My 91 yr. old mother and I hired a contractor to build an addition to our home so that my mother could move home to live with us. My mother paid the amount to the contractor and we didn't use the bank either. We ended up with a crooked contractor that took her money then walked and didn't finish the addition. When we started the process, we didn't do sufficient research so that we were prepared sufficiently to actually go through this process and that was our downfall. There was no schedule for pmts. and he asked for monies almost on a weekly basis yet wasn't completing any of the work. He insisted that we were to pay for the work up front which we should not have done, but again, we are definitely much the wiser now. If you are looking for more information on how things work when hiring a contractor, contact the Consumer Protection Ontario and you will find so much information on what is expected and what is law when it comes to the rules for a contractor to follow. We have learned so much after the fact. There is no need to put any monies into any type of account whatsoever. You should have a schedule of pmts. to be paid only AFTER the work has been completed. I suggest you make your payments by bank draft instead of a personal cheque. There is more support when it comes to whether or not you have made the payment. Just a little more security that way, Also, keep in mind that once you have a proper contract drawn up make sure you have the terms included that cover the possibility that you may want to fire your contractor if he isn't doing the job you wanted or you could run into some legal issues. Also, keep in mind that it is against the law for contractor to walk off the job unless the project is in liveable condition. That means that if the contractor was hired to do a bathroom, he cannot legally walk off the job until that bathroom is in liveable and useable condition. We are now stuck in a legal situation just so we can get enough monies back from the contractor so that we can t least finish this addition. My mom can't even live in it as there is absolutely no bathroom in it. There are so many problems with the addition it boggles the mind and on top of that he destroyed our property. He filled in all our drainage ditches and now when it rains it washes out our laneway. We had a small river running down the middle of our laneway last summer nd it cost us $1000 to have someone come in and temporarily repair it. The gouge down the middle was approx. 4 feet wide and approx. 2 ft to 2 1/2 ft deep. It definitely wasn't a small gouge by any stretch of the imagination. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that you need not put any of your monies into any account and never in one that the contractor has access to. Keep your monies in your pocket so to speak and make sure you have milestones to follow. Make sure you get a proper receipt for every single payment as well.a If you would like to speak with me for more information, please feel free to contact me. If I can help you at least a little, I will feel that I've protected at least one more person from being taken advantage of by a bad contractor. Good luck with your project and please check into the information that is available on the Consumer Protection website. It won't be a waste of your time...

Don't recall ever seeing those exact percentages - seems slightly skewed up front to me. Mine was: 50% after gunite/shotcrete 40% after deck (plumbing done and pressure tested, water line tile in, but no plaster or equipment in place) 10% with the pool running and suitable for swimming (after plaster and equipment). In my specific case I also purchased a SWG, so final payment was delayed several weeks waiting for the plaster to cure enough for the SWG to be turned on.

quote" To this day I still fail to understand why the payment schedules are so heavily weighted up front "quote Let me copy a sentence from my earlier reply to this thread. quote" The reason that the agreement is front heavy is to deliver the capital necessary to handle the invoices which are generated from excavation, steel, gunite, plumbing, electrical, equipment, and tile and coping. It takes almost every penny of the 70% to pay for these invoices. "quote Pool construction contractors, like myself, don't use our money to build the pool. We use the buyers money for that. We do this because if the buyer flakes on the payment schedule we're not behind. I've never had to file suit against a title company that held my money in escrow until after completion when the pool was mortgaged, the money was guaranteed after inspection. If a buyer pays gunite but can't pay the balance I can't sue them until I complete the pool, all I can do is delay the process of construction. I've had buyers from all walks of life ask for extended terms after the construction began because they weren't financially able to make the compensation due me for many various reasons. My obligation of the contract is simple, construct a working swimming pool, I have no basis for suit unless I've delivered a working swimming pool. This is just as equal as the basis for a suit a buyer has is if his builder failed to deliver a working pool. quote" I am billed by all my suppliers in the construction industry 2% 10th/net 30. So is that every contractor around here hasn't negotiated simple and standard payment terms with their subs and suppliers? If not why not? "quote I'm curious, do all your service providers extend you such gracious terms too? I get the same terms from my supply houses, but my subcontractors invoices are due upon presentation. I pay all invoices received before Tuesday at 5 on Friday whether or not I've been paid on that particular job. repair guy, I'm shocked that your taking a buyers side on the draw schedule. Perhaps in your area things are done in a different order. I, and all of my good competitors, plumb and wire a pool complete prior to decking. The companies, in my market, that stub plumb/wire pools are the ones that are on COD with the subs and supply houses. Note to all readers, Many of you may find this hard to believe after all the anti pool construction things you may have heard or read about. Good pool builders get burned more by buyers than buyers get burned by the bad pool builders. See ya, Kelly

usually they ask for a percentage up front to pay for any supplies they will buy, then stagger payments based on stages (like after sheet rocking). as a homeowner, I would definitely withhold part of the payment until everything is complete. Not sure what's being done so I can't help with the breakdown of payments.