Andrew Needham looks at when a construction business should obtain a certificate before zero-rating building work.
In many cases, a construction business does not need to obtain a certificate to zero-rate their supply of construction services (e.g., if they are building new residential property which is automatically zero-rated). This includes houses and apartments.
Zero-rating in these circumstances applies to the main contractor and any sub-contractors in the supply chain.
Example 1: Construction of five new houses
A property developer engages a construction firm to build five new houses on a piece of bare land that they own. The main developer can zero-rate their supply to the property development.
The main contractor hires electricians, plasterers, roofers, etc., to undertake specialist work on the project. The sub-contractors can
