Checkatrade vs Fort: what each is for

Most renovation problems don’t start with "I couldn’t find a builder." They start later: a big deposit gone, work that stalls while you’re chasing WhatsApp replies, or a dispute where nobody can agree what was promised.

Finding someone is only half the job. The other half is running the project and protecting the money.

Checkatrade is a directory. Fort is a directory plus the system for running and paying for the project.

What each is for

Checkatrade is a well-known place to browse local trades, read reviews, and get quotes. Useful for shortlisting. Once you’ve made contact, plans, messages, and most of the money usually leave the platform.

Fort is built for residential construction and renovation all the way through. You can find tradespeople, invite a builder you already know, and keep the whole job in one place: shared plans and documents, project messaging, Fortified milestone payments, and a dispute pathway tied to those payments.

See how Fort works for homeowners.

Finding people

Fort has a directory too - built for home builds and renovations, not just introductions.

You can post job listings so local tradespeople register interest in your actual project. Trade filters and service areas help you find fortified trades nearby for bricklaying, plumbing, joinery, and similar work. Profiles go beyond stars: bios, completed-project showcases, and Fort Library photos show the work itself. Ratings link to completed Fort jobs. You can also invite a builder you already trust (more on that below).

Checkatrade often has a bigger name, more reviews, and more local listings to scroll. Fort’s directory is stronger for a safer build because shortlisting sits in the same app where you manage scope, messages, and stage payments - a classic directory mostly stops once you’ve made contact.

Vetting

Both platforms check tradespeople before listing them - identity, address, qualifications, public records, CCJs, company and financial history, directors, insurance, and customer feedback.

Fort goes further where it counts for trust: Stripe-verified identity during secure payment setup, insurance as part of required Fort Certified checks, and deeper business and financial review before a tradesperson can work on the platform.

Joining checks are only the start. What protects a £20k job is what happens after you hire - secured stages, a clear record of the work, and a path if something goes wrong. That’s where Fort pulls ahead. Fort Certified still doesn’t replace your own homework, a proper contract, insurance, or building control - see how to vet a builder before hiring (UK).

Money: the difference that actually matters

Checkatrade also has Checkatrade Pay, which lets a trade request card payments for deposits or instalments. Cleaner than a messy bank transfer - but your money still goes straight to the trade when you hit pay. It is not held until a stage of work is finished.

On Fort, Fortified payments flip that. You agree stages. Funds for a stage are secured before that work starts. Payment only releases when the milestone is complete - often with photo evidence. Stages stay manageable (Fort’s guidance caps them at around 45 days, with longer work split into substages) so you’re not funding one open-ended lump.

Both sides win: you don’t overpay ahead of progress; your builder can see the money is locked before they start. Less "I’ll pay you Friday." Less "I already paid - where’s the work?"

Checkatrade’s consumer Guarantee is up to £1,000 per approved claim. They decide whether to pay after reviewing the issue, you usually need to have contacted or paid via Checkatrade to qualify, it doesn’t replace your legal rights, and lost deposits are not covered. A thousand pounds is a rounding error on many home projects.

Picture a £20,000 kitchen or extension-style job. A £5,000 stage goes wrong after money has already left you.

• On Checkatrade: even if a claim is approved, platform support tops out at £1,000 - 5% of a £20k job. A conventional deposit you already paid may not be covered at all.
• On Fort: that £5,000 stage was meant to be secured before work started and only released on completion. If it’s contested, the dispute sits on funds that were never blindly handed over. Your risk is tied to the active stage - not "hope for a £1k contribution after the fact."

A small discretionary guarantee is a badge. Fortified stages are protection sized to the project.

More on this: how milestone payments protect homeowners. For the wider protection picture, see how Fort protects homeowners.

Running the job

After you hire someone, the risk is coordination: what’s in scope, what changed, who’s on site, and where the latest drawings live.

Fort keeps plans, stages, documents, variations (with approval), scheduling, and project chat together. That trail - messages, plans, photos, payments - is there if something goes wrong later. Less digging through old WhatsApp threads.

You don’t need to have found the builder on Fort. Lots of people already have someone they trust. Create a project and invite your existing contractor, even mid-project, and bring structure to a job that started elsewhere.

When things go wrong

We hope every project goes smoothly. Sometimes they do not - and when they do not, the cost can be serious. That is why structure matters more than a badge.

How common is this?

According to research from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), unreliable and cowboy builders may have cost UK homeowners an estimated £14.3 billion over five years.

In FMB’s nationally representative survey of about 2,051 UK adults:

• 37% had hired a builder who turned out unreliable or unqualified
• 15% had lost money in five years - averaging about £1,759**
• 33% had received poor-quality work
• 22% had seen jobs left unfinished

Citizens Advice has likewise logged more than 700 home maintenance and improvement complaints a week on average.

For the fuller industry picture and how Fort responds layer by layer, see how Fort protects homeowners.

What reporting shows about directory jobs

As The Guardian has reported, some homeowners say they lost thousands after hiring through Checkatrade - with guarantee support of up to £1,000 falling well short of the repair bills described in those cases.

In that reporting, Checkatrade said no platform is immune from rogue operators, pointed to its guarantee of up to £1,000, and said claims are rare. A small discretionary guarantee is still a badge, not protection sized to a construction budget - the same gap covered in the Money section above.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has also published compliance advice for trader recommendation platforms on vetting, complaints, monitoring, sanctions, and fair reviews.

What a directory can (and can’t) do

A directory can remove a badge or ask a trade to put things right. It often can’t force action on your stage of work, and it won’t unwind money already paid as a normal deposit.

What Fort does differently

Fort’s dispute pathway sits with the payments. Evidence is already in the app. The Fort Dispute Team can step in, and where needed a third-party chartered surveyor can assess the work - usually faster than court, without throwing the whole relationship away on day one.

If radio silence mid-build is the worry, read what happens if a builder disappears mid-project.

For the full protection story - vetting, Fortified payments, records, and disputes - see how Fort protects homeowners during UK renovations.

Next step

Shortlist wherever helps - including Checkatrade if you want. When you’re ready to hire, or you’ve already hired and want the job run properly, put it on Fort. Finding, fortifying, managing, and paying live in one place. More on how Fort protects homeowners.

Explore homeowner features or create an account.

Checkatrade helps you find a trade. Fort helps you find, fortify, manage, and pay for the project until it’s done.