General Practice: How do builders request payment?

[lockdownguru]

First of all, thank you for helping me while choosing a builder for my refurbishment works. Much appreciated!

I have a follow-up question about the payments and how it should be handled.

After some research I see that it's typical for the builders to request a ~10% deposit to secure the job. Considering that my job would take around 20-25 days and cost around ~14k, how should the payments be made? Is it general practice to pay-as-you-go, or pay part of the costs up front for the materials etc?

I would like to be ready when I have this conversation in a few days.

Thank you! 😊

I think they all do things differently.

Depending on the size of the building contractor they should be requesting staged payments on completion of the key stages of the works. Not exactly usual to pay deposits though, unless you are happy to pay upfront for materials. In which case I’d suggest you have them delivered to your premises and check before payment is made. Hope that helps.

Stage payments are common but not a requirement in projects under 43 days.
It’s very normal to pay a deposit, the mobilisation costs a project can be huge.
I’d always recommend getting a contract. Any good small contractor should have a working knowledge of JCT contracts who have a standard contract form for small works.
It makes it cub harder for them to turn round and demand £££££ down the line.

@LucygreenP thanks for the tips, very useful!

@lastqueenofscotland first time I’ve heard of JCT, thank you! Is a JCT contract common practice for even such small works, e.g. 15-20 days of work involving simple refurbishment jobs?