Hello - I have a flooring vendor asking for 100% payment prior to any work being done - is this standard for Idaho? This is for a small residential project.
2 replies
Mar 26, 2020
It's extremely uncommon for a contractor to be fully paid upfront. This can be a bad idea for a number of reasons - not the least of which is the risk that the contractor may take off with the funds without performing the work. Down payments can range quite a bit, and there may well be a good reason for a sizeable down payment. However, I'd suspect that anything over 40% as a down payment should draw a fair amount of scrutiny.
Regardless of the size of a down payment - it's important that an owner gets an accounting on what the down payment is being used for. And, asking for receipts isn't out of the question either. If the contractor is offended or refuses to explain what, exactly, the down payment is being used for - that might be a red flag.
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Apr 3, 2020
I agree with Matthew. I would insist that the vendor provide a copy of the order or invoice for the material. If the material supplier has not been paid, make you check payable jointly to your vendor AND the material supplier. I would not, however, pay for the installation labor in advance.