The payment schedule is the only real leverage a homeowner has once work begins. A renovation payment schedule that is structured well keeps the contractor moving. A renovation payment schedule that is structured badly hands away all your leverage. Structured well, it keeps the contractor motivated to finish. Structured badly, it hands over all your leverage in the first week.

A renovation payment schedule: the principle

At every point in the project, the value of work completed should be slightly ahead of the money paid. If you are ever paid up beyond the work done, you are funding the contractor and you have nothing left to withhold if things go wrong.

A defensible structure

• Mobilisation deposit. Enough to cover initial material orders and site set-up, no more. Ask what it is actually funding.
• Progress claims against verified milestones. Hacking and disposal complete. Plumbing and electrical first fix complete. Tiling complete. Carpentry installed. Each claim inspected before payment.
• Practical completion. Paid when the works are complete and usable, with an agreed snag list attached.
• Retention released at end of defects liability. Held back for a defined period after handover.

What to check before releasing any claim

Walk the site against the claim. Materials delivered but not installed are not completed work. Ask for the delivery orders for major items so you know what has actually arrived. Photograph each milestone before it is covered up, particularly waterproofing and concealed services — those photographs are the only evidence you will have if a leak appears in eighteen months.

Where disputes start

Variations agreed verbally and claimed later. Progress claims submitted ahead of actual progress. A contractor pulling labour off your site to another job because they are already paid up. All three are managed by the same discipline: pay for what you can see, in writing, against a schedule agreed before work started.

Talk to CRITANS — Free Preliminary Consultation

CRITANS Building Services is a CIDB-registered general contractor (0120231107-SL127438) based in Ampang, Selangor, serving Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley. We handle residential, commercial, retail, hospitality, industrial and educational projects end to end.

Send us your floor plan, photos or a rough idea and we will come back with a realistic scope and budget. Consultation is completely free.

WhatsApp us now: +6016-610 4189

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