Building Tradesmen - A Blueprint for Harmony?

I've had quite a lot of experience of meaningful building work during my lifetime.

We had a huge extension done on our 4th house when I was in my 30's, which increased the size of a 3 bedroom detached house by over a third & re-modelled the existing house. I designed the plan & we employed a structural engineer & building contractor. We didn't have a project manager. It went massively over schedule because the contractor was over extended & was sub contracting everything out. The whole thing was a nightmare & we were both working long hours at the time. We naively assumed that the professionals knew what they were doing.

My previous house suffered a huge water escape from the loft which left two thirds of the house uninhabitable & destroyed everything we owned in it. The drying out, stripping out & re- building took a year because it had to be done twice. The insurers contractors made a complete bodge of it the first time because, again, they sub contracted out too much work. Half way through my husband died. The contractors tried to get me to sign off on the work the day before his funeral. Fortunately I didn't, on the advice of a friend who was a plumber. I then had to project manage all of the work being done again.

In my current house I have had electrical work done, decorating, the kitchen re-modelled, a Moroccan courtyard created, & now am doing my ensuite bathroom. I'm therefore used to dealing with bricklayers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers, plasterers, painters & decorators, tilers, etc etc. I  also did a lot of decorating & tiling when we were young & had no money, so have some first hand experience. My husband did electrics & plumbing.

All of this makes me really despair when I have work done in my home - because that's what it is - it isn't just a house. It's your own very personal, private space. It's your sanctuary against the world & trouble.

I have expectations of professional trades:-

1. They should arrive on time, when they say they will & put in a full days work.
2. They should know what materials they need to do the job & should ensure that they have everything on site ready to use in advance. The need to "pop out to suppliers" should be minimal. It wastes the clients time & money & puts the schedule back.
3. They should be able to schedule the work to minimise time loss, for example waiting for mortar / grout to "go off", & give a reasonably accurate estimate of how long the job will take.

Obviously I do understand that unforseen things do happen which cannot be planned for ahead & that will alter 2 & 3.

1. They should respect the clients home, keeping the job as clean & tidy as possible & protecting paintwork, flooring & posessions properly. Building work is messy but that isn't an excuse for mess everywhere.
2. If the client is living in the house while the work is going on, as I have done for all the work I have described, the above is doubly important.
3. They should consult & ensure that they know exactly what has to be done, especially if the client is not on site all the time.
4. If the client is there they should consult & inform regularly.

What I don't expect is "bullshitting". But that is often what you get. I'm not an idiot. I can think.There is a difference between excuses & reasons.

It isn't rocket science. There are countries who are worse than the UK - Greece & Turkey spring to mind. There are also countries who are light years ahead of us - Germany & the whole of Scandinavia for example. It can be done. It's a question of attitude, forward planning & joined up thinking.

Most of our building trades people are just not up to the sort of standards that clients have every right to expect in their homes. Just look at the levels of complaints about new build housing.
http://whatconsumer.co.uk/forum/consumer-rights-television-programmes/10392-bbc-watchdog-more-moans-about-new-homes.html

There are numerous websites to help consumers who have problems with any building work -for example.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/getting-home-improvements-done/problem-with-home-improvements/

The problem is huge & encompasses everything from disruption, stress & hassle to dangerous & shoddy workmanship. It really isn't good enough.