A private firm specialising in vetting tradesmen has teamed up with a firm of Chartered Surveyors to create a ‘Consumer Protection Guarantee’, in an effort to rival national trades quality assurance watchdog TrustMark.
The Consumer Protection Guarantee uses the fact that the Goldcrest, the surveyors backing-up the private initiative have access to the RICS Client Money Protection scheme. This is a so-called escrow account that allows monies for building works to be held over until successful completion. It is then transferred into the contractors account after client sign-off. Escrows are typical in most construction contracts but almost unheard of in domestic small works.
Harvey Ellingham of ‘Tradesmen Connect, co-founder of the CPG scheme said “We’re the first company to actually pick up on the most important aspect- the financial side of a contract, and use the strength of that to settle any possible disputes. If there’s a problem, a RICS certified surveyor will look at the works and arbitrate on it- when you sign up to use the service, which is free to the consumer, you agree that their decision is binding’. Ellingham explained that contractor vetting process cost £395, and signing a project up to the scheme. 1.5% of the total contract sum. The tie-in with Surveyor Goldcrest has allowed them to access the RICS Client Money Protection Scheme as a central part of its business case.
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