Construction Timeline With Payment Schedules

Now that we have encountered ridiculous contractors who have submitted their quotes. What do you do next ?

You look at the bottom line.

Below the bottom line are their terms. But will they be fair ?

In many cases it will be "NO".

"NO" Just like how Mr. Eric's windows are not Tempered

Mr. Eng Hoe has asked for a 30% downpayment, and ,.... well you read the rest :

Contractors are always to be paid as they go along in stages

You are only supposed to pay as your project goes along. If a contractor doesnt tell you what will be done at a 30% downpayment mark, how do you gauge what 30% of construction will be ?

Greedy contractors already eat enough steak cooked Medium Rare in Bangsar everyday while you eat home cooked meals like roti chanai and fish curry. (Yum)

So dont be foolish and agree because you were hasty to start quickly.

On the other hand, Mr. Tan the contractor had simply asked for a payment every 2 weeks. Which was not bad too. Because every 2 weeks if there is no progress, we dont have to pay anything. This was agreeable to me

So how long will or should things take from demolition to moving in ?

Well here is a Timeline / Guideline to how things would be paid.

If your contractor is talking shit, show him your timeline. Because he wouldnt have one for sure when asking for a downpayment in his terms.

This is something deemed fair and without some contractor putting things on paper by saying 30% Downpayment blindly. At what stage will the 30% Downpayment be at during construction?

Ask a contractor what gets done at their Downpayment and they wont be able to give you a clear answer but one thats cooked on the spot. 

They wouldnt even have it on paper like we have. So now this looks better for us doesnt it ? At least we know a better timeline than Contractors. We can quantify things better and fairly than contractors can. Fuck them.

So when you are discussing with a contractor especially while getting your approvals done, use this as a measurement against any advise from the contractor such as Mr. Eng Hoe's 30%.

Its important to come ready without blindly agreeing to someones terms.

If you know what it takes ? then be fair and get paid accordingly based on a timeline.

Know your shit better than what contractors are saying. Know their work better than they know theirs.

After all, you have all the facts on the table with a timeline as well instead of shooting 30% as a Downpayment. At least you have things in stages.

If they cant agree to your knowledge of doing business - walk away. However, this is what I have done in Stages as shown above


*** At this rate, Mr. Eng Hoe asked us to Pay 30% as a Downpayment. This brings things right till Stage 2. At this rate, what if he doesnt show up at all for stage 1 ? ***



IN SUMMARY


Contractors may bolt, workers may not get paid, and construction goes into a halt because your lowyatt contractor ate too many Medium Done Steaks from Bangsar or drinking Cristal's at Marini's.

These are things that may be taken as a given.

Buy in bulk, buy fast, store them away. Things like plywood, bricks, cement can be stored in my case where I work. Plus, its safer than leaving things on site.

Also, the longer contractors take, the lower their profit margins will be. In addition to this, contractors too will try to speed shit up to make profits larger.

This is where shoddy workmanship like cracked floors, cracked walls, tiles failing, alignments and stuff go very wrong. And so do things like water pipes that could cause leaks sooner.

Industrial look what ? Hor ?

Too fast, and shit goes fucked. Too slow says your contractor is fucking around. Its best to work at a medium pace.

Keep in mind, Contractors are basically Gods.

They will never be at your site working in the sun, because they need to take care of their complexion in order to look good while eating steak on Saturday for their work life balance and Sundays, brunch with avacado and toast with their chai lattes and then pretend to look broke for you on "some" days that they show up,

What contractors really do is show you an image of driving a beat up proton, faded polo shirt, and some slightly torn pants (likely deliberately stressed) to give you an impression things cost a lot and what they are quoting is humble. Bullshit

Very hard wor contractor

Because in reality, when someone like Mr. Eric who claims 350,000 is for labor and 212,000 is for raw materials will actually drive his proton to the spot where his Mercedes C Class is parked, change his shirt to a Hugo Boss with Armani Jeans, and leave work to head to Bangsar for his daily work life balance at 3 30 PM so that he is able to beat the jam and enjoy the late mid day sun with a few pints of Bright Ale made by James Squire with of course, steak made Medium Rare served in Royal Doulton plates and Italian forks and knives.

The real contractors car (Poor guys huh, you gotta give them a break working so hard)

And all things will repeat itself the very next day for his other 23 projects running the same time. When he does finally show up at your premise that 1 time every month is when he is there to meet you,....

to collect your money of course.

~ fin ~