Checkatrade says it uses AI to help explain the factors behind tradespeople’s job prices, while checking estimates against its own data. CTO Gorden Pretorius says the company keeps a human in the loop for AI-assisted vetting, where it applies stricter safeguards.
Watch Desk analysis
What happened
In an interview with AI Magazine, Pretorius describes a pricing approach that combines AI with Checkatrade’s historical data and information about location, job type and subcategory. The aim is to give customers a breakdown of what shapes a quote, rather than a bare figure. When the model’s estimate conflicts with the company’s data, he says, Checkatrade investigates the discrepancy; gaps in the models are reflected in a confidence score.
Pretorius also says Checkatrade encourages AI services to use its APIs for structured, real-time information instead of relying on scraped material. The company uses AI in vetting, he says, but keeps a person involved at every stage. Checkatrade launched its AI-powered TradeMore job-management platform in 2025, which supports tasks including quotes, price lists, invoices and certificates.
Why it matters
A renovation estimate is not a taxi fare: the job can change dramatically with the property, materials and work required. Making the inputs and uncertainties visible could help customers understand why a quote varies, while giving the company a way to question estimates that do not fit its accumulated data.
That is a more grounded use of AI than handing over a number and hoping nobody asks where it came from. But a confidence score and human review are only as useful as the information and process behind them. Pretorius’s account describes Checkatrade’s approach, not an independent evaluation of its accuracy or fairness.
Our read
The useful idea here is not that AI can price a bathroom. It is that a system used around variable, real-world work should show what is driving its answer and flag where its confidence runs thin. Checkatrade says it is building that visibility into pricing and keeping tighter oversight around vetting.
That is a sensible direction, though transparency is a promise that needs testing against actual quotes and decisions. If customers can see what changes an estimate, they can challenge it; if the explanation is just polished certainty, the black box has merely learnt better manners.
What to watch
- Whether customers can see which job details and local factors affect an estimate.
- How Checkatrade’s confidence scores change the estimates it presents.
- Whether human review in vetting is meaningful in practice, and how discrepancies are resolved.
Discussion spark: For AI-generated job estimates, should companies be required to show customers the factors behind a price, or is a clear final quote enough?
Sources and evidence
- Checkatrade CTO Gorden Pretorius: Making AI Transparent – AI Magazine (5 October 2026, 13:53 UTC)
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