paying builder upfront !!

teneighty

Excellent advice so far.

Is this the same contractor you mentioned in a previous thread who wouldn't use a contract by any chance?

I'm off now to bang my head on this brick wall.

sam1970

No..he is not. I had quotes from 4 different builders and all of them will not do contracts. It seems a common practice. Actually two of them refused the job when I insisted on a contract

Doozergirl

sam1970 wrote: »

thank you for the replies. I feel happier with weekly pay but how do you plan it? how much to pay every week especially we dont know exactly how many weeks he will need to complete the job (16-20 weeks)

Are you any good with Excel? I'm going to guess that he isn't!

Perhaps I should post up the spreadsheet that I use, for people to use as a guide.

Essentially, you break down the quote into prices. I usually do this by the people that I pay rather than stages. So if it were a bathroom (for example) mine will have a list with prices next to them like: general labour, plasterer, electrician, plumber, sanitaryware, tiles, tiler, materials with a price next to each.

Across the top I have the payment dates. Each date has two columns for it, one is a percentage, one is a cost. On each payment day, I go down the list, enter the % complete and it calculates the cost.

Totalling everything at the bottom gives you the price due that date, totalling everything at the end of the rows gives you a running total of the % of the way through each job you are.

You can look at the project and assess whether the % complete of each item is about right before you pay. On a bigger project, you'd have someone signing that off for you, but it's certainly better than nothing, breaks the job into some more detail and enables you to see if the % looks right. If the % aren't matching where you are on the project then you can rein it back so he isn't spending your money on fruit machines down the pub or propping up his ex-wife's shopping habit

Clear as mud?

Doozergirl

I'll have to post a pic of one up but will have to edit it a bit. Mine are massive!

Doozergirl

teneighty wrote: »

Excellent advice so far.

Is this the same contractor you mentioned in a previous thread who wouldn't use a contract by any chance?

I'm off now to bang my head on this brick wall.

Oh, come on. OP, you said they were FMB members. Members commit to using their contract.

They just need to sign in to their account online, print it off and fill it out. You can do it together, even. It's idiot proof. Phone the FMB and ask them to prod the guy or email it to him/you so you can go through it together.

LadyDee

How many threads have we seen here from people who have been ripped off/ badly disappointed by builders and other tradesmen recommended by friends. If a builder is good enough, experienced enough, to take on a 100k job, then he is big enough and of long enough standing to have trade accounts, and be confident enough to sign a proper contract for such a large job. It's a huge amount of money to risk.

If something goes very wrong, has he the assets to go after to pay somebody else to put right the work (which can often cost more than the original damage)?

If the works require Planning or Building consents don't just take his word he'll apply for them only to find out later he hasn't done anything of the sort, and then you really are in trouble.

If 100k is your budget you'll doubtless find it will end up costing a great deal more - can you finance all the "unexpected extras"?

Many more questions come to mind OP but hopefully all comments here will have given you food for thought.

teneighty

sam1970 wrote: »

No..he is not. I had quotes from 4 different builders and all of them will not do contracts. It seems a common practice. Actually two of them refused the job when I insisted on a contract

Excellent news. Which contract are you using then? And what does it say about payment schedules.

sam1970

Thank you Doozergirl for taking the time and your detailed reply earlier. I never said he was a FMB member

Doozergirl

You did on a previous post. You changed your mind on who you were planning use?

sam1970

yes..different builder