Equality law - Builders, other trades people and companies providing similar services

Equality law applies to any business that provides goods, facilities or services to members of the public. This includes local trades people like builders, plumbers, locksmiths, electricians and gardeners.

It also includes larger companies who may specialise in particular areas of building work like heating engineering, replacement windows, loft conversions, conservatories and extensions.

It doesn’t matter whether the service is free, for example, information about services which is provided at no charge, or whether it must be paid for – it will still be covered by equality law.

First, make sure you know what equality law says you must do as a business providing goods, facilities or services to the public.

When you run a business like this, you will often have access to people’s homes. This means you may have knowledge about a client’s or customer’s protected characteristics which you would not have without this access. It is important you do not use your knowledge in a way that puts your client or customer at a disadvantage, such as by breaching client confidentiality, if this would count as providing them with a worse service or on worse terms.

You need to think particularly about different communication needs that disabled people may have. A failure to communicate or understand an instruction may lead to very expensive or dangerous mistakes. Depending on the circumstances, meeting people’s needs in this way may be a reasonable adjustment.