Free protection check
Five questions to answer before you commit.
Use this before you appoint anyone, sign a contract, pay a deposit, approve a change or release a payment. It takes a couple of minutes, it is free, and you do not need an account.
Answer the five questions below
You will see where you stand once you have answered them. Nothing is recorded anywhere except in this browser.
Question 1
Do you know exactly what is in the price, and what is not?
Most overspend starts with something that was never included in the first place.
Question 2
Is everything agreed in writing, and signed by both of you?
If it is not written down, there is nothing to hold anyone to later.
Question 3
Is every payment tied to work you can actually see finished?
Paying ahead of the work is the single fastest way homeowners lose money.
Question 4
Do you know how changes will be priced and approved?
Changes agreed in conversation on site turn into invoices nobody expected.
Question 5
Have you checked insurance, guarantees and what happens if it goes wrong?
This is the part that actually protects you, and it is far harder to ask for after a dispute starts.
Your answers stay in this browser. This check looks at your paperwork and your understanding of it. It does not approve a project, rate anyone you are working with, and it is not legal advice.
If you want to go further
There are checks here for the rest of the project too: scope and budget, comparing quotes, payments, changes, snagging and handover.
Keep going
Want the same kind of help for the rest of your project?
We cover the whole journey, from first idea and design through quotes, payments, changes, snagging and handover. Get the homeowner checklist by email and we will send one useful decision a month, nothing else.