Bid-rigging: cowboy practices 'widespread' says POD

The Office of Fair Trading’s (OFT) list of firms allegedly engaged in bid-rigging and ‘cover pricing’ shows how widespread "cowboy practices are in the industry”, according to online advice firm the Property Owners Directory (POD).

"What is most worrying from this investigation is that this unscrupulous practice appears to be so systematic throughout the building sector,” said POD director Andy Stern.

"This decision shows just how widespread cowboy building practices are in the construction sector, and underlines the importance of finding reliable tradesmen who come recommended.

"Recent government surveys have shown that 51% of people do not trust tradesmen and cowboy builders have overtaken used car salesmen as the number one consumer gripe,” said Stern.