Paying a tradesman up front for work - what is the norm here?

JIL

I have recently employed a couple of self employed tradesmen. Neither expected any payment until the job finished and I said I was happy. One was really surprised I settled up the day they finished, telling me it rarely happened.
There is one I paid up front. That was a family member who had his car broken into and his work tools stolen. I paid him, he replenished some tools, did some plastering for us and was able to return to work. (Insurance took 10 days)

Lulu58

Doozergirl said:

Unfortunately he was recommended by a friend which makes it very awkward.  Because of that we didn't bother too much with a detailed quote, and didn't do any homework. 

Lulu58

no1catman said:

Agree with the last comment. A tradesman can't be very good, if he hasn't made enough money from previous work to finance materials and living expenses. As others have said, a deposit of say 20% as an act of good faith - to secure the date, is not unreasonable. Anything more, and he is being unreasonable. If you pay - what proof do you have that he will finish the job, to his satisfaction, let alone your satisfaction. Isn't his 'reputation' worth doing a good job, with satisfied customers, or doesn't he care. Give Trading Standards a call - they may have an open file on him already!

We think he's struggling with cash flow, but could be wrong. 
We refused to pay and he has walked off the job with everything half done.  He  threatened to take us to court for the outstanding monies but the reality is we have paid a lot of money out and have nothing much to show for it.  Painful and expensive lesson learnt.

Mutton_Geoff

I'd never do business with a tradesman that wanted paying up front. If he's struggling for money and using you as his bank, there will be no point taking him to court. Don't pay any more, don't have him back, just look for a decent handyman that can come and make good what you have. And put this down to experience.

Risteard

no1catman said:

Agree with the last comment. A tradesman can't be very good, if he hasn't made enough money from previous work to finance materials and living expenses.

Absolute baloney.

Did you ever consider that it could be to offer some protection to the tradesman against non-payment?

Risteard

FreeBear said:

For smaller jobs (under £500 or so), I've always paid on completion. On the bigger jobs, the most recent being new windows, a 20% deposit and then the remainder on completion. Paying for a job in full before completion, nope.

I can assure you that with a big job you would be paying a hell of a lot more than 20% before completion. In fact, in stages, you'd probably be paying close to 90% before completion. There is no way anyone would work for months on a job with only 20% of the money paid.

Kiran

Risteard said:

I can assure you that with a big job you would be paying a hell of a lot more than 20% before completion. In fact, in stages, you'd probably be paying close to 90% before completion. There is no way anyone would work for months on a job with only 20% of the money paid.

I don't necessarily disagree with you however define "big job" in terms of value and programme?

For example, £100k over 6 months you would stage payments however you would be naïve if you didn't weight those payments towards completion.  in a "big job" scenario you should also have a defined payment schedule when agreeing the work, that way you have milestones and values associated with the progress of the work.

phoebe1989seb

We're having three new accoya windows made and our joiner asked for £3500 up front, followed by a stage payment of £500 when they are almost complete with the final £500 due when the windows are finished/delivered.
Fitting is extra, btw.

We signed a contract agreeing to this, but tbh we're regretting parting with such a large sum up front as it's now been 5 months and he's only just started making them.....

DH does gardeng landscaping work as well as some small carpentry/decorating jobs and often asks for a small amount up front for materials when required as he's had non-payers previously. Many of his customers pay daily even if he's there for several days/a few weeks.