What measures should I have in place before transferring £12,000 deposit

docmatt

Dude don’t pay them a 12k deposit, agree stage payments. You pay when you see stuff taking place as it’s installed.

Get it written up in a contract. Do not pay 12k before anything is done.

Newuser1987

Slightly late to the conversation but I would extremely advise against handing over a deposit of this amount.

The only likely reason a builder would request this level of deposit for a job of this scale is because of cash flow problems.

As others have said you should be seeking planning approval prior to the works starting. Even if within permitted development rights you should still seek a 'certificate of lawful development' before starting work. Both of these take 8 weeks. I would recommend doing this via direct appoint with an architect. An architect has a duty of care for their client which in case would be the builder and not you. When I have been approached by builders to do drawings for clients I will always advise them that I need to have a direct appointment with the homeowner and my fees paid by that homeowner.

I would then advise that you have a JCT homeowners contract with your builder. This will clearly set out the terms and payment schedule.

It isn't uncommon for builders to have cash flow problems but you need more information than a number plucked from the air. In these situations I normally suggest the first payment to be made two weeks from start date and then monthly. Having a contract will give some assurance but you should have a itemised priced schedule so you can value the work completed as you go along.

onomatopoeia99

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

Thirdly, it may be worth paying a small deposit ( e.g. £100 ) on a credit card.

Bear in mind that a lot of people in this field don't have merchant services agreements and therefore cannot accept credit cards. Why would they want to? It costs them money monthly to have the agreement in place, money taken on the payment etc. Building work is not like a buying a TV in a shop.

Debbie_Savard

That's £12K you won't see again!

Doozergirl

Debbie_Savard wrote: »

That's £12K you won't see again!

They hadn’t paid a ything when they posted. Hopefully they haven’t but your post isn’t helpful when it isn’t in context, it just reads as being rude