I am arranging to have some windows repaired. The contractor states in his terms that he requires a 25% deposit before any work is carried out. Is this normal practice?

I echo GT's comments although it maybe that he's been stung a few times and now feels the need to do this just to recover something if it goes wrong. Times are tough at the moment and i think most of us tradespeople often think if we are ever going to be paid for a particular job,no matter how nice a customer appears to be. The important thing is do you feel comfortable in giving him his 25% up front? If you do,and you've done your homework on your tradesman,then i don't see a problem. Carl.

No this is not normal practice nor is it very proffesional. Usually tradesmen require payment upon satisfactory completion of any works undertaken.

Im inclined to agree with carl on this one.Firstly are you comfortable with this arrangement? You could ask him for references if you know nothing about the contractor,this would go someway towards reassuring you it is ok and secondly there are as many cowboy customers out there as there are cowboy contractors and some contractors that didnt use to,are now asking for deposits.this helps pay towards any materials for the job and if there are any problems with payment,the contractor only loses his time.there has to be a certain amount of trust on both sides and if you do your homework on this guy,you should be fine.hope this helps.

I believe theres no problem him asking for 25% up front just make sure you do your home work first,i would always ask for 25% up front its good business.25%, completion of job, paid in full, sounds fair.

Hi, maybe a good idea, if your unsure of this guy is to perhaps find another tradesman from this site that has good feedback, that way you'll be more sure of his credibilty and that you aren't going to be ripped off as its hard to say if his word is honourable or not and at the end of the day if your really that uncertain about him already then you don't have to go with him.

it depends on the value of the job. If its under £2000 then I generally only ask for money upon job completion. If its over that then I ask for a 15% deposit. Not only does it show that the customer is serious in wanting the work done but it also helps to get those initial materials/labour costs sorted. 25% does seem a bit high but only just. It all depends on circumstance. From the builders side I would rather ask for a deposit than do a £3k job just to find out the customer hasn't got the money at the end. Its situations like that that can destroy a small sole trader's company.