Cowboy builders; rogue traders; rip-off roofers. They all give our profession a bad name.

So much so, in fact, that last year a study by the Federation of Master Builders revealed that these charlatans are causing a third of homeowners to put off making home improvements.

This came swiftly in the wake of another scandal exposed by BBC journalists who were able to set up a fake handyman profile on MyBuilder.com, a website which helps consumers find tradesmen.

The reporter was also able to pretend to be one of his customers, submitting glowing reviews to give his profile extra credibility.

It’s little wonder that the FMB, which estimates that the UK economy is missing out on £10 billion of work every year because of the problem, has campaigned for the Government and industry to back the introduction of a licensing scheme for the UK construction sector.

Read the full article on the Total Contractor website.