Handing over the keys to your home is a massive leap of faith. While you naturally agonise over tiles and paint colours, there is often a quieter worry about exactly who will be walking through your front door every morning.
We know that for many homeowners in Surrey and West Sussex, this anxiety about inviting strangers into your home is the biggest barrier to starting a project.
To help put your mind at ease, here are the key things you need to know about vetting a tradesperson and ensuring your home remains safe and respected.
Key Takeaways
- Character Over Skill: Hiring for integrity and attitude first ensures respectful behaviour in your home, which is just as crucial as technical ability.
- Verifiable Safety Checks: we recommend insisting on DBS checks for anyone working in your property to guarantee they have no history of serious offences.
- Daily Respect Standards: A trustworthy team should leave your home as clean as they found it every single day, not just at the end of the project.
- Consistent Team Presence: Avoid the “subcontractor lottery” by choosing a company with a consistent, directly managed team for accountability and peace of mind.
The Validity of Your Fear
It is important to say this upfront: your anxiety is completely rational.
The unfortunate reality of the building trade is that it has a reputation for letting people down. We have all heard the horror stories of the “cowboy builder” or the rogue trader.
Research consistently shows that the South East of England is one of the regions most affected by complaints against tradespeople.
The fear isn’t just about a bad paint job. It is about the stress of having someone in your home who is messy, discourteous, or fundamentally untrustworthy.
When you feel that knot in your stomach about hiring a builder, you are not being paranoid. You are being prudent.
Your home is your “sanctuary”. You have every right to protect it.
The “Character First, Skill Second” Philosophy
Most building companies hire based on a CV. They look at technical qualifications and years of experience.
While these are obviously important, they are not enough to guarantee a stress-free renovation experience.
At Thomson Properties, we operate on a different philosophy: we hire for character first, and skill second.
We believe we can teach a good person how to be a better plumber. However, you cannot teach a technically skilled plumber how to be a good person.
We dig deep to find integrity and a natural inclination to be helpful, even using a specific ‘culture test’ for every new applicant.
We ask about real-world scenarios, like when finishing late whether they would stay even later to tidy a site perfectly or leave it messy until the morning. Their answer tells us instantly if they treat your home as a building site or, as we insist, your sanctuary.
If a tradesperson is the best tiler in Surrey but is rude, messy, or unreliable, they simply won’t fit in our team. We need people who understand that they are guests in your home.
The Specific Checks That Guarantee Safety
Trust is good, but verification is better. You should not have to rely on a builder’s word alone when it comes to the safety of your household.
There are tangible, verifiable checks that professional companies use to vet their staff. The most critical of these is the DBS check.
What is a DBS Check?
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is a government record of a person’s criminal history.
While it is mandatory for people working with vulnerable groups, it is not a legal requirement for general builders working in private homes.
However, we believe it should be the industry standard.
All our fitters are DBS checked.
This provides a baseline of safety. It assures you that the person working in your kitchen or bathroom does not have a history of serious offences.
It is a simple, objective measure that offers immense reassurance.
When you are comparing quotes, we strongly recommend asking any potential contractor if their team is DBS checked. Their answer will tell you a lot about how seriously they take your safety.
Professional Accountability
Beyond individual background checks, you should look for company-level accountability.
Membership in organisations like The Guild of Master Craftsmen or registration with the Chartered Institute of Plumbing and Heating Engineers (CIPHE) is significant.
These are not just badges for the side of a van. They require businesses to adhere to strict codes of practice regarding workmanship and conduct.
If a member behaves unprofessionally, they can be held accountable and lose their accreditation. This external scrutiny provides an extra layer of protection for you as the homeowner.
The High Standards: What It Looks Like Day-to-Day
Trustworthiness isn’t just about a clean criminal record. It is about how a person behaves in your environment.
We train our team to view your home as your “sanctuary”. This isn’t just a nice phrase. It translates into specific, non-negotiable behaviours on site.
1. The Daily Tidy-Up
The standard industry practice is often to leave the mess until the end of the job. This means you spend weeks living in dust and chaos.
We reject that rule.
Our standard is to leave your home as clean as, or cleaner than, we found it every single day.
This involves dust sheets, floor protectors, and hoovering all the way to the front door before we leave. For more on how we handle mess and protect your property, see our guide on how the rest of your home is protected from dust and damage.
2. Communication and Courtesy
A reliable fitter communicates clearly and consistently. You should never be left wondering where the team is or why work has stopped for the day.
At Thomson Properties, we provide daily updates to keep you fully informed. We often use video messages so you know exactly what we achieved that day and what the plan is for tomorrow.
Respecting your home routine is crucial. If we need to turn the water off, we ask you first. If we need to isolate the electricity temporarily, we will always check that it is not inconvenient. To learn more about these standards, read our article on what good day-to-day communication looks like.
3. Continuity
One of the biggest fears homeowners have is the “disappearing act,” where a builder starts a job and then vanishes to work on another project.
We promise project continuity. Once we start your job, we don’t stop until it is finished.
You won’t be left with a half-finished bathroom while we chase a paycheck elsewhere.
Who Exactly Will Be In My Home?
Unlike the “subcontractor lottery” you might face with some firms, where different random faces turn up every day, we provide consistency.
Our team is small, tight-knit, and directly managed. You will typically have a lead fitter dedicated to your project.
These are skilled craftsmen like Ben, Nick, or Jason, who have been with us for years. They are multi-skilled, meaning the same person can often handle plumbing, tiling, and carpentry.
You can learn more about the benefits of this approach in our comparison of multi-skilled companies vs. separate tradesmen.
This reduces the number of different people walking through your door. You get to know your fitter, and they get to know your home.
Take Philippa Payne in Cranleigh, for example. When we transformed her kitchen and utility room, she told us she felt she had “struck gold” with her fitter, Jason.
While she praised the quality of his work, noting she had never seen quality like it before, it was his character that stood out.
She described him as trustworthy, tidy, reliable, and a genuine pleasure to have in the house.
Knowing exactly who is in your home, and finding them to be a decent, respectful person like Jason, turns a stressful renovation into a positive experience.
You also have the oversight of our leadership team, Jamie,Liam, and Mark who conduct regular site visits to ensure standards are being met. You are never left alone to manage the tradespeople.
Who Our Service Is NOT For
We believe in radical transparency, and that means being honest about who we are not a good fit for.
We know we aren’t the cheapest. To be perfectly honest, that is something we are upfront about.
If you are looking for the absolute lowest price on the market, we are likely not the right company for you.
Maintaining a team of high-character, DBS-checked, multi-skilled professionals costs more than hiring a “one-man band” who may cut corners on anything from standards to insurance.
We invest heavily in our people and our processes to guarantee your peace of mind.
If price is your only consideration, and you are willing to take the risk on who enters your home to save money, our service will not align with your priorities. You can read more about why reputable firms charge what they do in our article on why we aren’t the cheapest.
Summary: How to Vet Your Tradespeople
If you are speaking to different companies, here are three questions you can ask to determine if they are truly trustworthy:
- “Are all the people who will be in my home DBS checked?” Listen carefully to the answer. If they dismiss it as unnecessary, ask yourself why.
- “Do you use a consistent team, or do you rely on casual subcontractors?” You want to know exactly who is accountable for the work.
- “Can I visit a previous client to view the work firsthand?” Beyond just passing on contact details, a confident company should be willing to take you to a completed home – let us know if that’s something you would like to do. This allows you to inspect the quality personally and ask the homeowner if they felt comfortable with the team. For more detailed advice, see our guide on how to find a builder who respects your home.
At the end of the day, a beautiful bathroom is the result we all want. But the journey to get there matters just as much.
You deserve to feel safe, respected, and relaxed in your own home while the work is being done.
If you would like to discuss your project and meet our team, please contact us to book a free, no-obligation estimate. We would be happy to show you our Charter Document, which outlines our commitments to you in writing.
