HOW TO HIRE · HOME REPAIRS & HANDYMAN

How to hire a joiner in the UK
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.

No register applies to hanging internal doors. A replacement external door is building work needing a FENSA or CERTASS certificate in England.

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  • One score from Google, Trustpilot and Locufy reviews

TWO WAYS TO BUY THIS

Which do you need?

A joiner by the hour

One person booked for a set number of hours who works through your list. There is no scope and no quote: you are buying time, and you say what is done with it.

A company for the job

A business that sends somebody, supervises the work and prices it in writing. Right where the job has a definite end, where it needs equipment, or where you want one party answerable for the result.

What changes between them

A rate per hour against a price for the job; one person against a team; your instructions against a written scope; and VAT, which a joiner under the £90,000 threshold does not charge at all.

THE 60-SECOND VERSION

Hiring a joiner in five steps

  1. Measure every openingAnd the old door, before buying replacements.
  2. Buy the ironmongery firstHinges, latches and handles, so it is one visit.
  3. Internal or external?A replacement external door needs a certificate in England.
  4. Fire doorsAsk the joiner whether any door in your home is a fire door before changing it.
  5. Clear the hallwayRoom to lay doors down and trim them.

BEFORE YOU BOOK

Check before you book

No register applies

No licence or register applies to joiners in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, so anyone may offer door hanging and repair. The law steps in only where door hanging and repair turns into gas work, notifiable electrical work or building work.

Ask for a business name, the insurer and a written description of the door hanging and repair.

FENSA or CERTASS for replacements

Repairing a window or door is not the same as replacing it. A replacement window or door is building work: in England a FENSA or CERTASS installer self-certifies it and you get a certificate, otherwise building control approves it. If the door hanging turns into a replacement, that certificate is what a buyer's solicitor will ask for.

If the door hanging becomes a full replacement, check the installer on the FENSA or CERTASS search. fensa.org.uk →

Public liability insurance

No law requires a joiner to be insured, but a drill through a pipe or cable, or a heavy item coming off a wall, is exactly what public liability covers. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 entitles you to door hanging done with reasonable care and skill; insurance is what pays if it was not.

Ask the joiner for the insurer's name and the cover level before the door hanging starts.

Your rights on the work

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a door must be hung with reasonable care and skill; uneven gaps or a latch that will not catch can be put right at the joiner's cost.

Get an invoice listing each door hung or repaired.

VAT

HMRC's rate for hanging and repairing doors is the standard 20%, but it is added only by a registered trader. An individual whose taxable turnover is under £90,000 does not charge VAT and has no VAT number to give.

Ask the joiner whether they are VAT-registered; most joiners booked by the hour are not, and then no VAT is added. gov.uk →

“Is this door a repair, a rehang or a replacement?”

A good answer: A plain answer for each door, so the list of work is settled before the hours start.

“How will you deal with an out-of-square frame when hanging the door?”

A good answer: Trimming the door or packing the lining, explained.

“Is any of these doors a fire door?”

A good answer: They check and say so, and replace a fire door only with a suitable one.

“Is fitting the ironmongery part of the hours I have booked?”

A good answer: Yes — hinges, latches and handles go on within the booking.

“For an external door, who provides the certificate?”

A good answer: A FENSA or CERTASS installer, or building control.

“Are you insured for joinery in my home?”

A good answer: Public liability, insurer named.

Getting the quote right

  • Booked by the hour: the rate per hour and the minimum booking, travel, and how materials are charged
  • Booked as a job: the written scope, each task priced, the materials named and the finish described
  • The rate per hour for the joiner, and the evening or weekend rate if the doors are done out of hours
  • The minimum booking — often two hours for one door — and whether you pay the full minimum if the door is rehung early
  • Who brings what: the joiner's plane, router and jig, your doors, hinges, latches and handles bought before the visit
  • The doors agreed before the first hour starts — which to ease, which to rehang, which to replace — written in a message
  • ID checked and the joiner's rating read, and public liability insurance in place, since a split frame or a scratched floor is a claim
  • Who actually attends — the joiner you spoke to, or someone the company employs or subcontracts
  • The VAT number if the business is registered, with VAT at 20% on its own line; one under the £90,000 threshold charges none

Walk away if

  • Swaps an external door with no certificate
  • Planes a door without checking why it sticks
  • Uneven gaps left round the door
  • No rate per hour or minimum booking agreed before starting
LOW
£60
TYPICAL
£150
HIGH
£250

What a joiner costs: £60–£250 per door

Door hanging is priced per door; new doors, fire doors and ironmongery add time. Door Hanging & Repair price guide →

Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.

KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE

Joiners near you, with the badges that matter shown

ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.

Or post the job free and let them come to you.

  1. Check the frameSquare, sound and the right size.
  2. TrimDoor cut to the opening.
  3. HangHinges cut in and the door hung.
  4. IronmongeryLatch, handle and lock fitted.
  5. AdjustGaps even, latch catching.

Door lining
The timber frame inside the opening for an internal door.
Door stop
The strip the door closes against.
Ironmongery
Hinges, handles, latches and locks.
Fire door
A door built to resist fire for a set time.
Rehang
Taking a door off and hanging it again, usually after adjustment.
FENSA
A competent person scheme for replacement windows and doors.

AFTER

When the job is done

Open and close every doorEven gaps, latch catching first time.
Keep any certificateFor an external door replacement.
Keep the invoiceDoors and ironmongery listed.
Rate the jobTell the next person how the door hanging went — time kept, mess left, the hours as agreed. Under four stars, the joiner is offered the chance to fix it first through make-it-right.

STEP 1Tell the joiner, in writingPut the problem with the door hanging in a message or email, with photos and the date. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 reads reasonable care and skill into every contract like this one, so you can require the joiner to redo the faulty part within a reasonable time at no cost to you, or give a price reduction.
STEP 2Use the make-it-right stepRate the door hanging below four stars and you are asked whether the joiner should see the complaint first; we keep it moving until it is answered, then you review.
STEP 3Trading Standards, through the helplinesFor advice about the door hanging, or to have the complaint passed to Trading Standards, call the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133 (England and Wales), Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 800 9060, or Consumerline on 0300 123 6262 in Northern Ireland.
STEP 4Small claims, if money is owedTo get money back for the door hanging, the small claims limits are £10,000 in England and Wales, £5,000 in Scotland (simple procedure) and £5,000 in Northern Ireland; court fees start at £35 in England and Wales and £23 in Scotland.

Hiring a joiner: questions people ask

No. No register applies; replacing an external door is building work needing a certificate in England.

In England a FENSA or CERTASS certificate, or building control approval.

No — a fire door is a specific product; ask the joiner to identify and match one.

£60–£250 per door, about £150 typical. See the door hanging and repair price guide for the breakdown, then put your town in the search above to compare joiners.

Ask about public liability insurance before work starts.

Around an hour to adjust a door; one to three hours to hang a new one.

MORE GUIDES

More hiring guides in home repairs & handyman

How to hire: Lock RepairHow to hire: HandymanHow to hire: uPVC RepairHow to hire: Window RepairHow to hire: Garage Door RepairHow to hire: Odd JobsHow to hire: LocksmithHow to hire: Sash Window RestorationAll 701 hiring guides →

Joiners near you

Joiners in LondonJoiners in ManchesterJoiners in BirminghamJoiners in GlasgowJoiners in BelfastAll joiners on Locufy →Do it yourself: hanging an internal door or fixing one that sticks →

Sources — checked October 2026

  1. FENSA — replacement windows and doors
  2. CERTASS — competent person scheme for windows and doors
  3. gov.uk — building regulations approval (England)
  4. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 49 — reasonable care and skill
  5. Citizens Advice — more help with a consumer issue (England)
  6. Buildings and construction (VAT Notice 708) — 2.1 Construction services: work to an existing building is normally standard-rated
  7. GOV.UK — VAT rates
  8. GOV.UK — Register for VAT: when to register