All guides/United Kingdom

Guides for working in United Kingdom

Name: AEC Stack
Author: AEC Stack

Explore UK cards, CIS, VAT, CDM, payment notices and retention in the context of your work.

32 guides in this market. Search and every subject below stay within United Kingdom.

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1
Set the business up
The entity, the registrations and the accounts, in the order the paperwork actually happens.
2
Find the work
Permits, tenders and bid lists, read the way an estimator reads them.
3
Win the bid
Prequalification packets, bid-ready checklists and the paperwork that gets you on the list.
- Approved contractor lists
- Social value in a tender
4
Price it
What an hour really costs, the markup you set on purpose, and assumptions in writing.
- Cost of going self-employed
- What an hour costs you
5
Run the job
Extras in writing, the day-to-day board, and the safety rules that gate the site.
- CDM on a Domestic Job
6
Get paid
Invoices, the statutory clocks, and the remedy that matches the amount.
7
Stay compliant
The tax, comp and licensing regimes that decide whether the work was legal to begin with.

Setting the business up3

Set up a UK company Sole Trader or Limited Cost of going self-employed

Finding work3

Find UK construction tenders Find work from planning Social value in a tender

Bidding and prequalification2

Approved contractor lists Social value in a tender

Pricing and estimating2

Cost of going self-employed What an hour costs you

Payment notices and adjudication6

Which contract to signPick a named contract for the job in front of you, priced: JCT Home Owner at £40, Minor Works 2024 at £100, Intermediate at £178, or your own written terms. Includes the five clauses that decide whether you get paid, and the 14 day cancellation right that can turn a finished job into an invoice you cannot send.Pay Less Notice DeadlinesUnder section 111 of the Construction Act, a payer who serves neither a payment notice nor a pay less notice by the days the Act fixes must pay the notified sum in full on the final date for payment, whatever the work was worth. This guide counts both deadlines end to end from a real application date, shows how your own application becomes the notified sum under section 110B(4), and sets out why the payer has to pay first before it can adjudicate the true value.Start an AdjudicationThe statutory right to refer a construction dispute at any time and get a binding decision in 28 days: crystallising the dispute, the notice of adjudication, the nominating bodies and their fees, the referral, the capped low value route, and enforcement in the TCC.No Lien, Four Routes InsteadEngland, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have no construction lien, no mechanics' lien and no holdback trust. This is the four routes that do work, ranked by how fast the money moves: suspension on seven days' notice under section 112, adjudication decided in 28 days under section 108, statutory interest and the fixed sum under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, and the court routes with their real fees. Plus the three near-lien devices that exist in English law, a counted date sequence from 31 May 2026, and a decision table matching debt size, age and payer solvency to a route.Suspending for Non-PaymentSection 112 of the Construction Act lets an unpaid subcontractor stop work on seven days' notice, charge the payer for demobilising and remobilising, and take the lost programme time back. This is the notice, the preconditions in order, and the arithmetic counted from a real date.When a Homeowner Will Not PayA domestic job that goes wrong is the most common non-payment situation a small UK builder faces, and section 106 of the Construction Act specifically excludes them from the statute every article is about. This is what the exclusion takes away, what the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 hand you instead, how to build a stage payment ladder that leaves you one stage exposed, and the four recovery routes with their real fees.

Retention3

Which contract to sign Getting retention released The Retentions Ban

Getting paid4

Late Payment InterestStatutory interest at 8% over base and the £40, £70 or £100 fixed sum apply to every late business invoice by force of the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, whether or not your contract says so. This is the rate, the day the clock starts, the arithmetic on a real £14,800 subcontract valuation, the line to paste onto your invoices, and what the letter before claim, Money Claim Online and the winding-up route each cost.No Lien, Four Routes InsteadEngland, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have no construction lien, no mechanics' lien and no holdback trust. This is the four routes that do work, ranked by how fast the money moves: suspension on seven days' notice under section 112, adjudication decided in 28 days under section 108, statutory interest and the fixed sum under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, and the court routes with their real fees. Plus the three near-lien devices that exist in English law, a counted date sequence from 31 May 2026, and a decision table matching debt size, age and payer solvency to a route.Suspending for Non-PaymentSection 112 of the Construction Act lets an unpaid subcontractor stop work on seven days' notice, charge the payer for demobilising and remobilising, and take the lost programme time back. This is the notice, the preconditions in order, and the arithmetic counted from a real date.When a Homeowner Will Not PayA domestic job that goes wrong is the most common non-payment situation a small UK builder faces, and section 106 of the Construction Act specifically excludes them from the statute every article is about. This is what the exclusion takes away, what the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 hand you instead, how to build a stage payment ladder that leaves you one stage exposed, and the four recovery routes with their real fees.

CIS and HMRC6

Register for CISAn unregistered subcontractor has 30% taken off their labour instead of 20%, and the difference sits with HMRC until the tax return is filed. This is the registration that stops it, the UTR you need first, and how to keep a contractor's verification from putting you back on 30% anyway.CIS gross payment statusGross payment status means the main contractor pays your invoice in full instead of holding 20% of the labour. This is the business, turnover and compliance tests with the paragraph of Schedule 11 beside each one, the arithmetic on £180,000 of labour a year, and the 90 days and 30 days that decide what happens if HMRC moves to cancel.Claim CIS deductions backA subcontractor paid under deduction hands HMRC 20% of every pound of labour before a single expense is counted. This is both routes to getting it back, sole trader through box 38 of the Self Assessment return and limited company through the Employer Payment Summary month by month, with the arithmetic worked end to end and the filing detail that decides whose record the money lands on.Become a CIS contractorThe first time you pay someone else for construction work you become a CIS contractor. Register before that payment, verify through HMRC, work the deduction off labour only, issue the statement within 14 days and file the CIS300 by the 19th, including the nil return that came back on 6 April 2026.VAT reverse chargeThe exact wording HMRC accepts on a reverse charge invoice, the six conditions that switch it on, why CIS takes materials out of the deduction while the reverse charge keeps them in, and how to pull your input VAT back a month faster.MTD for CIS SubcontractorsYour one Self Assessment return becomes four quarterly updates and a final declaration, and the test that catches you is turnover, not profit. Work out which step of the staircase you are on, what each update actually contains, and where your CIS deductions land.

VAT and the reverse charge4

Registering for VATWork out the exact month your rolling twelve month turnover tips over £90,000, what to invoice while you wait for the number, and why the reverse charge usually ends the Flat Rate Scheme case for a construction business.VAT reverse chargeThe exact wording HMRC accepts on a reverse charge invoice, the six conditions that switch it on, why CIS takes materials out of the deduction while the reverse charge keeps them in, and how to pull your input VAT back a month faster.Zero-Rated and 5% VATUK construction runs four VAT positions at once, and the gap between 20% and 5% on a £60,000 conversion is £9,000 on your customer's price. Tell on sight whether a job is 0%, 5% or 20%, with the Schedule and the paragraph of Notice 708 beside each rate, and know which four documents let you hold it.MTD for CIS SubcontractorsYour one Self Assessment return becomes four quarterly updates and a final declaration, and the test that catches you is turnover, not profit. Work out which step of the staircase you are on, what each update actually contains, and where your CIS deductions land.

Cards and tickets5

Which CSCS cardCSCS issues thirteen cards in six colours and the wrong one gets you turned away at the gate. This is every colour with the qualification that unlocks it, the CITB test that goes with it, and two costed routes from no card to on site in five days or twenty-four.NVQ Without an ApprenticeshipFifteen years on the tools and no paper. Get the NVQ Level 2 or 3 that unlocks a Blue or Gold card by being assessed on your own jobs: OSAT, EWPA and the portfolio route, what the assessor wants as evidence, and a costed six-month sequence from first phone call to card in hand.Trained Abroad, UK CardThe Ecctis Industry Skills Statement is the document CSCS actually asks for, not the Statement of Comparability everyone buys first. £435 plus VAT, thirty working days, and a Provisional card that keeps you earning while it runs.Part P Self-CertificationThe three items of domestic electrical work that are notifiable in England, why Wales still counts kitchens and gardens, and what NICEIC or NAPIT registration costs against the building control route. Includes what the EAS assessment actually consists of and what changes on 1 October 2026.Gas Safe registrationGas is the one UK trade where working without the ticket is a criminal offence. The ACS certificates, the managed learning route from a standing start, the annual fee, and the five-year clock that decides whether you keep working, costed end to end.

CDM and site safety1

CDM on a Domestic Job

Insurance and certificates1

Public and Employers' Liability

After you qualify

From qualified to contracted, in the order the paperwork actually happens.

Set up a UK company
Sole Trader or Limited
Register for CIS
Registering for VAT
Public and Employers' Liability

Count it instead of reading about it

CIS deduction calculator
Labour and materials in. The deduction at 20%, 30% and 0%, with materials and plant hire stripped out of the base first.
Construction VAT rate checker
Not every job is 20%. New dwellings are zero rated and a two-year empty home is 5%, with the conditions each rate depends on.
Hourly rate calculator
Overhead, billable days and the wage you want in. The hourly rate that pays for all three.
Markup and margin calculator
Add twenty percent to your costs and you keep sixteen point seven. Enter one job and see the price, the profit, both percentages, and what the mix-up is worth in dollars.
Making Tax Digital countdown
Qualifying income in. Which MTD for Income Tax tranche catches you, the date it starts, and the days left.
VAT reverse charge calculator
Six conditions decide whether you charge VAT at all. Answer them and the page builds the invoice, CIS deduction and all.

The dates that cost UK contractors money

One email a month. The VAT reverse charge, Construction VAT rate and CIS deduction arithmetic this site already does for you, the dates it turns on, and every new guide the day it goes up.

VAT reverse charge calculator: Six conditions decide whether you charge VAT at all. Answer them and the page builds the invoice, CIS deduction and all.
Construction VAT rate checker: Not every job is 20%. New dwellings are zero rated and a two-year empty home is 5%, with the conditions each rate depends on.
Every new guide the day it goes up. 32 are live for UK right now, the most recent being "Set up a UK company" on 20 August 2026.

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Set the business up

Find the work

Win the bid

Price it

Run the job

Get paid

Stay compliant