Payment terms tell you more about a contractor than a portfolio does. This page sets out how we stage payments, the reasoning behind each stage, and what to look for in anyone else's schedule.
Against milestones, not dates
The principle we work to is that you should be paying for work that exists. Our stages are tied to completed milestones rather than to calendar dates, so a payment becomes due when something has actually been delivered.
A date-based schedule transfers the risk of delay onto you. If a payment is due in week six regardless of whether week six's work happened, the incentive to keep the site moving is weaker than it should be.
Our stages
On design engagement. A design fee to begin drawings, measurement and concept work. This is chargeable work in its own right, and if you decide not to proceed to execution, the drawings are yours.
On approval of the drawing set and quote. The first execution instalment, which funds material procurement and long-lead ordering. Nothing is ordered before this, and nothing is ordered without your approved specification.
On completion of civil, electrical and plumbing first fix. The unglamorous stage that everything else sits on.
On completion of ceilings and carcass carpentry. By this point the shape of the home is visible and verifiable.
On completion of shutters, finishes and painting.
On handover, after snagging. The final instalment is due when the snag list has been worked through, not when the site is declared finished.
Holding a meaningful final payment until after snagging matters. A schedule that takes the last instalment on the day work stops removes the incentive to return for the small corrections that decide how a home actually feels.
The quote does not move
The figure quoted on day one is the figure at handover. The only thing that changes it is you asking for something additional, and that is quoted and approved in writing before it is built — never added to a final bill.
This is only possible because we survey before quoting rather than after. A quote produced without checking the distribution board, the plumbing runs and how material gets into the building is a guess, and guesses get revised.
What to watch for in any schedule
A large advance. Anything above a modest design fee plus first material instalment, before drawings are approved, is money at risk against work that does not yet have a specification.
Date-based stages. As above: they shift delay risk to you.
No retention against snagging. If the final payment falls due when work stops rather than when snags are cleared, expect the snags not to clear.
Vague milestone definitions. "On completion of carpentry" should say which carpentry. Ambiguity in a payment trigger always resolves in the contractor's favour.
Cash-only or unbilled portions. An interior project is a substantial purchase and should be documented as one. Ask for proper invoicing with applicable tax stated.
What our quote actually contains
Every line itemised — kitchen against wardrobes against ceiling — so you can move money between them or defer one. Demolition, debris and material handling stated separately rather than absorbed. Electrical points and circuits listed rather than summarised. Building works in an older flat listed above the interior lines so you can see what is restoration and what is design.
What is not included is stated explicitly too. See the costs people forget to budget for.
Related
See what a full interior costs in Pune and the six stages of a project.
To talk through terms for a specific project, call Pooja Dhoot on +91 82080 93011 or Dimple Marathe on +91 88881 77217.