Contractor asking for 50% deposit

[ML1706]

We have found a building company that we like with good reviews too, however they're asking for a 50% deposit (£20000) to order all the materials for our home renovations.
They also didnt break down the quote and just quoted us £43000, after asking what our budget was.
This seems odd to me, Ive asked for a breakdown of the quote as we probably won't be able to do everything but haven't heard back yet. (The other quote we got was broke down showing what eaxh job cost)

Nope. Don’t trust that. The system on both building works we have done has been one figure for ‘labour’, which has was paid in four instalments. We were given a detailed quote for materials (including electrics, plumbing etc) and this was invoiced fortnightly. I really wouldn’t trust people asking you to put forward such a sum before any work even done. Get quotes from companies neighbours/friends/colleagues have used.

We had a decorator in to do a lot of work in one room. He quoted for the total job - no breakdown. Came the first day and did the basic/free work then asked for 25% of quote to buy the materials. We gave it willingly we know materials are expensive and if we didn’t pay him at the end then he’d be out of pocket.

We paid 50% a week later when job was about 75% done as another client hadn’t paid him as announced upon completion that ‘things were tighter than they’d realised so they’d have to pay in instalments’

Contractor did a fab job for us and has one of best ratings in our city. I imagine it’s quite a financially precarious job though as if a client just doesn’t pay you at the end what do you do? Small claims court takes ages and is a pain.

You really need a proper breakdown of where the money is being spent. Then you can decide whether you are in a position to pay 50% upfront.

Is he the only builder to quote for you?

There have been some truly horrendous builder issues on Mumsnet recently re; money. Maybe look them up? Basically don't trust a company unless you get a total breakdown of costs, pay in (much) smaller instalments, check insurance properly and preferably visit/contact recent past clients.

If they are reputable, then they will order supplies on account, meaning they have 30 days to pay. No way you should be paying for supplies up front. They can invoice you for them once they are on site.

Also, with no breakdown, how can you know if they're telling the truth if things have run over cost, or if you want to reduce costs/add something how much it will be.

Our builder gave a detailed quote, including cost for or how much additional work/items would be ie. Additional electric socket.
If the quote isn't detailed, you also won't know what is really included. They might suddenly say you have to pay for skips, or decorating etc.

I get a materials costing and pay in stages. 10% for initial materials is ok or even source them yourself.
Get it all broken down, get a contract (even if it's you both initialling his very detailed quote with deadlines), and agree stage payments and length of job. If your builders baulks at that, get another one.

weve just had a patio built my son did it as hes a builder and he gave us a total breakdown of what each item would cost, he went and got the materials as needed each day and we paid him that cost at the end of the day, his labour costs he did a time sheet with pay cost each day (was 5 days) and we paid him that at the end of the job , the only other cost each day was my grandson paid daily as he did the labouring for his dad

My builder rang the builder's merchant, put the order in, handed the phone to me and I paid them directly. I never gave the builder money for materials.

At the end of every week he invoiced me for his time which was clearly detailed as £125 per day x 5 = £625 then separately listed at the bottom for any help he had, so inexperienced labourer £50 per day, experienced labourer £80 per day. And yes I could tell the difference. I transferred money directly into his bank account whilst he was cleaning up, so he knew I had paid before he left my house.

I paid all the sub-contractors directly (electrician, plasterer, roofer, door and window chap etc) and the entire thing came to the same quote the builder gave me in the first place.

He turned up when he said, there were no delays in any of the building works, yes he is amazing, and yes he was always booked up. No he is no longer available, after 20+ years he is doing something else.

But is there a contract in place, insurance etc for your builder doing your works? I would be incredibly wary of handing over 50% of the money, it is incredibly risky.

Construction manager here, never hand over that much cash for building work. 50% is far to much, 20% is fine.

They must provide you with a breakdown before they start anything.

Pay 20% weekly if you must.

To many scammers out there.

Depends what the work is... if it's for windows and doors fair enough, if it's for an extension then no chance.

Do NOT pay anything up front. Reputable builders are totally used to this. The norm is have a contract and agree bi-weekly payments for the duration of the build or work. We had a retention of 20% which we paid two weeks after the building control completion certificate was issued and we were satisfied with all the snagging . Our builder didn't bat an eyelid and was the norm for him.

we've always done 3ds on labour (1 before, 1 during 1after completion) and paid materials directly when needed. what was needed when was on the quote.
polish builders btw.

Our build was 150k (fixed quote) which was paid in varying installments 4 weekly in arrears. The build took 6 months, and then 10k was retained by me for 6 months for snagging.
Like a pp, I have read some horrific stories on here of cowboy builders. What they often seem to have in common is asking for large sums upfront. Any builder who runs his business so badly that he needs money for materials in advance is not worth employing. I would look for a different builder.

Deposits are increasingly becoming the norm within all trades, i wouldn't carry out a job for someone who refused to pay a reasonable deposit, just as many rogue customers as they are tradesmen. What we do offer however is for the payment to be made by credit card to protect the client and ourselves.
Is 50% reasonable for your job? Well that entirely depends what the initial value of materials required on the job is if it was all high end kitchen/bathroom supplies maybe if its general building materials probably not.

I'm a surveyor. Do not pay 50% upfront and do not accept his £43k quote without know every inch of what it includes (and excludes).

Big fat nope from me.