Really sorry for your problems in this, Wishes, but I thing that anybody in your situation accepting a cheque from a 'builder' in the current climate, without knowing for sure that the builder was solvent, is quite likely to be working for nothing. I know times are really hard for people working in the construction sector, but there has to be a limit to what people like you will accept, and a dud cheque is not one of them. So, maybe you might enlighten the Revenue officials in the Department of Finance about the dud cheque? If the builder is in business, then shining a light on his transactions might deter him from doing this again.