Roofers are the least trusted of all home professionals in Ireland, while landscape contractors are top of the list when it comes to trustworthiness.

Website TrustedPeople.ie surveyed 200 homeowners and found that the top three most trusted home professionals are landscapers, architects and builders, while the three least trusted are roofers, tilers and security professionals.

According to the survey, more than a third of homeowners find it very difficult to find what they perceive to be trustworthy people to work on their home. The survey also revealed that more than half of homeowners spend a week or longer selecting a tradesperson, with nearly half seeking tradespeople online.

But satisfaction levels with tradespeople overall are very low, the survey found. Almost 20% of respondents were very unhappy with the last job done by a tradesperson and only 39% were happy or very happy with the last job they had done.

Trusted People chief executive Mick Dillon (pictured) commented: “Finding a tradesperson you can trust to do the job and respect your home is clearly an issue for many people. A strong, interactive online presence, that features headshots of staff and an online portfolio of previous work, goes a long way to establishing trust.”

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Dillon was referring to the fact that more than half of the respondents said that an online presence would increase their confidence in a tradesperson. “It would therefore seem desirable that all trades, especially those rated at a lower level of perceived trustworthiness, invest in a comprehensive online presence to increase customer confidence,” he added.

The survey asked questions about 11 trades: architects, builders, carpenters, cleaners, electricians, landscapers, painters & decorators, plumbers, roofers, security professionals, and tilers.

Dillon said his company would act on the insights yielded by the survey “to facilitate homeowners’ sourcing of trustworthy tradespeople”.

Pic: Paul Sherwood