Summary

Most domestic trade work is "off-premises" in law — the contract is concluded in the customer's home (or by phone after you visited the home). That triggers the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, which give the customer a 14-day cooling-off period and force you to provide specific written information. Get this wrong and the customer can walk away with no liability up to 12 months later, even if you've ordered bespoke materials or done half the job.

Most tradespeople either ignore this entirely or copy a vague policy from a competitor's website. Both routes leave you exposed. The regulations are strict about what the cancellation notice must say, how it must be delivered, and when the customer's right to cancel is waived (urgent repairs, bespoke goods already cut, services the customer has expressly asked to start during the cooling-off period).

This article gives you a complete cancellation clause to paste into your quote, the model cancellation form the law requires, and the wording that lets you start work inside the 14-day window without losing your right to be paid if the customer cancels mid-job.

Key Facts

Quick Reference Table

Spending too long on quotes? squote turns a 2-minute voice recording into a professional quote.

Try squote free →
Scenario Cooling-off period Customer can cancel? You can charge?
Quote signed in customer's home, no work started 14 days Yes, no reason needed No
Quote signed in home, customer requested early start in writing, you've done 3 days 14 days Yes, in writing Yes, proportionate to work done
Quote signed in home, customer requested early start, no written express request 14 days Yes No — you bear the cost
Quote signed in home, no cancellation notice given to customer 14 days + 12 months Yes, anytime in extended window No
Bespoke kitchen units already manufactured 14 days No, for the units themselves Yes for units, no for unstarted labour
Burst pipe emergency call-out Limited Only for extras beyond the emergency fix Yes for the emergency work
Quote agreed entirely by email/phone 14 days (distance) Yes Same rules as off-premises
Customer is a Ltd company None No statutory right Yes per contract
Quote signed at your trade counter / showroom None No statutory right (on-premises) Yes per contract
Contract value under £42 Reduced rules No statutory cancellation right Yes

Detailed Guidance

The cancellation clause to put in every quote

Paste this verbatim into the terms section of your quote document. It satisfies the information requirements of Regulation 10 and Schedule 2.

CANCELLATION RIGHTS

This contract was concluded away from our business premises. Under the
Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges)
Regulations 2013 you have the right to cancel this contract within 14
days without giving any reason.

The cancellation period will expire after 14 days from the day after the
day on which you signed or accepted this quote.

To exercise the right to cancel, you must inform us:
  [YOUR TRADING NAME]
  [YOUR POSTAL ADDRESS]
  Email: [YOUR EMAIL]
  Phone: [YOUR PHONE]

of your decision to cancel this contract by a clear statement (for
example a letter sent by post or email). You may use the attached model
cancellation form, but it is not obligatory.

To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your
communication concerning your exercise of the right to cancel before the
cancellation period has expired.

EFFECTS OF CANCELLATION

If you cancel this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments
received from you, except where you have asked for the work to start
during the cancellation period (see below).

We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than
14 days after the day on which we are informed of your decision to
cancel. We will use the same means of payment as you used for the
initial transaction.

ASKING US TO START WORK DURING THE CANCELLATION PERIOD

If you want us to begin the work during the 14-day cancellation period,
you must make an express request in writing (signing the section below
is enough). If you then cancel during the cancellation period, you must
pay us an amount which is in proportion to the work performed up to
the time you communicated your cancellation.

GOODS MADE TO YOUR SPECIFICATION

You will lose the right to cancel in respect of any goods that are
made, cut, or personalised to your specification (for example bespoke
kitchen units, made-to-measure worktops, or materials cut to size)
once we have committed to ordering or producing them.

EXPRESS REQUEST TO START WORK EARLY

I, [CUSTOMER NAME], request that [YOUR TRADING NAME] begins the work
described in this quote before the 14-day cancellation period ends. I
understand that if I cancel after work has started, I will be charged
for the work already completed in proportion to the full price.

Signed:  ______________________________
Date:    ______________________________

The model cancellation form (Schedule 3)

You must provide this as a separate attachment. The wording is set in law — do not edit it.

MODEL CANCELLATION FORM

(Complete and return this form only if you wish to withdraw from the
contract.)

To: [YOUR TRADING NAME]
    [YOUR POSTAL ADDRESS]
    [YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS]

I/We [*] hereby give notice that I/We [*] cancel my/our [*] contract
for the supply of the following service:

________________________________________________

Ordered on / received on [*]: ___________________

Name of consumer(s): ____________________________

Address of consumer(s): _________________________
                        _________________________

Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper):

________________________________________________

Date: ___________________________________________

[*] Delete as appropriate.

When the customer waives the cooling-off period

The customer cannot waive the 14-day right entirely. What they can do:

  1. Give express written consent to start work early (clause above). If they then cancel inside 14 days, you charge a proportionate amount.
  2. Acknowledge that bespoke goods lose the cancellation right once production begins. Get this in writing on the same page as the express start request.
  3. Acknowledge that downloaded digital content loses the right once delivery begins (rare for tradespeople — relevant if you sell, say, a video tutorial bundle).

Urgent repairs — what you can charge

If a customer phones with a leak or boiler breakdown and asks you to attend immediately, the law treats this as an urgent repair. The customer:

Best practice: separate the emergency invoice from any follow-up quote. The emergency call-out is on-the-spot work. The follow-up renovation is a new off-premises contract that needs its own cancellation notice.

Materials and goods deductions

If the customer cancels and the work involved physical goods:

What "in writing" means

The regulations accept "durable medium" — paper, PDF email attachment, or any format the customer can store and reproduce unchanged. WhatsApp messages count if the customer can save them. A verbal "yes please crack on" does not count, no matter what the customer later admits.

Refund mechanics

When the customer validly cancels:

Common scenarios

Scenario: customer signs quote on doorstep, you start work next morning, they cancel on day 3. You had no written express request to start early. You cannot charge for the 3 days. You must remove your materials at your own cost.

Scenario: customer signs quote, signs express start request, you do 5 days of a 10-day job, they cancel on day 6. Refund any deposit, then charge 50% of the agreed price for the work done. Itemise it.

Scenario: customer signs quote for a kitchen, you order made-to-measure carcasses, they cancel on day 4 before any installation. Customer pays the full cost of the bespoke carcasses (with evidence — supplier invoice). You refund any other deposit elements. Unstarted installation labour is fully refunded.

Scenario: 11 months after the job, customer realises you never gave a cancellation notice and cancels. You owe a full refund. You can argue for proportionate charge for benefit received (Regulation 36), but the burden is on you and the courts have been reluctant. Treat this as the worst-case lesson: always issue the notice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the 14-day rule apply if I quoted by email and never met the customer?

Yes — that is a distance contract and the same 14-day cooling-off period applies. Include the same cancellation clause and model form in your quote PDF.

Can I waive the cooling-off period entirely?

No. The customer's right cannot be excluded by contract. You can only obtain a written express request to start work early, which converts a cancellation into a proportionate charge rather than a full refund.

What if the customer never signs anything but tells me to "crack on"?

You have a contract (verbal contracts are valid) but no written express start request. If they cancel inside 14 days, you cannot charge for work done. Always get a signature — a phone photo of the signed page is fine.

Does this apply to commercial customers like landlords?

Only if the landlord is acting outside their trade. A landlord renting out a property as a business is a B2B customer with no statutory cooling-off right. A homeowner who also happens to rent out a spare room is usually still a consumer for work on their main home.

What about emergency call-outs at 2am?

Genuine emergencies (burst pipes, total power loss, no heat in winter) qualify as urgent repairs. The customer cannot cancel the emergency fix, but any follow-on work is a new contract requiring its own cancellation notice.

Is there a minimum job value where this doesn't apply?

Contracts under £42 are exempt from most off-premises information requirements. A £30 callout fee on its own is exempt. The moment the work scope expands above £42, the full rules kick in.

Regulations & Standards