Fourteen days becomes
twelve months.

Almost certainly, yes. A contract signed in your own home is an off-premises contract and you have fourteen days to cancel without giving a reason. If the trader never gave you the prescribed cancellation notice in writing, that period is extended by twelve months. Check what paperwork you were given; if there was none, you are likely still inside your right to cancel.

Because it is the law and because a trader who hides it is telling you something about how the rest of the job will go. It also protects us: if we never gave you the notice, we would be exposed to a cancellation a year later on a project we had already resourced. Doing it properly suits both sides.

If you asked us in writing to start within the cancellation period and the work is fully done, the right is lost for that completed service. If work has begun but is not finished, you can still cancel and pay for what has actually been supplied. We set this out in the notice rather than leaving it vague, because it is the part people argue about.

Because replacement windows must either be inspected by building control or certified by an installer registered with a competent person scheme, and that certificate is what a buyer's conveyancer will ask for. Homeowners typically discover it is missing years later, mid-sale, and sorting it retrospectively is far harder than getting it at the time.

The electrics yes, through a Part P registered person with the certificate provided. Gas no, not ourselves: all gas work must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and we coordinate one into the programme rather than improvising. Any builder who offers to do gas work themselves without that registration is a problem.

Enough to cover materials that have to be ordered, and stated for what it is. We do not ask for a large proportion of the contract up front, which is the pattern that leaves homeowners exposed. If a trader wants half the money before starting, ask what it is actually for.