I had a builder who turned up when he said he would, stayed within budget, was clean and tidy and finished on time. He was recommended by someone who was very particular picky and I viewed his work whilst he was mid-build.
Are they VAT registered?
How will you make payments?
The way my builder worked it, was he wasn't VAT registered because he earned under the threshold. The way he did this was he quoted me for the entire job but I paid for everything and everyone separately so the only money going through the builder was his day rate.
He ordered the supplies from the builder's merchants, passed the phone over to me and I paid.
Every Friday he would write me an invoice that had his day rate on x 5 plus any labourer costs, he had a skilled labourer and an apprentice labourer but only 1 at a time. I then transferred that money straight into his bank account.
I paid the plasterer, plumber, kitchen fitter, electrician, doors and windows person, roofer etc all directly and when added up came to the value of the original quote.
I had plans but also my own drawings showing lighting, sockets, light switches, fused spurs. Don't forget sockets for integrated items such as dishwasher, fridge freezer, microwave, oven etc all usually behind cabinets or inside cabinets.
I bought the kitchen from Ikea, and sourced all sockets/light switches, fire retardant downlighters, sink, hot water tap, worktop, everything. I had a pinterest board with everything on it.
Good luck.