How we chose
We built the candidate list from Google Places listings across Telford, Companies House records and each firm's own website, then checked claimed memberships against the Federation of Master Builders and TrustMark registers [1][2][8]. Before we score anyone, we check that each business is who it says it is, is trading today and can actually be reached, and that any claimed registration checks out. We then score every eligible business against our scoring system, which looks at the things you care about when hiring: what customers say, the qualifications and registrations that matter for this trade, how the business responded when we contacted it, how long it has traded, insurance and safeguards, how clearly it prices, and how useful its website is. Anything we cannot verify stays neutral rather than counting against a business. Each ranking carries its evidence date so you can see how fresh every check is.
How to hire
Match the firm to the job. A general builder suits extensions, garage and loft conversions, knock-throughs and renovations that mix bricklaying, roofing, plastering and joinery. Single-craft jobs, such as a garden wall alone or a bathroom refit, often sit better with a bricklayer or a bathroom specialist, and anything structural needs drawings from an architect or structural engineer before a builder can price it properly. Ask who project-manages when several crafts overlap, and who guarantees each part.
Check registration and standing yourself, in this order. Look the firm up on the Federation of Master Builders and TrustMark registers rather than taking a logo on a van at face value [1][2]. Check limited companies on Companies House to confirm active status and a matching trading name [8]. Ask to see public liability insurance and, where the firm employs staff, employer's liability cover [5]. Then ask for two recent local jobs you can see or verify, ideally one finished over a year ago so you can judge how the work has settled.
Get three itemised written quotes that separate labour, materials, plant hire, waste removal and VAT, and compare them line by line rather than on the bottom figure [7]. Confirm who handles planning permission and building-regulations approval, since most structural, drainage and electrical work in Telford needs the latter even when the former is not required [3][4]. Agree payment stages tied to visible progress, a start and finish window, daily working hours, who supervises on site, and how snagging is recorded and closed. Put all of it in a written contract before anyone lifts a tool.
Stay in charge once work starts. Confirm which parts are subcontracted and check those tickets too: gas pipework needs a Gas Safe engineer, new circuits need a competent electrician on a scheme such as NICEIC or NAPIT, and replacement glazing needs FENSA certification or building-control sign-off [6][9][10][11]. Rubble taken away for payment must go with a licensed waste carrier, which you can check on the public register [12]. If the site looks unsafe, scaffolding unguarded or welfare missing, raise it the same day and record it in writing [5].
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, rough Telford guides look like this. A single-storey extension often lands between £28,000 and £48,000 depending on size, glazing and groundworks; a garage conversion commonly falls between £9,000 and £18,000; a straightforward knock-through with a steel beam often costs £3,000 to £6,000 including plastering and making good [13][7]. A builder's day rate for skilled labour is frequently £220 to £320, with a labourer £130 to £190, plus materials and VAT.
Ground conditions move the price most: clay, slopes and poor access around Telford's estates add digger time and muck-away costs. Glazing area, steel sizes, whether the consumer unit needs upgrading, and how far waste must travel all shift the total. Get the guarantee terms, the waste plan, the VAT position and the payment stages in writing with the quote, and treat any figure given without a site visit as a guess, not a price [12][7].
Red flags
Prices a structural job or extension from photos alone, without visiting the property, checking access or seeing the drawings.
Asks for most of the money upfront, pushes cash with no invoice, or starts work with no written contract describing scope and stages.
Cannot show current insurance certificates, or the Companies House record does not match the name on the quote [5][8].
Begins structural, drainage or electrical alterations with no mention of building-regulations approval or inspection stages [4].
Pressures you to decide today, refuses a start date in writing, or offers no snagging process once the final payment is made.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.