Hi there, I'd be grateful for some advice as to what is usual here. I'm going to get some work done to my home, and the tradesmen want 1/3 of the cash up-front, before they've even lifted a tool. Is that usual? Fair? My parents, living out of London, got some work done to their house recently. They didn't pay the builders a penny until they were 50% of the way through the job. I'm slightly wary of parting with such a large sum of cash upfront, given the horror stories I've read on here of tradesmen walking off jobs and leaving customers light of cash, and with their homes in a state. I'd be grateful for your thoughts.
