Builders and kitchen fitters: project update texts

A kitchen refit or an extension runs for weeks, and the customer is living in the middle of it. They want to know when the worktops are coming, why nobody turned up on Tuesday, and how much the extra socket will cost. Project update texts for builders and kitchen fitters answer those questions in writing before they become phone calls, and they leave a record of what was agreed, which matters more on a long job than on a short one.

For the arrival window and on-my-way texts that every trade sends, see our post on on-my-way texts for trades.

How big home repair and improvement work is

The ONS measures construction output monthly, and splits housing work into new build and repair and maintenance (R&M). The ONS's own notes on housing output put housing improvements, conversions and extensions on the R&M side, though it warns that some firms report major alterations as new work. At current prices, private housing R&M in Great Britain was worth £35.2 billion in 2025, against £18.2 billion in 2015. That was 15.5% of all construction output in 2025.

Prices have risen a lot over that decade, so the fairer comparison uses the ONS's chained volume measure, which strips inflation out. On that basis private housing R&M grew from £25.0 billion in 2015 to £38.9 billion in 2025 (in 2024 prices), while private new housing peaked at £50.4 billion in 2022 and fell back to £41.0 billion. The two are now close in size.

The most recent bulletin, released on 15 October 2026, says construction output fell by 1.0% in the three months to August 2026, with repair and maintenance down 0.3% over the three months. In August alone, repair and maintenance grew by 0.4% while new work fell 0.7%.

Most of that £35.2 billion is done by small firms working for homeowners, and a homeowner is a consumer. That brings in rules that don't apply between businesses.

The law that turns on what you say and write

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 puts terms into every contract a trader makes with a consumer to supply a service. Three of them matter for updates.

Section 49 says the trader "must perform the service with reasonable care and skill". Section 52 says that where the contract doesn't fix a time, the trader "must perform the service within a reasonable time", and "what is a reasonable time is a question of fact". A text that explains a delay (the worktops are a week late from the supplier) is part of how you'd later show the time taken was reasonable.

Section 50 is the one to keep in mind every time you write a text. It makes "anything that is said or written to the consumer, by or on behalf of the trader, about the trader or the service" a term of the contract if the consumer takes it into account when deciding to go ahead, or "when making any decision about the service after entering into the contract". A text saying "all finished by Friday 4th" can become a promise. So write updates carefully, with "we expect" where that's what you mean, and treat the thread as the written record of what was agreed, for you and the customer alike.

If something isn't done properly, section 55 gives the customer the right to "require the trader to perform the service again", and the trader "must bear any necessary costs incurred in doing so". The snagging list at the end of a job is where that usually plays out, and agreeing it by text gives both sides the same list.

Two more rules shape the start and the money. If the contract was made in the customer's home or at a distance, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give a 14-day cancellation period, and under regulation 36 a trader must not start work within it unless the consumer "has made an express request". A reply to a text ("YES please start on the 9th") is a clear, dated record of that request, alongside the information the regulations require you to give.

On payment, contractors working for businesses are used to the stage payment rules of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996. Section 106 says that part of the Act doesn't apply "to a construction contract with a residential occupier", meaning a contract about a dwelling one of the parties lives in or intends to live in. For a homeowner's kitchen or extension, the stages and due dates are whatever the contract says, which makes the payment texts all about matching that contract.

Project update texts for a kitchen refit

Written for a fictional firm, Barlow Kitchens. All of these are about a job the customer has booked, which the ICO counts as service messages, so they need no opt-out line.

Start date confirmed, including the early start request where it applies:

Barlow Kitchens: we can start your kitchen on Mon 9 Nov, which is inside your 14-day cancellation period. Reply YES if you'd like us to start then, or we'll start on Mon 16 Nov.

The week before:

Barlow Kitchens: we start Mon 9 Nov at 08:00. The skip arrives Fri 6 Nov, so please keep the drive clear. Water and power will be off for part of Monday.

A weekly update, sent every Friday whether or not there's news:

Barlow Kitchens: week 1 done. Old kitchen out, first fix electrics and plumbing finished. Next week: units and plastering. Worktop template on Thu 19 Nov.

A delay, with the reason and the new date:

Barlow Kitchens: the supplier has moved your worktop delivery to Wed 25 Nov. We now expect to finish on Fri 27 Nov, 3 days later than planned. The rest of the work is on track.

A change to the job, which needs a clear yes before anyone does the work:

Barlow Kitchens: the extra double socket by the window is £85 including fitting. Reply YES to add it to the job, or NO to leave it.

That one's worth getting right. Section 50(4) of the Consumer Rights Act says a change to the information a trader had to give before the contract (the price is part of it) "is not effective unless expressly agreed between the consumer and the trader". A one-word reply to a text that names the price is a clear record of that agreement.

A stage payment, matching the contract and pointing to the invoice:

Barlow Kitchens: units are fitted, so the second stage payment of £4,200 is now due as per your contract. The invoice is in your email. Our bank details haven't changed.

Snagging and completion:

Barlow Kitchens: here's the snagging list we agreed today: 1 cabinet door to adjust, 1 plinth to refit, silicone by the sink. We'll be back Tue 1 Dec to finish. Reply if we've missed anything.

The last line of the stage payment text is there on purpose. The fraud that targets house purchases works on any job paid in stages: a fake message, apparently from the firm, asks the customer to pay into a new account. Our post on why solicitors say bank details never change by email explains the figures. Tell customers once at the start that your bank details will never change by text or email, and never put new ones in a text.

The same pattern for a builder

An extension or a knock-through follows the same shape over a longer run, with more of the dates set by other people: the scaffolders, the skip firm, the structural engineer, the building control inspector, the window maker. Each of those is a date the customer can't control and will ask about, so each is worth a line when it's booked and another when it moves, along with a warning on any day the work will disrupt the house:

Fenton Building: the steel beam for the kitchen wall goes in on Wed 18 Nov. Expect noise and dust from 08:00, and the power will be off for about an hour around midday.

Fenton Building: the windows are delayed by the maker to w/c 30 Nov. The opening will stay boarded and weatherproof until then. Your finish date moves to Fri 11 Dec; we'll confirm it on Friday.

Long jobs are also where the weekly text earns its keep. Six weeks in, a customer who has had a short Friday text every week knows where the job stands, and the text thread is the history of the job if anyone needs it later.

Running updates without adding work

The weekly update is the text most firms mean to send and then don't, because Friday afternoon is busy. On CaptiFi Connect it can be scheduled on Monday for Friday, edited by cancelling and rescheduling if the week changes, and sent from a number the customer can reply to. Replies come into a two-way inbox the office and the site lead can both see, so "can you leave the old tiles for us?" doesn't vanish into one person's phone. Delivery reports show whether each text reached the handset, which helps if anyone later says they weren't told about a delay.

If you run jobs in software that can call an API, POST /messages sends each update with the job number in client_ref, and an Idempotency-Key built from the job and the stage stops a retried request sending it twice. Texts carry words only, so photos of progress go on a page you link to, with the link kept short and on your own domain.

Payment chasers after a due date has passed are a different message with their own rules, covered in our post on payment reminder texts. And a request for a review once the job's signed off is fine as a follow-up; a text offering money off a bathroom next year is marketing, which needs consent or the soft opt-in and an opt-out.

Common questions

How often should a builder update a customer?

There's no legal rule on frequency, but a weekly update on a set day, plus a text whenever a date changes, keeps the customer informed without overloading them. The Consumer Rights Act requires work to be done within a reasonable time, and dated updates help show why any delay happened.

Is a text from a builder legally binding?

It can be. Section 50 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 makes anything a trader says or writes about the service a term of the contract if the customer takes it into account in a decision. Write dates and prices in texts with the same care as in a quote.

Can a kitchen fitter start work within the 14-day cancellation period?

Only if the customer makes an express request, under regulation 36 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, where the contract was made at the customer's home or at a distance. If they cancel after work has started at their request, they may have to pay for the work done up to that point.

Do construction payment rules apply to home improvement jobs?

The payment provisions of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 don't apply to a construction contract with a residential occupier. For work on someone's own home, the payment stages are whatever the contract says.