Handyman or Specialist? Choosing the Right Trade for the Job

A good handyman is quick and versatile across dozens of small jobs, which is exactly why they are the right booking for a list of odd jobs. A specialist costs more per hour for a reason: registration, certification and equipment for one kind of work. Book a specialist for a shelf and you pay for skills you did not need. Book a handyman for work that needs a certificate and you may pay for it again.

• Assembling flat-pack furniture and fixing it safely to the wall.
• Putting up shelves, curtain poles, pictures and TV brackets with the right fixings.
• Adjusting doors that stick, and replacing handles, hinges and locks on internal doors.
• Resealing a bath, shower or kitchen worktop.
• Small repairs: a loose floorboard, a broken fence panel, a dripping tap washer.
• Clearing low gutters and touching up paintwork.

• Any work on gas appliances or pipework needs an engineer on the Gas Safe Register.
• New electrical circuits, a new consumer unit and most electrical work near a bath or shower are notifiable, and need a registered electrician or building control.
• Replacement windows and external doors need a FENSA or CERTASS installer, or building control sign-off.
• Removing or altering a wall that may be load-bearing needs structural advice and building control.

Replacing a socket or light switch like for like is not notifiable, but it must still meet the wiring regulations, and many handymen will not take on electrical work at all. If in doubt, book an electrician.

Tiling, plastering, painting and small carpentry need skill rather than a registration. A handyman may do a small area of tiling well; a whole bathroom is usually a tiler's job. For these, ask to see photos of similar work, and be honest about the size of the job when you book.

The quickest way to get the right person is to describe what you see: where the water is coming from, what the fault does, how big the area is, with photos. On TEKTO CNCT the search maps your words to a trade, so a leaking tap reaches plumbing and a tripping switch reaches electrical, and each trade's tradespeople are verified against the checks that trade needs.