Payment up front for plumbing work

[Londoner]

Can I ask the board what people ask for/have been asked for in terms of payment up front for plumbing work (in my case it's a bathroom refit and we are supplying all the main fittings/furniture etc).

Is half up front, the rest on completion normal? What are the going percentages at the moment? Can I justify paying less up front if there is very little the fitter has to buy in terms of large fittings?

 

[gas4you]

Cannot speak for general plumbing trade and I only do heating and gas work, but unless total bill is going to be above around £5000 I never ask for deposit. If it is a larger install then I always insist on payment for materials only, the day they are delivered on site and become the customers property. The rest is always payable on the day of completion of work.

 

[pampers]

If the client is unkown to me i ask for materials cost when they are delivered to site.If i know em or its not a lot of money i dont bother till completion and just get paid in full.

 

[corgiman]

I concur with Gas

We usually ask for a 25% deposit on large ceantral heating jobs (just to cover restocking charges if the client cancells)

or if we are supplying parts for rare boilers (ie the stores will not take it back) we charge the full price of the parts which become the property of the client

I must say we (nor I personally) would look for any deposit on a labour only job.

have you had anyone else give you a quote?

 

[namsag]

Same as gas4you i never take a penny off people till job is complete even when its offered or job is an extension etc and it runs into a couple of months. Just my way of working and never had a problem with payment.

 

[simond]

We always ask for a small deposit on all installations.

This stops the very occasional customer where you turn up on the allotted day, with the materials, and they say they would prefer it if you could come back in two months time, or they have changed their mind.

Had a customer not so long ago, ordered all Danfoss RF equipment to link two remote cylinders inc remote room stats, rem cyl sats etc etc and didn't take a deposit. Booked our guys in for two days, turned up, customer out. Turned out they had changed their mind, without telling us.

 

[EliteHeat]

I always take a deposit which is 100% refundable if the job is cancelled 7 or more days from the agreed start date. Any cancellation less than that then 60% is returned.

I also state that no part of the deposit has been used to buy materials of any sort and that all goods remain my property until the invoice has been paid in full.

The reasons for this are:-

I need to know the customer is solvent
I need to confidently book time and gear out
I need protection in case the customer inexplicably declares themselves bankrupt!

Never has any problems since doing it this way.

 

[Londoner]

I always take a deposit which is 100% refundable if the job is cancelled 7 or more days from the agreed start date. Any cancellation less than that then 60% is returned.

I also state that no part of the deposit has been used to buy materials of any sort and that all goods remain my property until the invoice has been paid in full.

The reasons for this are:-

I need to know the customer is solvent
I need to confidently book time and gear out
I need protection in case the customer inexplicably declares themselves bankrupt!

Never has any problems since doing it this way.

Can I ask roughly what percentage deposit you would ask for?

 

[giblets]

FWIW on large jobs I ask for 10% deposit with order, 60% on delivery of materials/start of work and the balance within 7 days of practicle completion (which is defined as the day the customer has benificial use of the new system)

 

[Softus]

Londoner - think about what you're trying to achieve here. There are two problems to address:

1. Cash flow
If you can't afford to complete the job without stage payments, then stipulate stage payments.

2. Cancellation / bad debt
Discriminate (as others have alluded) between good, bad and unknown customers.

Known bad ones are easy to deal with - just say no.

Good ones are also easy - no deposit is needed.

If you don't know the customer well enough to know whether they're good or bad, then ask for something up front for materials, and avoid calling it a deposit, which suggests mistrust.

 

[EliteHeat]

Londoner - as a default I ask for 40% but this is variable and can be adjusted when I send the quotation out. As Softus has said, a lot depends on how you feel about, and how much confidence you have with the customer.

On occasion I waive the deposit, mostly because the timescales don't work and trhe cheque cannot clear in time.

It is more important to me that the order form is signed and returned by the customer. This acknowledges that he/she has read and understood the T&C's - which are also printed on the reverse side of the order form.

Personally, I think that a full specification of works should be included which protects both parties although I know that a lot of people do complex works on a purely verbal agreement.

I hate surprises!

 

[Agile]

We normally start jobs up to £300 without any deposit.

A boiler replacement would require an £800 deposit when we bring the new boiler.

At a tenanted property we require payment before we start in all cases except established customers as landlords often hide their true identities and are the worst clients to deal with as a very high proportion try to avoid payment.

In the case described above I would be suspicious if its your own house and your lifestyle indicates that you will have no problem paying.

Tony