Your extension in Pinhoe is booked, the brickies start in three weeks, and the builder mentions he’s “just sorting the paperwork on the lads”. That’s not small talk anymore. From 1 October 2026, Right to Work checks stretch beyond direct employees to subcontractors, agency workers and self-employed operatives engaged under a company name.
Construction Enquirer reports that a minister has called construction a high-risk sector. Civil penalties can reach £60,000 per worker. In serious cases it can mean a criminal conviction and up to five years inside. Hudson Contract reckons 900,000 operatives working for three clients each would mean 2.7 million checks across the industry. That’s a lot of admin, and it lands on the main contractor.
So what does it mean for you? Mostly, it separates the firms who run a tidy job from the ones who don’t. A proper building company knows who’s on site, keeps a record of the check, and can tell you who’s digging the trench-fill foundations on Monday. Cash-in-hand labour passed round the back of a van is exactly what this is aimed at.
Ask three simple things. Who’s actually working on my site? How are they engaged? And can you show me the checks? Ask about insurance as well, because a firm that’s organised on one usually is on the other. Ask who signs off the DPC and the lintels over the new openings too, because someone has to, and Building Control will want to know.
DMS Conversions are a family-run building company in Exeter covering loft conversions, garage conversions, extensions and renovations across Devon, from Heavitree and St Leonards out to Topsham. If you’d like a written quote from a team that does its paperwork properly, visit dmsconversions.com/ or call for a chat.
07870164973