Trade support

Applying for a MyBuilder trade account is quick and easy. To get your application for a trade account underway, register here.

When you apply, we will ask you to:

• Provide information about you and your company
• Complete an evaluation for each trade you apply for
• Verify your identity

We aim to approve trade applications within 48 hours (Monday to Friday).

We need to verify your ID before you can express interest in jobs on MyBuilder. To complete the process you will need to submit a valid photo ID document and a clear photo of you.

It’s easy to submit your document and photo online. If you are applying to join MyBuilder you will be prompted to upload them both while completing our online application process. It’s easy and only takes a couple of minutes. You can return to your application at any time from the link in the email we sent you when you started, or by logging in.

If your account has been set up but you cannot express interest in jobs because we have not validated your ID, you can go to the ID check page and follow the instructions. You will be able to go for leads as soon as we have verified your ID.

We aim to complete the verification within 24 hours from Monday to Friday, though it may take longer during busy periods and bank holidays, or if we need to contact you for more information.

Tips on taking a great photo

Depending on your device, you may be asked to upload a photo of your face that you or a friend have taken, so here's a quick guide to taking a shot that puts you in the best possible light.

• Get a friend to help
  Trying to get a good angle with a selfie can be difficult, no matter how long your arms are!

• Take your picture outdoors
  Make sure there is light on your face, and not behind you - try to avoid shady silhouettes.

• Get in the frame
  Make sure you're front and centre - get your head and shoulders in shot, a few paces away from the camera.

In most cases, we need to verify the identity of the primary point of contact for your customers.

If you are a limited company, registered with Companies House, then we will also need to verify the identity of a registered director if different from the primary account contact.

Please note that we cannot accept group photos or logos as your profile picture.

Absolutely, just contact us and request a callback.

LOGIN to the MyBuilder account currently registered to your email address. Don’t worry if you can’t remember your password, there will be onscreen options that allow you to access your account in other ways.

Once logged in, go to your settings page and change to a different email address. If you don’t have another email address, you can create one very quickly online. Once changed, this will free up the original email address for you to sign-up with.

Alternatively, you can just sign-up using a different email address.

If your application to join MyBuilder has been successful, then we already know you are great tradesperson and your work will speak for itself. Getting your foot in the door can be difficult so a great introduction message is an essential part of success.

Your message should let the customer know you are keen on the work and give a reason for them to choose you over the competition. An effective message should include:

• An introduction to you / your company
• Your key selling points (experience, qualifications, insurance, etc.)
• Your level of service (satisfaction guarantees, reliability, cleanliness, quality of work)
• Your availability to quote and commence work, if accepted
• A direct and friendly request to be shortlisted for the work

Cover the above, be friendly and professional, and you should have plenty of opportunities come your way.

You can save your message as a template so you don’t have to type it out each time; just remember to update details such as your availability before sending it to the customer.

You can have as many different templates as you like, so if you offer more than one trade you can have specific messages for each service you offer, or separate messages for different types of customer.

If you would like some bespoke advice on creating a message just right for your business, please contact our Support team, who will be happy to assist.

Your trade profile is essentially your shop window, so it’s important to take the time to complete this as fully as possible. There are five main sections to complete:

Introduction

Introduce yourself and your company and include information about your experience, service levels, and what separates you from the competition. Keep this part short and sweet; you can go into more detail later.

About

This is an ideal opportunity to list the types of work you undertake, mention any particularly interesting projects you have completed, and to really sell the service you offer.

Photo gallery

In your gallery you can show off the jobs you are most proud of and represent all the services you provide. Try and include photos of different project types, and always write a caption below to let the customer know what they are looking at.

Photos of completed projects work best with all finishing touches done. Other tradespeople are interested in seeing the nuts and bolts, but homeowners prefer to see the end results.

Qualifications

Easy one this - list your trade qualifications, accreditations and length of experience. Mention any relevant courses you may have attended, and membership of any trade bodies.

Insurance

If you hold public liability or professional indemnity insurance, add the details and potential clients will see you are covered. To add details of your Public Liability or Professional Indemnity cover simply visit your insurance page to add the details of your policy.

Ask a Tradesman

‘Ask a Tradesman’ allows homeowners to get great advice directly from expert tradesmen. Any questions you answer will be shown on your profile page which is a great way demonstrate your knowledge to potential customers, especially if you’re new to MyBuilder and don’t have much feedback.

Winning work through MyBuilder is all about showcasing your profile and providing customers with a great service experience. As your feedback reputation on the site grows, you gain trust and winning work gets easier.

MyBuilder is designed to deliver results over time so don’t give up if the first few leads don’t work out. Just set aside a reasonable budget, and your hard work should pay off before too long.

If you’re struggling to win work, get in touch, and we’ll be happy to provide some advice.

You express interest in leads by sending the job poster an introduction message. It’s free to express interest. The job poster can then either decline your interest or add you to their shortlist. Being added to a shortlist means the job poster likes the sound of your message and the look of your profile and they’re giving you permission to contact them directly to discuss their job.

Contact details are automatically shared with every shortlist; you will receive the job poster’s telephone number. Our fee is only applied once you are shortlisted.

Job posters won’t always be available to take your calls or immediately respond to your messages. Don’t give up too soon though; they may be busy. If you are having trouble getting in contact by phone or text, always send a follow-up message through MyBuilder and try calling again at a different time of day. Avoid calling too many times as it might put them off. If you still can’t make contact, send them a final text or message through the website and ask them to save your number in case they need you in future.

When a job poster adds you to their shortlist, you will receive a notification containing their name and telephone number along with the job details. Notifications are sent via email and text message, if you have opted to receive SMS alerts. The job poster will also get your telephone number but you should call them as soon as you can - don’t rely on them making the first move.

Contact details cannot be shared before shortlisting and the job poster can only respond to your introduction message if they shortlist you first.

Job posters can search for tradespeople in their area and send invitations to those they would like to get in touch with. If a customer sends you an invitation you will receive an email notification and a text message, if you have opted to receive SMS alerts. You have three options when you are invited:

• No thanks: Choose your reason for declining from a list of options and we will notify the job poster.
• Shortlist me: Accept the invitation and the shortlist fee will be automatically applied. You will get the job poster’s details straight away and you can send the job poster a message with your acceptance of their invitation. Call them as soon as possible for the best chance of success.
• Express interest in this job like a normal lead: Send the job poster a message and the fee won’t be applied or contact details exchanged unless they add you to their shortlist.

When a job is approved we send it out to an initial pool of local tradespeople. If the job doesn’t receive enough interest we widen the pool after 24 hours. You may find these jobs are further away than usual or for trades ranked lower in your list.

Double check which email address is registered to your account and update if necessary.

View and update your contact details

Check our emails are not being directed to your junk/spam folder. If they are, mark them as safe and add [email protected] to your list of contacts or safe senders.

If, after 24 hours, you are still not receiving our emails, please contact us, and we’ll be in touch.

Check your account settings and make sure you have ticked ‘I’d like to receive SMS alerts’

If you are using the iOS app, we’ll only send an SMS for shortlists or invitations if we have not already sent an app notification. If you would rather receive an SMS instead, go into the app settings and disable push notifications.

Push notifications are available through our iPhone app which you can download from the apple store.

When using the app, all shortlist and invitation notifications will show up on your phone. This replaces SMS alerts which are sent to all non app users. If you would prefer to keep the SMS alerts, you will need to disable push notifications in the app settings.

The app is currently only available to iPhone users.

You can update your card details in the payment settings on your account.

We accept payment online via credit or debit card. Your card details will be securely stored for future use. To save time, you can set up automated payments where your invoices will be paid on the due date with your saved card.

Yes - your details are securely stored by WorldPay, a trusted payment processor for many UK-based merchants, accounting for approximately 42% of UK card payments.

We invoice on Mondays for any shortlist fees incurred during the previous week. Our payment terms are 7 days.

If an invoice is more than two weeks overdue:

• Your account will be restricted. You will be unable to express interest in jobs or send messages.
• We will stop sending leads to you.

It is important that you pay any very overdue invoices as soon as possible. If you are having trouble paying or have any queries about your invoice, you should contact us as soon as possible.

Double check your invoices page to see if any payments are outstanding. If so, it could mean your payment was unsuccessful so you will need to try again. If your payments are up to date, log out of your account and sign back in again.

If you are still restricted, please contact us, and we’ll be in touch.

You can receive feedback at any point after an agreement for the work to begin has been reached. Your customer will rate their experience as positive, neutral or negative. The feedback offers their opinion of the service they received. All reviews instantly appear on your profile which can be viewed by anyone online.

Each tradesperson has a feedback score represented by the percentage of reviews marked as positive. Neutral reviews get discounted from any calculations.

Only customers sourced directly through the MyBuilder platform can leave feedback.

To request feedback, your customer first has to mark you as hired. If they are yet to do so, find them in your list of shortlisted leads and click “Send Hire Request”. This option appears 24 hours after being shortlisted.

When a hire is confirmed, view your jobs won list, select the relevant lead and click “Ask for feedback”. Unlike the one-off hire request, this link will refresh once a week.

In each case, your customer will receive an email with full instructions. If they encounter any difficulty posting their review, please advise them to contact us directly for assistance.

Firstly; don’t panic. This is not the end of the world. Many successful tradespeople receive negative feedback at some point and go on to win plenty more work.

Once you’ve agreed to carry out the work, the feedback can only be removed at the request of the job poster. If there is a way to resolve any highlighted problems, send them a friendly message through MyBuilder and try to find an agreeable solution. If this is not possible, we recommend posting a calm and professional reply to their review.

We understand you may disagree with the feedback, but MyBuilder is impartial and not in a position to make judgements on who is right or wrong. Focus on writing a measured response that shows potential customers you have taken the criticism on board and are willing to try and resolve any issues.

You should have received an email containing advice on how to write a strong reply. If you want further help with this, please get in touch with our Trade Support team who will be happy to help.

Remember that your response is public and can’t be changed so consider your words carefully and avoid emotive language.

• Put any negative feelings to one side; sleep on it if necessary. You’ll be more able to effectively address the feedback with a level head
• Keep it short and friendly so it doesn’t look like a rant
• Include any steps you took to resolve the issues. Future customers will see that you are able to address any problems in a professional and courteous manner
• Invite potential customers to view your other feedback so they can see what level of service to expect from you.

If you want further help with this, please get in touch with our Trade Support team who will be happy to help.

There are a few situations where we remove feedback:

• There was no agreement to start the work
• The tradesperson was sourced outside of MyBuilder
• The tradesperson and job poster knew each other before connecting on MyBuilder

MyBuilder reserves the right to remove content that is not in line with our policies, including discriminatory comments, foul or abusive language and personal information.

You can change your address, phone number, business website and email address in your account settings.

If you are changing your address you may also need to update your working area.

Check your invoices are not marked as very overdue as this will prevent you being able to express interest. If your payments are up to date, log out of your account and sign back in again.

If you are yet to submit your ID documentation, you will need to do this before you can start going for jobs.

How do I verify my ID?

If you are receiving leads but cannot express interest, go to the ID check page and follow the instructions to submit your ID. You will be able to go for leads as soon as we have completed the verification process.

We aim to complete the verification within 24 hours Monday to Friday, though it may take longer during busy periods and bank holidays, or if we need to contact you for more information.

If you have recently submitted your ID it may not have been verified yet. Please allow up to three working days for this to be processed.

We will send you an email when we have completed our checks and you can start expressing interest. If you still cannot express interest, please contact us and we’ll be in touch.

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If this does not resolve the issue, send us a message and we will be in touch.