Steve Murphy wrote:
in article , Colbyt at

"Steve Murphy" wrote in message
I've just hired a contractor to replace some French doors on our
house. We
did due diligence in the bidding process, and hired the contractor
that we
felt best about. So far, so good.

However, in their contract, they required, in addition to the
maximum
allowed by State law, another deposit of 36% of the total
contract, before
they start work. In this case, we're talking about 3-5 weeks
before they
start work.

This contractor checks out in every other way, and the other
bidders all
seemed to be requiring the same amount up front. They way they tap
dance
around the law is buy sending in a two-man crew to "re-measure"
the work
before ordering the doors. This, they claim, constitutes the start
of
work.
in article , Colbyt at
wrote on 4/4/05 2:35 PM:

What % may I ask is the "allowed deposit" amount?

The maximum is the lesser of 10% or 1,000 -- on *any* job.


35-50% up front is normal on large jobs.

They are getting 46% of the total, and they are getting that about a
month
before the work is scheduled to begin. This is for a $10K job. We're
talking
about three sets of French doors.

As I said, everybody seems to be asking for about the same amount up
front.
What bothers me is that it seems in blatant violation of State
regulations.
Also, these companies all did a big song and dance about how solid
and
solvent they are, yet they *need* nearly 50% up-front to cover their
risk?

Are the doors special order? Are they on the hook for the cost of the
doors as soon as they're ordered? Is there a several week lead time on
the doors?

The start of work, in my mind, is when operations on your behalf
commence. Whether that's design work, special ordering materials or
the like.

I suppose to illustrate...if the start of work was based on the first
day of construction/demolition, and I wasn't allowed by state law to
bill until that point, I would open up your house, measure for the
doors, order them and go away until the doors were delivered. Somehow
I don't think that would make you any more happy than the current
situation.

If you've done your due diligence as you said. Gotten recommendations,
checked licensing, BBB, etc, investigated references and checked out
some of their work personally...my question is, If all of that checks
out, why do you feel they're out to screw you?

R