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Complaint about poor work by a builder, garage or other trader (England and Wales)
England and Wales · in English · for consumers
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For a consumer whose builder, decorator, garage, repairer or other service provider did the work badly or not as agreed. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a trader must perform a service with reasonable care and skill; the letter asks for the work to be put right at the trader's cost or, where that is not possible, for a price reduction (sections 49, 55 and 56), and is a letter before claim with 14 days to reply. Send it by email and by first class post, with photos.
- Made for use in England and Wales
- Last updated October 28, 2026
- Document in English
Where a UK document reproduces the words of legislation or of a government publication — UK, Scottish or Northern Irish — it contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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When to use this document
- A builder in England left you with a botched job and will not put it right.
- The garage repaired your car but the same fault came back straight away.
- A tradesperson left the work half finished and stopped answering.
- You want the trader to redo poor work or give you money back.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Sender
- Sender's address
- Town or city
- Sender's postcode
- Date
- Trader
- Trader's postal address
- Description of the work
- Date of the contract
- Price
- What the complaint is about
- Work put right, or price reduction
- Amount claimed
Common questions
- What can I ask for when a builder's or garage's work is poor?
- First, that the trader does the work again properly, at its own cost and within a reasonable time (section 55). If that is impossible, or does not happen in a reasonable time, a price reduction, which can be up to the full price (section 56). Losses the bad work caused, such as damage to your home or car, can be claimed as well.
- Can I get someone else to fix the work and send the bill to the first trader?
- Usually only after giving the first trader a fair chance to put it right, as this letter does. If it refuses or fails, get written quotes from other traders and keep the invoices: a court may award the reasonable cost of the repair as part of the price reduction or as damages.
- What if the work was never finished, or took far too long?
- Where no time was agreed, a service must be done within a reasonable time (section 52). Describe the delays and what is left undone, and claim the extra costs this caused you. For building work, a trade association the trader belongs to may offer free or low-cost dispute resolution; check its website first.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
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