Remedial cost
£8,400
For homeowners · England & Wales · Small claims under £10,000
Sue a builder.
Without paying a solicitor by the hour.
Builder abandoned the job, left poor workmanship, or breached the contract? The Consumer Rights Act 2015 says the work must be done with reasonable care and skill. CourtPilot drafts the letter before action, the particulars and the bundle so you can take it to the small claims court yourself.
We help you prepare the documents and file them yourself — you’re always the claimant on the record. Not a law firm, no legal advice given.
✓ Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct letter
✓ Reasonable care & skill: s.49 CRA 2015
✓ s.69 interest at 8% claimable
Claims up to £10,000 ✓
s.49
Consumer Rights Act 2015: a trader must perform a service with reasonable care and skill.
6 years
General time limit for breach of contract under the Limitation Act 1980, from the date of the breach.
£10,000
Normal upper limit of the small claims track, where each side usually pays its own legal costs.
Can you take this to court?
Five checks.
If most are yes, you may have a claim.
Builder disputes usually come with a paper trail: quotes, invoices, photos and messages. The court wants to see you tried to resolve it first.
1
You paid a builder who abandoned the job or left it unfinished.
2
The work is clearly below a reasonable standard: defects, snagging, or the wrong spec.
3
The builder breached the terms of the contract or quote you agreed.
4
You have photos, messages, invoices, or a written quote as evidence.
5
The amount you’re claiming is under £10,000.
· Eligibility self-check
✓You paid a builder who abandoned the job or left it unfinished.
✓The work is clearly below a reasonable standard: defects, snagging, or the wrong spec.
✓The builder breached the terms of the contract or quote you agreed.
✓You have photos, messages, invoices, or a written quote as evidence.
The full guide
How to sue a builder for poor workmanship.
What the law expects of a builder, how to value your claim, and the step-by-step route to the small claims court in England and Wales.
What the law says a builder must do
If you hired the builder as a consumer (for your own home rather than a business), Part 1, Chapter 4 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies to the work:
- Reasonable care and skill (s.49). The work must meet the standard of a reasonably competent builder in that trade.
- What they told you is binding (s.50). Things the builder said or wrote about the work, such as a quote, a specification or a start or finish date, can form part of the contract if you relied on them.
- A reasonable price (s.51) if no price was agreed, and a reasonable time (s.52) if no finish date was agreed.
- Materials supplied as part of the job must be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose, under the goods rules in the same Act.
If you hired the builder for a business, similar duties come from the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 and the contract itself. A contract does not have to be in writing: an agreement by phone or text is still binding, though you will need evidence of what was agreed. See our building work disputes guide for more.
Your remedies: put it right, price reduction or damages
Under the 2015 Act you can first ask the builder to repeat the work properly, within a reasonable time and at their cost (s.55). If that is impossible, or they do not do it within a reasonable time without significant inconvenience to you, you can claim a price reduction (s.56), which can be up to the full price.
You can also claim damages for breach of contract, which the Act keeps alongside its own remedies. In practice most builder claims are for the reasonable cost of having another firm finish or fix the work, less anything you would still have owed the original builder. You are expected to act reasonably to keep your losses down, so get more than one quote and do not pay for upgrades beyond what was agreed.
If the builder walked off the job, they may have repudiated the contract. That generally lets you end the contract and claim the extra cost of finishing, but be careful: if you stopped them working or refused to pay a stage payment that was due, they may argue you were the one in breach.
Step by step: how to take a builder to small claims court
- Record the defects. Take dated photos and video of every problem and keep the quote, invoices, bank transfers and messages. List the defects room by room.
- Give the builder a chance to put it right. Write to the builder, list the defects and ask them to return and fix the work by a specific date. Under s.55 they are entitled to the chance to repeat the work, and a court will look at whether you gave it. If they are a member of a trade association or scheme such as TrustMark, check whether it offers a complaints or dispute resolution process.
- Get independent quotes for the remedial work. Two or three written quotes from other builders set the value of your claim. For technical defects, a short report from a surveyor can help; on the small claims track expert fees of up to £750 can be recovered.
- Send a letter before action. Send a formal letter before action following the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct: the contract, what went wrong, the sum you want and how you worked it out, and a reasonable deadline to respond (14 days is common). Say you will issue a claim if they do not reply.
- Issue the claim online. If the deadline in your letter passes without payment, you can issue the claim yourself through Money Claim Online or the GOV.UK "Make a money claim" service. You state a fixed sum, a short description of the claim and any interest, and pay the issue fee. The defendant needs an address for service in England or Wales.
- Wait for the response. Once the claim is served, the defendant normally has 14 days to pay, admit, or file a defence, or 28 days in total if they file an acknowledgment of service first. If they do nothing, you can ask the court for judgment in default.
- Free mediation if it is defended. Most defended small money claims are now referred to a free one-hour telephone session with the HMCTS Small Claims Mediation Service before a hearing is listed. See our guide to mandatory mediation.
- Directions and the small claims track. If it does not settle, both sides complete a directions questionnaire and the court allocates the case. Claims up to £10,000 normally go to the small claims track, where the procedure is simpler and each side usually pays its own legal costs. The court then sets dates for exchanging documents and witness statements, and you pay the hearing fee.
- The hearing. Small claims hearings are informal and often short. A district judge reads the papers, asks both sides questions and gives a decision, usually the same day. Our guide to what to expect at the hearing covers the day itself.
- Judgment and enforcement. If you win and they still do not pay, the court has enforcement options such as a warrant of control or an attachment of earnings order. Each has its own fee.
Who do you sue?
Sue whoever you made the contract with. If the builder is a limited company, the claim is against the company, using its registered name and office from Companies House. If they are a sole trader, you sue them personally, for example "John Smith trading as Smith Building". You need a current address in England or Wales for service. Our guide to suing a company covers naming the defendant correctly.
Before you issue, think about whether the builder could pay a judgment. A court order is only worth what you can enforce.
Court fees to sue a builder
The issue fee is paid when you start the claim; the hearing fee only if the claim is defended and listed for a hearing. Both depend on the total you claim, including interest. Try the court fee calculator for your exact figure.
The issue fee runs from £35 for a claim up to £300 to £455 for a claim of £10,000. If the case goes to a hearing there is a second fee, from £27 to £346 on the small claims track. See the full fee table by claim amount or use the court fee calculator for your exact figure.
Fees from the HMCTS fee list (EX50), last checked against gov.uk on 2026-10-19. Fees change, so check gov.uk before you pay. If you are on a low income you may qualify for Help with Fees (form EX160). Court fees you pay are normally added to the claim and can be ordered against the other side if you win.
Worked example
i
Illustrative example · not a real customer
Priya agrees a written quote of £12,000 for a kitchen refit and pays £9,000 in stage payments. The builder leaves with the worktops badly fitted, a leaking sink connection and the tiling unfinished, then stops answering. Priya writes asking them to come back within 14 days; they do not.
Two other firms quote to finish and fix the work. The lower quote is £6,800. Had the original builder finished, Priya would have paid another £3,000, so her loss is the difference.
| Cost to finish and fix (lower quote) | £6,800 |
| Less: balance she would have paid anyway | − £3,000 |
| Claim value (before interest) | £3,800 |
| Court issue fee | £205 |
| Hearing fee, only if defended and listed | £346 |
This shows one common way of valuing a builder claim. It is a worked method, not a prediction of the result in any real case; a court may value defects differently.
CourtPilot is not a law firm and this page is general information about the law in England and Wales, not legal advice. If your situation is complicated or the sum is large, consider speaking to a solicitor or Citizens Advice.
What CourtPilot drafts for you
Tuned to your job.
Not a template.
Generic letters fall over the moment the builder says you signed off, changed the scope mid-job, or refused access. CourtPilot drafts from your facts: quote, payment history, photos, snag list.
1
Letter Before Action — Names the contract, the breaches, the remedial cost and the deadline, following the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct.
2
Schedule of defects — Itemised snag list with quotes from other trades to put the work right: the figure your claim is built on.
3
Particulars of Claim — Pleaded to CPR Part 16, citing s.49 CRA 2015 (reasonable care and skill) and the express terms of your quote.
4
Court bundle & witness statement — Hearing-ready bundle with your statement, photos, quotes and messages, indexed and paginated.
9:415G
Re: Defective rear-extension works, 18 Larkfield Road
Dear Mr Hughes,
I write before issuing a claim in the County Court Money Claims Centre. Under the written quote dated 4 February 2026, you agreed to complete a single-storey rear extension for £28,500. The works were abandoned on 12 April 2026 with significant defects unremedied.
In accordance with the Practice Direction on Pre-Action Conduct, this letter affords you 14 days to respond with proposals to settle…
Defects
12
Interest 8%
£56/mo
Deadline
14 days
Download Word doc →
The cost of being heard
Solicitors don’t scale to small claims.
CourtPilot does.
On the small claims track, legal costs generally aren’t recoverable. A solicitor’s fees on a £5,000 builder dispute could eat most of the money you’re trying to recover.
What a solicitor charges
By the hour
Billed for the time spent
A solicitor bills for their time on a builder dispute, before any expert report, and on the small claims track those fees generally aren’t recoverable.
What CourtPilot charges
£49
One-off · the lot
LBA, schedule of defects, particulars, witness statement, MCOL walkthrough, hearing bundle and prep. One-off. The £29 Claim Pack is credited against it within 60 days if you started there.
What changes
Nothing
You’re still the claimant
Same court, same forms, same procedure. You sign and file. We draft, walk you through MCOL, and produce the bundle.
Pricing, in one breath
£29 today. £49 if it goes the distance.
Start with the Claim Pack: the letter, plus the particulars and the N1 ready if they don’t pay. Most disputes settle once a proper letter lands. If yours is defended, the £29 comes off the toolkit within 60 days — same total either way.
01 · Today
£29
Claim Pack: letter, particulars and N1
Drafted from your quote and photos. Names the breaches, the remedial figure and the deadline.
02 · If they don’t settle
£49
£20
Upgrade to the full toolkit
MCOL walkthrough, particulars, schedule of defects, witness statement, court bundle, hearing script. £29 Claim Pack credited within 60 days.
03 · Included
Free
Snag-list builder
Built into every plan. Photograph each defect, drop in a remedial quote, and we produce the schedule the court expects.
The questions people ask
The bits people always ask.
Can I take a builder to small claims court?+
Yes. If the work was below a reasonable standard, unfinished or not what was agreed, you can issue a money claim in the County Court. Claims up to £10,000 are normally dealt with on the small claims track, which is designed for people representing themselves.
Do I need a written contract to sue a builder?+
No. A verbal agreement is still a binding contract. Texts, emails, quotes and bank transfers can all show what was agreed and what you paid.
Do I have to let the builder come back and fix it?+
Under s.55 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 you can require the builder to repeat the work, and a court will usually expect you to have offered that chance. If they refuse, cannot fix it, or do not do it within a reasonable time, you can claim a price reduction or the cost of another firm putting it right.
What if the builder isn’t a registered company?+
You can sue a sole trader personally. You will need their full name and an address in England or Wales for the court forms. If they traded under a business name, you still sue them as an individual, trading as that name.
How much can I claim for poor building work?+
Usually the reasonable cost of putting the work right or finishing it, less anything you would still have owed the builder, plus any money you overpaid. You can add 8% simple interest under s.69 of the County Courts Act 1984 and the court fees you pay.
Should I get an independent survey or report?+
It helps but is not always needed for a small claim. Photos, quotes for the remedial work and your own witness statement are often enough. For technical defects, a short expert report strengthens the case, and expert fees of up to £750 can be recovered on the small claims track.
How long do I have to bring a claim?+
Generally six years from the date of the breach of contract under the Limitation Act 1980. Act sooner if you can, because evidence fades and builders move on.
Two minutes · No card
Find out the cleanest route for your builder dispute.
The free case check tells you whether you have a small claims case, what to value it at, and the next step. No card required.