 December 2027 for most sectors, so a CE marked product on a merchant's shelf is not automatically non-compliant. Until the same date the UKCA mark may be affixed on a label attached to the product or on an accompanying document rather than on the product itself. Form rules: the mark must be in its standard recognisable form, at least 5mm high unless another minimum is specified, and easily visible, legible and indelible. Construction products are treated separately: designated standards apply on a mandatory rather than voluntary basis, and System 4 assessment and verification of constancy of performance permits manufacturer self-declaration for some categories.
- very strong RN-SECOIT
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The provision that bites when a customer describes the job and the merchant sells them the wrong thing. s.10(1) applies where, before the contract is made, the consumer makes known to the trader expressly or by implication any particular purpose for which they are contracting for the goods. s.10(3) then treats the contract as including a term that the goods are reasonably fit for that purpose, whether or not it is a purpose for which goods of that kind are usually supplied, so telling a merchant the adhesive is for an unheated outbuilding brings that use inside the term even if it is unusual. s.10(4) is the escape: the term does not apply if the circumstances show the consumer does not rely, or it is unreasonable for the consumer to rely, on the skill or judgment of the trader or credit-broker, which is how a trade counter defends itself against a professional buyer specifying their own product. s.10(2) extends the section to purposes made known to a credit-broker, and s.10(5) preserves fitness terms arising by usage of trade.
- very strong RN-6QID1S
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 11(1) implies into every contract to supply goods by description a term that the goods will match the description. s.11(2) makes clear that where goods are supplied by both sample and description, matching the sample is not enough: they must also match the description, which is the answer to a merchant who points at a sample board when the delivered batch is wrong. s.11(3) keeps a sale within the section even where the consumer selected the goods themselves from open display, so picking your own timber off the rack does not forfeit the right. s.11(4) turns pre-contract information about the main characteristics of the goods, as required by Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, into a term of the contract, which is how a website specification or catalogue entry becomes binding. s.11(5) makes any change to that information ineffective unless expressly agreed between the consumer and the trader. Public auctions are treated differently under s.2(5) and (6); remedies are in s.19.
- very strong RN-XMBAHR
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The provision behind the recurring complaint that a delivered batch of tiles, bricks, paint or flooring does not match the sample the customer was shown. s.13(1) applies the section to a contract to supply goods by reference to a sample of the goods seen or examined by the consumer before the contract is made. s.13(2)(a) implies a term that the goods will match the sample, except to the extent that any differences between the sample and the goods are brought to the consumer's attention before the contract is made, which is the point at which a merchant's warning about batch or shade variation must be given if it is to have effect. s.13(2)(b) adds a second, independent term: the goods will be free from any defect that makes their quality unsatisfactory and that would not be apparent on a reasonable examination of the sample, so an inspection of the sample does not waive hidden defects in the batch. s.13(3) points to section 19 for the remedies. Distinguish section 14, which covers a model rather than a sample.
- very strong RN-UWQ8CE
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The provision that governs buying from a showroom display, a merchant's demonstration unit or a sample board. s.14(1) applies the section to a contract to supply goods by reference to a model of the goods that is seen or examined by the consumer before entering into the contract. s.14(2) treats every such contract as including a term that the goods will match the model, except to the extent that any differences between the model and the goods are brought to the consumer's attention before the consumer enters into the contract, so a merchant who wants to supply something different from the display must flag the difference at the point of sale, not in the small print afterwards. s.14(3) points to section 19 for the remedies on breach. Note the distinction from section 13, which deals with goods supplied by reference to a sample rather than a model.
- very strong RN-W8IHK3
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The gateway section that maps each breach to a remedy and carries the reverse burden of proof. Breaches of the statutory terms in sections 9 to 14 and section 16 give the short-term right to reject under sections 20 and 22; breaches of sections 9 to 14, 15 and 16 also give the right to repair or replacement under section 23; and the right to a price reduction or the final right to reject follows under sections 20 and 24. The provision that decides most merchant disputes is s.19(14): goods which do not conform to the contract at any time within the period of six months beginning with the day of delivery must be taken not to have conformed on that day, so for the first six months it is the trader, not the customer, who must prove the goods were sound when supplied. s.19(15) sets the two exceptions, where it is established that the goods did conform on delivery, or where the presumption is incompatible with the nature of the goods or the nature of the lack of conformity.
- very strong RN-7U8SUG
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 23 is the second-tier remedy for goods that do not conform to contract, available after the 30-day short-term right to reject has lapsed. s.23(2) requires the trader to repair or replace within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to the consumer, and to bear any necessary costs including labour, materials and postage. s.23(5) says what counts as a reasonable time or significant inconvenience is determined by the nature of the goods and the purpose for which they were acquired, which is how a delivery of the wrong bricks mid-build is treated differently from a returned tool. s.23(3) and (4) set the disproportionate cost test: the consumer cannot demand repair over replacement or vice versa where that remedy imposes unreasonable costs on the trader judged against the value the goods would have if conforming, the significance of the lack of conformity, and whether the other remedy could be effected without significant inconvenience.
- very strong RN-NBEKR0
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 24 is the third-tier remedy where repair or replacement under s.23 has failed. The consumer may exercise a price reduction or the final right to reject, but s.24(5) allows only one of the two, and the right arises after one repair or one replacement has been attempted and the goods still do not conform, or where repair or replacement is impossible, or the trader has not acted within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience. s.24(8) permits any refund on a final rejection to be reduced by a deduction for use, reflecting the consumer's use of the goods since delivery. s.24(10) bars any such deduction where the final right to reject is exercised within the first six months, except for motor vehicles and goods specified by order of the Secretary of State. For building materials this means a full refund with no use deduction inside six months.
- very strong RN-KDWNV6
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 28 governs when ordered goods must arrive. s.28(3) sets the default where the parties have agreed no date: the trader must deliver without undue delay and in any event not more than 30 days after the day the contract is entered into. s.28(6) lets the consumer treat the contract as at an end immediately where the trader has refused to deliver, or where the agreed time was essential given the circumstances, or where the consumer told the trader before the contract that delivery by a particular time was essential. Where the time was not essential, s.28(7) requires the consumer first to specify a further period appropriate in the circumstances; s.28(8) then allows the contract to be treated as at an end if that period passes. s.28(9) obliges the trader to reimburse all payments made under the contract without undue delay. This is the provision behind a claim for a merchant missing a delivery slot that holds up a trade.
- very strong RN-DBZR1I
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 29 settles who bears the loss when materials are damaged or lost in transit. s.29(2) keeps the goods at the trader's risk until they come into the physical possession of the consumer or of a person identified by the consumer to take possession of them, so a pallet of tiles smashed on a merchant's own lorry is the merchant's problem, not the customer's. s.29(3) and (4) carve out the case where the consumer, rather than the trader, engages the carrier: where the consumer commissions a carrier of their own choosing and that carrier was not among the options the trader offered, the goods are at the consumer's risk on and after delivery to that carrier. s.29(5) preserves the carrier's separate liability to the consumer. In force from 1 October 2015. Decisive for arguments over who pays for breakages on a site delivery.
- very strong RN-2VNDBA
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The section that overrides a merchant's own terms and conditions. s.31(1) makes a term of a contract to supply goods not binding on the consumer to the extent that it would exclude or restrict the trader's liability under section 9 satisfactory quality, section 10 fitness for particular purpose, section 11 goods as described, section 12 pre-contract information, section 13 goods to match a sample, section 14 goods to match a model, section 15 installation as part of conformity, section 16 digital content conformity, section 17 the trader's right to supply, section 28 delivery, and section 29 passing of risk. s.31(2) extends this beyond outright exclusions to terms that restrict the available remedies, make a remedy or its enforcement subject to onerous or restrictive conditions, put the consumer at a disadvantage for pursuing the right or remedy, or exclude or restrict rules of evidence or procedure. s.31(5) and (6) carve out a limited exception for hire contracts under section 17. This is the answer to a no-refunds-on-special-order sign.
- very strong RN-IHA647
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
Section 9 implies into every contract to supply goods a term that the quality of the goods is satisfactory. s.9(2) sets the objective test: quality is satisfactory if it meets the standard a reasonable person would consider satisfactory, taking account of description, price and all other relevant circumstances. s.9(3) lists the aspects of quality where appropriate: fitness for all the purposes for which goods of that kind are usually supplied, appearance and finish, freedom from minor defects, safety, and durability. Durability is the limb that matters for building materials. s.9(4) excludes defects specifically drawn to the consumer's attention before the contract was made, defects the consumer's own pre-purchase examination ought to have revealed, and in sample contracts defects apparent on a reasonable examination of the sample. This is the base right behind any claim against a merchant for bad materials.
- very strong RN-K5GYU3
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The fixed sums a supplier may add to a late-paid commercial debt on top of statutory interest, which is what a builders merchant relies on when chasing an overdue trade account and what a contractor can claim from a slow-paying client business. s.5A(2) sets three bands by the size of the unpaid debt: £40 where the debt is less than £1,000, £70 where it is £1,000 or more but less than £10,000, and £100 where it is £10,000 or more. The sum is payable per invoice, not per account. s.5A(2A) adds that where the supplier's reasonable costs of recovering the debt exceed the fixed sum, the supplier is also entitled to the difference between the fixed sum and those costs, which is the route to recovering solicitor or debt agency fees. Applies to contracts between businesses, not to consumer contracts.
- very strong RN-OH6TTJ
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The business-to-business equivalent of the Consumer Rights Act terms, and the provision that governs a builder buying on a trade account, where the CRA does not apply. s.14(2) implies into a sale in the course of a business a term that the goods are of satisfactory quality. s.14(2A) sets the reasonable person standard taking account of any description, the price if relevant, and all other relevant circumstances. s.14(2B) lists the aspects of quality: fitness for all purposes for which goods of the kind in question are commonly supplied, appearance and finish, freedom from minor defects, safety and durability. s.14(2C) excludes defects specifically drawn to the buyer's attention before the contract, defects the buyer's own examination ought to have revealed, and in sample sales defects apparent on a reasonable examination of the sample. s.14(3) implies fitness for a particular purpose made known to the seller unless the buyer did not rely, or it was unreasonable to rely, on the seller's skill or judgment. s.14(6) classifies these as conditions in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, so breach entitles the buyer to reject.
- very strong RN-AZ64WG
The National Archives (legislation.gov.uk)
The 2022 amendment that created national oversight of construction products in response to Grenfell. Regulation 2 amends the Construction Products Regulations 2013 at regulations 2, 3, 5, 10 and 14; regulation 3 amends Schedule 3 of the Construction Products (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020. The substantive effect is to make the Secretary of State an enforcement authority for construction products across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, which is the legal basis on which the National Regulator for Construction Products operates alongside local Trading Standards. In force 20 July 2022. Note what it does not do: the instrument carries no transitional CE marking recognition or end date, which sits in separate instruments and in the GOV.UK guidance on the Construction Products Regulation in Great Britain.