The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 aims to protect consumers against bad workmanship or the poor provision of services. It covers contracts for work and materials, as well as contracts for pure services, and remember, this still applies even in everyday situations – such as going to the hairdressers or the dry cleaners – where you have no physical contract at all. Just as with Sale of Goods, Supply of Goods and Services legislation contains statutory rights, which don’t have to be specifically mentioned in any contract, but cannot be excluded. These are:

  • That the supplier will carry out the service with reasonable care and skill
  • That the work will be carried out in reasonable time (unless timeframe has been specifically agreed)
  • That the work will be carried out at reasonable cost (unless cost has been specifically agreed)

The legislation also details the remedies which are available to consumers in the event that any one of these statutory terms are breached. These can be found in the following sections.

Common complaints:

How can I resolve the situation?

Using the Small Claims Court