Our process & guarantee
No surprises, from survey to handover
How a job runs from your first call to the final sweep, what our guarantee covers, your rights as a customer and how payment works. All of it in plain English.
Step by step
Six steps, start to finish
What happens at each stage, how long it takes and what you get from us.
- 01
Step 1
Your enquiry
TimingReply within 24 hours
Call, WhatsApp or send the quote form, whichever suits you. Tell us roughly what you have now, what you’d like and when you’d hope to start, and add photos if you can. Guide prices are on each of our driveway and patio service pages. We’ll reply within 24 hours to arrange a survey, and nothing you tell us commits you to anything.
- Rough sizes are fine; we measure properly on site
- Photos from the road and the front door help us prepare
- You won’t be added to a mailing list
- 02
Step 2
The free survey
TimingVisit within 3 working days
Denis visits at a time that suits you and checks what decides how your job must be built: levels and falls, where rainwater will go, the state of what’s there now, access for machines and skips, manhole covers and the height of your damp-proof course. For front gardens, we also check the 2008 drainage rule. Then we talk through materials and options, including cheaper ones.
- Allow about an hour
- Samples to look at in daylight, against your walls
- No obligation and no hard sell
- 03
Step 3
Your fixed written quote
TimingA few days after the survey
You get one fixed price in writing, with the specification spelled out: area, dig depth, sub-base thickness, edging, drainage, materials and colour, and how the waste will be removed. If anything can’t be known until we dig, such as the ground under an old drive, it’s flagged and explained up front. Your quote is valid for 30 days, and our cost guide shows how to compare it with others.
- Plain English, line by line
- Easy to compare with other quotes
- No ‘sign today’ discounts
- 04
Step 4
Booking and preparation
TimingStart date agreed with you
When you accept the quote in writing, we agree a start date and send your paperwork, including your 14-day right to cancel. We order the materials, book the skip or grab wagon and let your neighbours know when we’re starting. If you’d like us to begin within those 14 days, just ask us in writing.
- A deposit for materials, never the full price
- Neighbours told before work begins
- Start dates planned around the weather
- 05
Step 5
The build
TimingTypically 2–6 days on site
We set out the levels, dig out to the depth your surface needs (typically 200–250mm for a block paved driveway) and take the spoil away. The MOT Type 1 sub-base goes down in compacted layers, then the edging, bedded and haunched in concrete, then the drainage and the surface. The same crew is with you every day until it’s finished.
- Dig depth checked before the sub-base goes in
- Site tidied and road swept every evening
- Resin and tarmac laid only in suitable weather
- 06
Step 6
Handover and aftercare
TimingOn completion
We walk round the finished job with you, check the levels and drainage together and put right anything you’re not happy with before we leave. You get care advice for your surface and your 10-year written guarantee. The balance is due only after that walk-round, and if anything needs attention later, you know exactly who to call.
- Written guarantee, including how to claim
- Care advice for your surface
- Balance paid only when you’re satisfied
The guarantee
10 years, in writing
What our guarantee covers, what it doesn’t and how to use it.
Every driveway and patio we build comes with a written guarantee on our workmanship for 10 years from the day we finish. If something fails because of the way we built it, we come back and put it right at no cost to you.
What’s covered
- Sinking, dips or ruts caused by the sub-base or the way it was compacted
- Edging, kerbs or haunching that move or break away
- Blocks or slabs that work loose or rock under normal use
- Resin that lifts or cracks because of the way it was laid
- Drainage we installed, such as channel drains and soakaways, that fails because of how it was built
What isn’t covered
- Staining from oil, fuel, chemicals, rust, leaves or barbecues
- Damage from skips, delivery lorries or other vehicles heavier than a car or van
- Movement caused by tree roots, subsidence or other people’s digging, such as utility work
- Normal weathering and colour change, and efflorescence: a harmless white bloom on new concrete blocks that fades with time
- Moss, weeds and joint sand that needs topping up, which are part of normal care (our aftercare answers explain what to do)
How to claim
Call 07957 236658 or email info@dnc-paving.co.uk with your address and a few photos. We’ll reply within 24 hours, come and look, and tell you plainly whether it’s covered. If it is, we agree a date to fix it. If it isn’t, we’ll explain why and what it would take to put right.
This guarantee sits on top of your legal rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which require our work to be done with reasonable care and skill. If an insurance-backed guarantee matters to you, ask us about it at your survey.
Your rights
Your right to cancel
The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 protect you when you agree to work in your home or at a distance. Here’s what that means in practice.
If you accept our quote in your home, or at a distance by phone, email or online, you have 14 days to change your mind. The 14 days start the day after the contract is made, and you don’t have to give a reason. To cancel, just tell us clearly by email or letter, or use the cancellation form we give you.
We won’t start work in those 14 days unless you ask us to in writing. If you do, and then cancel, you pay only for the work done up to the point you told us, in proportion to the whole job. If the whole job is finished within the 14 days at your request, the right to cancel ends once it’s complete.
What we give you in writing
- Our full business name, address and contact details
- A clear description of the work, the materials and the specification
- The total price, and how and when payment is due
- The expected start date and how long the job should take
- Your right to cancel, with a cancellation form you can use
- Details of our guarantee and how to raise a complaint
Payment
How payment works
A small deposit, the balance on completion, and a receipt for every payment.
When you book, we ask for a deposit of no more than 10% of the quoted price, which pays for the materials ordered for your job. Nothing else is due until the work is finished and we’ve walked round it together. Then you pay the balance.
- Pay by bank transfer or card. We never ask for cash only.
- Every payment gets a receipt, and the final invoice matches your written quote plus any changes you agreed in writing.
- We never ask for the full price up front, or for extra money mid-job to buy materials.
- If you cancel within your 14 days and work hasn’t started, your deposit comes back in full within 14 days.
In short
What you can expect
- 01We’ll never knock on your door uninvited.
- 02Your price is fixed, and in writing, before we start.
- 03We’ll tell you if a cheaper option would do the job.
- 04The crew that starts your job will finish it.
- 05Your neighbours will hear from us before the machines arrive.
- 06Every load of waste goes to a licensed site.
- 07You’ll pay the balance only when you’re happy.
- 08If something we built fails, we’ll come back and fix it.
Questions
Questions about the process
Do I need to be at home while you work?
No, as long as we can get onto the drive and use an outside tap. Most people are in on the first morning, to confirm levels and positions with us, and for the final walk-round. In between, we’ll keep you updated by phone or message, with photos if you’re away.
Who do I speak to if something worries me during the job?
Denis, on 07957 236658. The crew can answer most questions on site, but you can always reach the person who wrote your quote. If something doesn’t look right to you, say so straight away: it’s always easier to change things before the surface goes down than after.
How do you protect my property during the work?
We protect doorsteps, thresholds and nearby walls where we’re cutting or compacting, cover drains and gullies so nothing washes into them, and lay boards where barrows cross lawns. Before we start, we photograph anything already damaged nearby, such as cracked paving next door, so there’s never any argument later.
What does the handover involve?
We walk the job with you and check the finish, the levels and the edges. If there’s been no rain, we run water over the surface so you can see it drain. Then we go through how to look after your new surface and give you the written guarantee and final invoice. You pay the balance once you’re satisfied.
Will you come back after the job is finished?
If anything we built needs attention, yes: that’s what the guarantee is for. On block paving, the joint sand settles over the first few weeks, so we’ll show you how to top it up. And if something doesn’t look right at any point, call us and we’ll come and look.
Free quote
See how it would work on your drive
We’ll visit within 3 working days, measure up and talk you through how your job would run. Then you’ll get a fixed written quote and all the time you need.
Free survey · fixed written quote · no pressure