Paying deposit before builder starts working??

jkpd

bulk of my customers are domestic, my jobs vary from £100+, currently working on a£200k new build and a £60k re-roof,no contracts,no Qs or other professionals,as I say no builders or other trades i know ask for deposits, maybe this is different in other parts of UK, also i am on several contractors lists and have to wait 30-60 days for payment, thats how the trade is.

southcoastrgi

jkpd wrote: »

bulk of my customers are domestic, my jobs vary from £100+, currently working on a£200k new build and a £60k re-roof,no contracts,no Qs or other professionals,as I say no builders or other trades i know ask for deposits, maybe this is different in other parts of UK, also i am on several contractors lists and have to wait 30-60 days for payment, thats how the trade is.

hold on let me get this right, you are saying you are doing a £200k job & a £60k job without a contract of any kind in place ?????

Brenster

I agree with your point, if I was say a kitchen fitter, and I was undertaking a £6k job (£4500 for materials, £1500 labour) in these circumstances I would understand asking for a deposit. Although if it was a extension then I wouldnt entertain paying a penny upfront.

jkpd

Yes that's right, a contract is never a gurantee that I will be paid they are are normally their to protect the customer anyway more so than the contractor,I agree payment terms before I start,we shake hands,deal done, I never leave the job until the customer is happy,any comebacks then I return and put right, if a customer has a problem a few years later I still go back and fix. If I have any concerns about the customer I don't work for them.I never have any problems and my customers come back to me time after time! I have had contracts before with customers, but prefer both parties to trust each other, works for me!!

southcoastrgi

well what can i say, that works for you, but there is no way in the world i would do that, i'm not saying for one min that you don't do exactly what you have said above but you only have to look at programs like cowboy builders to see a lot of "tradesmen" come in without a contract & leave the customer with no come back, i just think it gives peace of mind to both parties & if one side fails to deliever there is some come back in court rather than one side saying he agreed to do this & the other side disagreeing with no paperwork to back anything up, i wish you the best of luck & just hope you don't come across that one customer that fails to pay for whatever reason & puts you out of business.

southcoastrgi

Brenster wrote: »

I agree with your point, if I was say a kitchen fitter, and I was undertaking a £6k job (£4500 for materials, £1500 labour) in these circumstances I would understand asking for a deposit. Although if it was a extension then I wouldnt entertain paying a penny upfront.

interesting, but can you tell me what is the diff between your two examples ?

say for example you have accounts with the kitchen co & the builders merchant, both the examples will require materials to be booked on the a/c & delievered to site, the extension will prob be a more expensive job than the kitchen therefore more money for materials, so why is it ok to get a deposit for the kitchen but not for the more expensive extension ?

jkpd

Yes I do as I say,I give detailed estimates of what the job involves,depending on the customer, extras will be agreed verbaly or in writing, on larger jobs I invoice monthly or as cash flow dictates, I am on 60 day terms with merchants,my labour only subbies I pay as and when they wish, supply and fit subbies are paid within 14 days or less if they are having cashflow problems. My cash flow is always 20% of my turnover + cash in personal accounts which I can feed in as required, so I would never be put of buisness by a bad debt because I would walk away before a debt got that large. As for court etc ,as soon as a customer instructs me to do their work then in law you enter into a basic contract. At the end of the day you are right about contracts, but it has always worked fine for me, my reputation is what keeps me busy and earns the money and it only takes one bad job to destroy that.

keystone

jkpd wrote: »

Yes that's right, a contract is never a gurantee that I will be paid they are are normally their to protect the customer anyway more so than the contractor,I agree payment terms before I start,we shake hands,deal done, I never leave the job until the customer is happy,any comebacks then I return and put right, if a customer has a problem a few years later I still go back and fix. If I have any concerns about the customer I don't work for them.I never have any problems and my customers come back to me time after time! I have had contracts before with customers, but prefer both parties to trust each other, works for me!!

I prefer everything in writing which is for the protection of BOTH client and contractor thus avoiding the "who get can it highest up the wall" contest and the "you said, I said" contretemps if anything goes pearshaped on either side.

I totally agree on the trust front. The problem is you can't trust everybody. I used to do it your way but then got a commercial client who shafted me big time and rather than pay his bills folded the company leaving everyone in the clarts. Actually in that case a written contract wouldn't have been any good 'cos the company just vanished overnight with me £3k down. I don't do commercial work any more.

Cheers

greenface

I dont normally do big enough jobs for one to hurt me badly if it went t1ts up . I havent got a mobile phone full of customers i have a phone full of friends. I never ask for a deposit and get paid on satisfaction of the job i do (normally windows but some other things too)2 jobs in 22 years have gone bad .one died while we were there finished the job and walked away and wrote it off. Other went bust being owed thousands by a big building firm. I would be reluctant to pay a deposit unless the works had started and i knew them well

Brenster

In the kitchen example, I would get the home owner to pay for the kitchen direct, then I would do the work, and invoice them for the fitting of the kitchen after the successful completion.

Cowboy builders only get away with it because the customer is silly enough to pay them for work not undertaken.

As I said before a reputable builder will only require paying for work undertaken.