Builder Requsting Deposit 9 Months Before Work Starts

Doozergirl

George_Michael wrote: »

The reason I only quoted half of your post was for the simple reason that I was only responding to some of what you quoted.
You stated that 7k wouldn't be enough to skip the country and that by signing a contract would offer a degree of security and it was these two points that I responded to, hence my not needing to fully quote you.

If I was responding to your opinion that 7k might be a bit high, I would have quoted that as well.

Really helpful. Taking a balanced view and trying to tip it.

System

I would say it's pretty rare to have 10% of your build cost sitting around half a year before the build is due to start, if you were getting a loan for the works they would only release the money at certain points.
Do you have a contract in place and/or an architect or someone else to administer the contract?
It's too big a risk imo to pay that much purely as a deposit for keeping the slot open. If they are family friends then surely they trust you enough not to get someone else in to do the work after you have agreed to their costs?!
Trust is a two way street but I'd much prefer to have 7k in my bank while I'm waiting for a contractors to turn up than paying them half a year ahead and worrying for all that time, if they had said a nominal amount as a gesture that would be fine but it seems like a huge risk

playfull_monkey

7k what a joke when I contract (finance) I don't ask for a deposit up front or I'd never get work.

why does a builder think this is right? pay for materials on arrival yes, maybe a small holding deposit but that much up front....dodgy builder or cash flow problems and try and get it back of he folds (which is easy to do). Who ever says a contract will protect is talking rubbish sue a small Ltd trader and very easy to fold and very costly to chase.

George_Michael

Doozergirl wrote: »

Really helpful. Taking a balanced view and trying to tip it.

So your opinion is a balanced view and anyone who has a different opinion is trying to "tip it"?
It seems like you are in the minority concerning the builder asking for money so far in advance so I don't really have to tip anything do I.

shaun_from_Africa

In the past 10 years I've had a conservatory built, two lots of windows replaced, two lots of major interior building work and a new patio and driveway.
How many times was I asked for money before the work began?

Once and that was a £750 deposit for the conservatory, a deposit that was protected as it was paid to a holding company and was insurance backed.

IMO, asking for a small amount (maybe a few hundred) as a sign of goodwill would be okay but asking for £7000 is way too much unless it can be paid by a credit card to give S75 protection.

shaun_from_Africa

£7000 deposit?
Fine until this happens:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/71708581#Comment_71708581

Doozergirl

George_Michael wrote: »

So your opinion is a balanced view and anyone who has a different opinion is trying to "tip it"?
It seems like you are in the minority concerning the builder asking for money so far in advance so I don't really have to tip anything do I.

I made observations on the marketplace which you twisted by misquoting me.

I'm perfectly happy not going with the crowd on here. It's often what makes me a valuable poster.

Mr_Poves

Doozergirl wrote: »

I made observations on the marketplace which you twisted by misquoting me.

I'm perfectly happy not going with the crowd on here. It's often what makes me a valuable poster.

Hi again , as you mention , same topic , new post
I'm totally with you on this - Yes a deposit would be acceptable , but I think £7k is more than I would be willing to risk so far in advance .

Hermione_Granger

At the risk of being accused of misquoting you for not copying and pasting your full post

Doozergirl wrote: »

Trust is a two way street. This is third time I've had this conversation on here in a week. There is a clear trend emerging.

If the OP was to do as the builder has asked and pays him £7000 then between now and August next year when the job is due to start, they will have to trust that the builder doesn't close down their business.
They will have to trust that the builder arrives to start the work on time.
They will have to trust that the builder doesn't decide that they want more money.
And they will have to trust that the builder doesn't decide that he can't fit the job in or has manpower problems and simply cancels.

The builder on the other hand doesn't really have to trust the OP to do anything as he will already have a good sized lump of their money.

It appears that on two way streets in your part of the country there is far more traffic going in one direction than the other.

Doozergirl

Quote me where I have said to pay him £7000!

For the record, I have never asked for a deposit, but I really think it's a consideration this far in advance. For those of you who have not even mentioned what kind of commitments a builder has, apart from my husband and myself, I have three men to employ on a full time basis and several others who rely on us for very regular work and have to book out their diaries.

I carry 5 figures of debt on behalf of clients on a daily basis and none of the materials or labour I purchase can be returned once used. I trust people with far more money than they have to trust me with, given that we get paid in arrears.

I have had clients knowingly spend their last staged payment on new sofas. I had to issue court papers to get paid monthly in installments.

I've had some decide that they wanted a decades old driveway for free as we had to dig part of it up to actually put their extension on it and the foot wide strip of new tarmac didn't match the old. I had to go to arbitration over that and spent days producing a full statement of their behaviour. We won. I had to threaten court papers to get paid.

I have a client that owes us £16,000. The full agreed retention after the job was signed off by the architect at 100%. That's actually my husband's wage for the entire job.

This year I had a client who decided not to pay me a penny of their £25,000 bathroom contract until we had finished. They paid on the button but why do that?!

I've had one put the phone down on me and send me abusive messages swearing and calling me selfish over facebook when I had an emergency and tried to move a meeting by an hour and a half. She then refused to attend any meetings and would post on social media about having 'showdowns' with the builder. There were no showdowns.

We pride ourselves on having the upmost integrity and do the most beautiful work and treat everyone with respect; I offer people to see previous projects and talk to previous clients yet people don't take those offers up, we're still not trusted and often screwed over!

Is it possible that a client could drop us when we have several months of diary booked out for them? Absolutely.

People should be doing serious due diligence on the people they invite into their homes, not dismissing them all as cowboys. Would it be reasonable to sign a contract and pay something like 2-5% of a project value in advance to guarantee a slot when builders are rushed off their feet? Yes, it probably would be fair.

Frankly, people in general treat builders like they are doing them a favour by employing them. The fact is that most people don't do any homework at all, react with kneejerks to stereotypes when faced with any problem and expect something for nothing when surprises come up. They also treat builders like they know better than them.

I'm lucky enough to have spent over two years with bread and butter work for one amazing private client who owns a separate development business and understands how hard we work and another that is corporate and therefore reasonable. More of the same for mext year, with another previous client as a prospect for the back end of the year. Anything else we take on is based on being picky, but I can only go off people's initial behaviour and try to judge their standards. That got me the two most reasonable of the above clients this year!