How much to pay a builder up front and to save til job is done?

[nowwearefour]

We have found a builder which we like. he seems great. but a friend has been asked by him for 37% up front with only 4% left to pay for after it is apparently finished. I can sort of think it might be reasonable to pay that much up front (though around 25% might be better) but i would want to leave at least 25-30% to pay after the job has been completed to our level of satisfaction. I understand re getting materials and needing to pay mortgages etc but they could walk off the job never to return once they have a substantial proportion of the fees, surely? anyone have any experience of this to enlighten my friend and me?

I'd be a bit suspicious to be honest. When we had our bathroom done, builder didn't take any money until job was completed to our satisfaction

I can see that with bigger jobs they may want a percentage upfront for materials etc but certainly not that high...have you googled building advice to see what the standard practice is? I would also ask to see the work he has done previously - we used a builder that had done my friends extension. I saw the finished work and loved it, hence deciding to use him

we paid nothing upfront to our builder. he said that he likes the client to actually SEE work being carried out before asking for money. also he pointed out that reputable builders have trade accounts and can usually get at least 28 days credit.

we are making stage payments btw, as various parts of the job are completed, we pay for that part, ie plastering, kitchen, windows etc..

hth

full xt, 25pc to damp course then 50pc to roof 75pc once roof is on, then 98pc when finished, 2pc 8 weeks later once troubleshootin complted

thanks. interesting. anyone paid anything upfront?

currently having a small infill extension - approx £11k.
Footings started day after easter monday (can't remember the date), brickwork went up a week or so later, roof went on last week and they are knocking through tomorrow.
Haven't paid anything yet although builder now wants some money for contractors and materials.
Didn't pay anything up front.

He also did my friends much larger extension and payments were pretty similar.

Wouldn't be at all happy paying much up front.

When my mum and dad had a reasonably significant extension (hmm, 10/15 years ago) they paid builder £500pw for him to pay subbies.

My friend has just had her extension done which cost £60k.

She paid her builder week by week but never BEFORE any work has been done. The builder should have a credit account with merchants so shouldn't need to have any money to buy timber/bricks etc

Where is the incentive for him to graft for the week if you pay upfront???

Weekly payments for this builder were £3k each Friday or £5k if he laid out for bathrooms/kitchens etc to pay for what he had already bought.

No, never paid upfront.

When we did all the fences and a large deck, we paid some when the first fence was up, some when the next, and then the rest when the deck was complete.

When we did our bathroom, we paid when the job was done.

When we built our conservatory (£20k), we paid 10% of outstanding balance as the work was progressing for the first few weeks, then 20% of outstanding balance. A certain amount was held back and not due until after inspection when the job was done.

oh - that reminds me, on our conservatory we did make an upfront payment, think 25%.

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We paid £2k on the first day of work but apart from that everything else has been staged payments once agreed milestones have been completed. this was suggested by the builder and worked really well.

I suppose it depends on what you are having done. We spent approx £70k with ours and there is no way I would have given him £20K+ on his first day of work.

Pay nothing up front.Ask for a staged estimate with small amounts at each stage of the build and definitely leave 50% for the end so that everything gets done