Can they be stopped?

Rogue traders, like the devastation and costly repairs they leave behind, never seem to go away.

When family and friends can't help with recommendations and warnings, consumers must take 'pot luck' in what they see as a 'scary' choice, the National Consumer Council (NCC) said.

This can increase the chance of botched jobs and shoddy service.

The NCC wants a centralised database or one-stop-shop giving information about traders, which is open to the public.

The information would be collated from information held by Trading Standards offices around the country, along with publicly available data such as county court judgements.

The idea builds on a North American initiative - the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

BBBs provide information services to both consumers and business in US, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

Business reliability records, fact sheets and scam alerts are some of the services on offer.

BBB business reliability reports give businesses a simple satisfaction rating based on past performance.

What is the government doing?

The Government is currently consulting on setting up a consumer helpline - Consumer Direct.

It says it is prepared to make up to �30m available over the period to March 2006 to set up the service.

The National Consumer Council wants the tradesmen's helpline to be part of that service.

The government is also piloting a quality mark scheme for builders and tradesman in Birmingham and Somerset.

It is now rolling out this scheme to other parts of the country.

The Quality Mark scheme runs a helpline on 0845 300 8040 or can be reached through its website (see link on right).

The government has also incorporated new European legislation, known as Stop Now orders, which make it easier for trading standards officials to close down rogue traders.

What about trade associations?

Many trade associations have their own code of conducts, which can offer consumers a degree of reproach when they experience poor service.

The Trade Association Forum's website (see link on right) has a search facility, where you can type in the name of a trade, for example, builder, and obtain contact details for the organisation.

Some trade associations will provide a list of their members for consumers.

But thousands of tradesmen do not sign up to such schemes, leaving consumers vulnerable and unprotected.

Other schemes?

A number of commercial organisations have launched tradesmen vetting schemes.

British Gas has a "Trusted Tradesmen Register". To be a member a business must have been trading for more than four years, have checks carried out on ten customer references and have had their legal and financial records investigated.

Improveline.com and Homepro are similar web services, which offer tradesmen screening.

There are a number of official bodies, where members of the public can get information about tradesmen.

The Registry Trust keeps records of county court judgements which can be checked by the public for �4.50 a name.

Referenceline.com is a website operating mainly in Hampshire and Surrey.

If customers have a complaint against the trader, it has 10 days to rectify it.

Final comments are then published on the website.

The public can check how many complaints have been made and how they were dealt with.