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A List of Flower Bulb Companies
Flower bulbs offer some of the most distinctive, unusual flowers around. Gladioli, lilies, crocus, lilac, daylilies… all are instantly recognizable. When it comes time to buy flower bulbs, however, many people are at a loss. Who sells flower...
How to Choose a 'Safe' Color to Paint Your Rooms
Are you STILL thinking about painting your walls with color? Many people are afraid to make the leap from 'builder's beige' to a more daring color choice. What holds you back? Are you afraid the color will be too strong? Not match your furniture?...
Quick And Easy Bathroom Decor Changes
Are you tired of the way your bathroom looks? Don't feel bad, a lot of folks are in the same boat. The bathroom is one room in the home that can look drab and run down very easily. And what if you don't have an unlimited budget to make changes in...
Seven Common Questions About Home Weather Stations (And Their Answers)
Have you ever started a conversation with a comment about the weather?
Has an unexpected weather change created havoc in your garden, pond or aviary, or even damaged your home?
Have you ever noticed that the weather you experienced...
Winterizing A Vacation Home
Unlike winterizing your main home, winterizing a vacation or summer home effectively means closing down the home for the winter. However, winterizing a vacation home or summer home really only involves a few basic tasks that can be completed in...
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So which builder can you trust?
At some stage every homeowner needs to get the builders in.
Whether its a necessity or for aesthetic purposes, raising the
funds for home improvements is usually the easy part.
Finding a good reliable builder is when the problems start.
With the government's new quality mark scheme now underway in most parts of the country, getting a reputable builder should be easy.
Unfortunately some homeowners are finding out too late that while they are happy with the quality mark members work, they are certainly paying extra for a standard of work a reasonable person would expect from any builder.
So what is the quality mark scheme?
It is designed to help the homeowner find a reputable builder to carry out repairs and improvements to their home.
It also provides reputable builders/tradesmen with a scheme which allows them to demonstrate their commitment to quality by becoming
members of the scheme.
While the government are to be commended for tackling the cowboy
builder there are rumblings of misgivings from within the industry.
Here are a few of these worries.
At the moment it is free to join for companies with a turnover of less than £1 million.
This is obviously to encourage
membership but what happens when the majority have joined and
they then demand a large annual fee to remain a member? Once you
leave this or any other federation you become conspicuous by your absence. Because of this members will be loath to leave which means the cost will be passed to you the customer.
Part of the requirement to joining the scheme involves a financial check and validating tax status. This seems to be
another method of keeping an eye on earnings and what happens when the work dries up and firms are struggling?
The customer can complain to the scheme about the builder. If
this
is for poor workmanship then good builders have nothing to fear but a vindictive client could complain about something the builder cannot prove to be untrue such as "he was very
argumentative.”
Builders employees have to be qualified based on NVQ or
equivalent yet some of the best jobbing builders in the land
have never had any formal training in their lives.
The builder is required to comply with health and safety legislation such as risk assessments, safety policies etc.
Back door regulation?
What does all this mean for you the client?
Looking at the application pack, there is plenty of reference to customer care, satisfactory workmanship etc. but no reference to fair pricing.
There is also a lot of added bureaucracy, couple that with the
probable large annual fee and the cost of work for future customers can only go up.
It has already been reported that companies are getting the quality mark that are financially sound and have good tradesmen but have a record of rip-off prices.
The Institute of Plumbing and the Federation of Master Builders have also raised similar concerns about the new scheme¹s accreditation process.
As long as you compare the price of members of this or any other recognised organisation with a few reputable non-members and not just assume the price must be o.k. because they are registered with an organisation, it would be worth adding them to your list of potential builders.
About the Author
Taken from the new e-book, Builder Secrets Exposed.
This e-book comes complete with a small works building contract,
a large works building contract and permission to use the contracts
as many times as you and your close family require for the rest of
your lives.
Instantly downloadable in PDF format at just £19.95
www.building-contract.co.uk
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| Lowe's Home Improvement |
| Retailer of a complete line of home improvement products and equipment. |
| www.lowes.com |
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| Do It Yourself Home Improvement, Repair, and Remodeling ... |
| Doityourself home improvement and diy repair at DoItYourself.com. Includes diy home improvement projects, home improvement how to, home repair, ... |
| www.doityourself.com |
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| "Home Improvement" (1991) |
| Home Improvement on IMDb: Movies, TV, Celebs, and more... |
| www.imdb.com |
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| Hometime: Home Improvement, Remodeling and Repair |
| Hometime features step-by-step information to home improvement, remodeling, and repair. Projects include decks, kitchen and bathroom remodeling, landscaping ... |
| www.hometime.com |
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| Home Improvement Cyberfans |
| Information on ABC's hit sitcom Home Improvement, it's cast and their acting careers. |
| www.morepower.com |
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| Home Improvement Encyclopedia |
| Home repair, do-it-yourself and improvement advice for hundreds of home improvement projects. |
| www.bhg.com |
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| the home depot |
| www.homedepot.com/ - 2k - Cached - Similar pages |
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| Home Improvement - Do It Yourself - Home Remodeling | BobVila.com |
| Home improvement projects, featured products, tip library, bulletin board, designer tools, and information about television programs hosted by Bob Vila. |
| www.bobvila.com |
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| Do It Yourself Home Improvements - Home Improvement Information ... |
| Research do-it-yourself improvements with home improvement information from our website. Search home repair articles by subject, task or location. |
| www.bobvila.com |
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| Energy Star Home Improvement Toolbox |
| Improve Your Energy Efficiency at Home. Use our Home Improvement Toolbox to save money and help protect the environment without sacrificing comfort. |
| www.energystar.gov |
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| Home Tips: The Web's Most Helpful Home Improvement and Repair Site |
| Free home improvement advice, great remodeling tips, and appliance buying guides by leading home improvement authority, DIY expert and HGTV personality, ... |
| www.hometips.com |
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| HGTV : Decorating, Remodeling, Home Improvement & Gardening Ideas ... |
| Take a fresh approach to the way you live with HoFind ideas and inspiration from HGTV's videos to transform your home through decorating, home improvement, ... |
| www.hgtv.com |
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| Home Improvement - Decks, Flooring, Lighting, Tiling, Renovations ... |
| Do-it-yourself home improvement projects and home improvement videos for decks, flooring, lighting, tiling, renovations and more, plus tips and step-by-step ... |
| www.diynetwork.com |
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| Home Improvement TV Show - Home Improvement Television Show - TV.com |
| Home Improvement TV Show, TV.com is your reference guide to Home Improvement Show. Episode guide, photos, videos, cast and crew information, forums, ... |
| www.tv.com |
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| Home Improvement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
| From the outset of Season 2, Tim and Al would make a theme of a particular home improvement project or item on Tool Time by hosting a week long "salute" to ... |
| en.wikipedia.org |
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| Home Improvement Archive |
| Home Improvement Archive -- Episode Guide, scripts, articles, and much more! |
| www.hiarchive.co.uk |
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| Free Home Improvement Contractor Matching Service and Resources ... |
| Be matched with qualified and screened, expert contractors in your area in seconds with no obligation now. Improvenet offers the largest free contractor ... |
| www.improvenet.com |
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| DIY Home Improvement, home repair Tips |
| DIY home improvement, remodeling, house repairs and maintainance Help Center...How To instructions for all your projects. |
| www.alsnetbiz.com |
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| Amazon.com: Home Improvement: Electrical, Plumbing, Hardware ... |
| Online shopping for Home Improvement from a great selection of Tools & Hardware; Electrical, Plumbing, Hardware, Heating & Cooling, Building Materials ... |
| www.amazon.com |
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| Home Improvement |
| AsktheBuilder.com: Build and remodel your home the right way. Learn how the master craftsmen of old built things to last. |
| www.askthebuilder.com |
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