PAYMENT for the job, up front.

basically everything is based on trust you don't know the tradesman & the tradesman doesn't know you so to ask for a deposit is not unreasonable depending on the amount of work material required up to 30% with either staggered payments or payment or completion is fair & shows trust on both sides .not all tradesmen have accounts & even if the do cash flow for most businesses a nightmare so what you are asking is this tradesman to order the material pay for it do the work then get paid, so you are asking for a loan without any guarantees, if you asked the same thing of any other business in the world they would laugh at you so why should tradesmen be any different, the governments own figures show that sole traders are more likely than any other profession to be ripped of by their customers so to ask for a deposit up front is not unreasonable, to ask for all the money up front is unreasonable and should be avoided at all costs as this regardless of which website of trade organization the belong to is a sign of a poorly run business with a high percentage of you being ripped of, good luck Alex.

Have you been asked for payment for a building job as you say 'up front' ? If so i will say any reputable sole trader or builder would never ask for such terms. The only time i would ask for any payment prior to full completion would be in the form of staged payments, the circumstances being a large job and the stage payments to coincide with partial completion ( eg one room). Always create communication that is indelible, e.g emails if you are to enter into any such transaction

Short answer - NEVER EVER pay upfront EVER!!!! Mybuilder May give some reassurance based on reviews and checks on insurance but cannot give a guarantee that a builder will always act appropriately so just don’t do it.

Any decent tradesmen will clearly lay out in writing staged payments don't give up any money untill materials are on site and you have agreed what the next stage is with your tradesmen

Besides what these other companies have said which are all acceptable measures, you could order the materials yourself and pay for them if your uncomfortable with the terms. make sure all your agreements are in a written contract before the work gets carried out. Then also if the company happen to disagree its a chance they are not trustworthy. No one should be paid fully upfront. Deposit for materials on contract signing then the remaining balance on finishing day. Hope this helps JSGroundworks