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Forum -> Household Management -> Finances

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amother

Mon, Aug 12 2024, 10:09 am

I had work done at my apartment and most of the work has been done but they need to come back in a few days to finish something small. They seem to want payment now- is that reasonable or can I ask them that we wait until the job is complete?

amother

Arcticblue

Mon, Aug 12 2024, 10:13 am

I'd wait until it's done or at least hold back some of it because they often don't come back once they have their money.

amother

Tiffanyblue ↓

Mon, Aug 12 2024, 10:23 am

If they did most of it you should for sure be paying a nice amount and then pay the rest upon completion.

amother

Yolk

Mon, Aug 12 2024, 10:25 am

You should be paying most of it already. You can keep a little to pay after they come back.

amother

Emerald ↓

Mon, Aug 12 2024, 10:39 am

amother OP wrote:

What does the contract say? What was your arrangement?

Are you supposed to pay throughout the process? Or only give the entire payment once it’s completed?

If you don’t have to pay until it’s completed I suggest waiting. It’s only a few more days and IME, when they get most of their money they suddenly stop showing up or their quality of work goes downhill, as they now have little to no incentive to put in the effort or repair things that have not been done correctly

If you don’t NEED to pay it now, don’t.

kermit

Mon, Aug 12 2024, 10:50 am

in my experience do not fully pay until work complete.

worked with several contractors in the past who seemed nice, honest, did good work, and just had a couple things to finished. paid up and then they never came back for the finishing touches.

since then, I always withhold a few hundred till complete.

Molly Weasley

Mon, Aug 12 2024, 10:55 am

Echoing others here, just one point.

Stick to the contract, and don't budge with paying early even if pressured, (unless the contract is extremely unreasonable) because even the best of contractors, the nicest guys, don't come back once the job is basically done.

They move on.
They sometimes mean well, they just can't find the time afterwards.

amother

↑ Tiffanyblue

Mon, Aug 12 2024, 11:31 am

For those saying not to pay anything till everything is completed...you do realize that the contractor paid for supplies, paid his workers etc...if he is mostly done why shouldn't he get any money yet? The right thing to do is pay and hold back a little upon completion.

amother

Mauve

Mon, Aug 12 2024, 11:38 am

Pay but leave enough of a balance to entice them to come back (several hundred doesn't always cut it unfortunately)

cupcake613

Mon, Aug 12 2024, 12:33 pm

Don't pay the full amount. Hold back enough that they'll actually come back to finish the job.

Amarante ↓

Mon, Aug 12 2024, 1:03 pm

Standard construction/remodeling contract is 10% held back until final approval and work is completed.

amother

↑ Emerald

Mon, Aug 12 2024, 1:59 pm

amother Tiffanyblue wrote:

There’s no right thing to do here. If the agreement was that no money gets paid until full completion then there’s nothing wrong with following that. If a contractor can’t handle that financially then he will set different terms

And even the most well meaning contractors will end up skipping out on the end of a project- why waste time doing small work for a couple hundred/thousand when he can start work on a new job paying way more $$$. I’ve seen it happen time and time again

↑ Amarante

Mon, Aug 12 2024, 2:24 pm

amother Tiffanyblue wrote:

I have never seen an agreement in which the total amount is not paid until the project is completed.

A standard agreement for a project would be 10% due on execution. Then depending on the scope of the project there are amounts due at each step so that 50% is due when a step is started and the remainder due when the step is completed with 10% held back until everything has been completed including the punch list.

The only time you don’t pay until completed is if it is a small project like the plumber or electrician fixing something. These generally take a few hours at most and you pay when it is finished and before they leave.

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