My contractor keep asking money from me. Its only been a week since I gave him rm2000. In total I have paid him rm21,000 out of rm27,000..

My question is, how much percentage should I hold for the final settlement at least?

This post has been edited by vetkin_gray: Feb 13 2012, 11:30 PM

Standard is 5%, unless both sides agree to payment schedule.

From where did you get this percentage value?

This post has been edited by tehtmc: Feb 13 2012, 01:20 PM

What if the contract does not mention the cost of final settlement? WHat is the standard hold percentage? 5 % is a little too low

2k out of 21k to start the job is very cheap, by right the actual trade is 30%-50% upon confirmation. No doubt the contractor asking for toping up all the time. Frankly speaking ther is no holding % upon final settlement as the job offered is not a project basis and amount is too small, sorry no offense.

I wud advice you may hold 5-10% for a week is to assure the contractor touching up and so on.

you are mistaken, i have total paid him rm21000, out of rm27000.. i gave him rm5k to start job.. i wish to know what is the standard amount to hold for final settlement. better to have some black and white documents to prove that the final hold is indeed that percentage.

You sound like a contractor.
Of course any contractor would want to get paid 100% immediately upon completion.
But, the question is always : have they done the work 100%? no defects? all according to specs?

Sorry to interupt, make it clear ther is no hold back even 5% so call retention and is not for end user trade with such amount. Is abnormal procedure unless the contractor agreed to do so upon confirmation.

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Added on February 13, 2012, 1:31 pmBrother pls check my profile. Ther is nothing you can do besides file up to consumer authority and i've highlighted 5-10% hold back for a week to finish what so ever pending.

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Added on February 13, 2012, 1:40 pmSorry for over look, anyway what is your terms and conditions applied?think is return on your agreement. BTW you may hold back 5-10% upon completion for a week to two, just to assure the job done accordingly to the agreement and others such as touching up and so on. Keep asking toping up, check your agreement. Usually is base on progression of the work.

I would say the samething, is not a proper trade for end user to apply retention figure.

This post has been edited by AVL Living Concept: Feb 13 2012, 01:40 PM

Consumer Tribunal you mean? Do you know that they tend to be on the owner/consumer's side.
Granted there are unreasonble clients. There are also irresponsible contractors who do slipshod work.

Owners are at a disadvantage because they are not knowledgeable about construction.
In most cases, terms are dictated by contractos. Anyway, it is only reasonable to withhold some payment to make sure everything is OK.

This post has been edited by tehtmc: Feb 13 2012, 01:45 PM

I agreed with that, but not a standard norm.

If you talk about contract, it is in all standard forms of building contracts - JKR or PAM or IEM.

This post has been edited by tehtmc: Feb 13 2012, 01:55 PM

Vetkin try not to pay all upon completions but not for 1 to 2 months time, i bet you will face the gangsterism from contractor. As i have an experience before for my house renovation and involved structure works. Maximum you may drag 2-3weeks...

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Added on February 13, 2012, 2:04 pmIs the job involved in actual trade sequanze which is designer,QC,QS,JKR,architect,CIDB license,MOF,land surveyor and so on..as i said in my last post is for project but not for individual.

This post has been edited by AVL Living Concept: Feb 13 2012, 02:04 PM

ALright, I'll hold 10% upon completion since it is not stated in the contract how much the owner is allowed to hold. I think this is reasonable. Another question is, the contractor is commanding rm3k to tile the kitchen, should i pay him first before start work or after finish? As this is considered the second last payment..

This post has been edited by vetkin_gray: Feb 13 2012, 02:06 PM

FYI, base on the agreement between you and the contractor suppose to have 3 times payment i pressume 30%+60%+10% for minor works. If involve with structure works will be diff and other contractor diff terms.

By right not suppose to pay if the job not up to the % written. Meaning you should not pay a single cents to contractor as the progress job not even reaching to % that i highlighted. Unless if you feel the job is done up to the %, payment is a must to release.

You assume that for individual renovation work the condition is as dictated by the contractor. A project, no matter how minor, is a project. There is no separate form of contract for small jobs.

In practice, the terms for small jobs are mostly one-sided, given by the contractor, written on one piece of paper and are mostly based on trust. This does not mean that it is the legal way of doing things.

From the legal point of view, in the absence of a written contract, the industry norm prevails - in this case, the PAM Form of contract. That is, if there is a dispute which goes to court. You can check this with a lawyer.

Of course, in reality, contractors be rough people and may resort to brute force (even using threats) if they don't get what they want. Now, that is a different matter.

This post has been edited by tehtmc: Feb 13 2012, 03:46 PM

I faced that problem too. Contractor say want to lock my gate for my 10% balance. However he has not finished his job yet. Can he lock my gate?

Of course not.
He is trying to force his way, one of the scare tactics used by some contractors.
Failing to reason out with him, you should report him to the police.

There is no standard of how much you can hold is just up to you and the contractor. My personal experience, my last Reno contractor did not ask anything from me until all work done.

Thanks tehtmc.

The funny part is that not the contractor that wants to lock my gate. My contractor told me that his Aluminium guy (his sub contractor) wants to lock cos I have not paid my contractor and he has not paid his sub contractor.

Get a metal cutter and cut off the chain. Then tell the contractor he should pay his own workers. Its his own business. None of yours.

This things right, better sack off the main contractor. You will only get more problem. Better ask him to leave once he finished the projects. For example, if he's doing the kitchen, ask him to finish the kitchen and can leave edi. Don't leave the work unfinished. Rest of the work that has not started can cancel.

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Added on February 13, 2012, 11:37 pmDoes this include renovation? The stupid contractor says it only applies to building constructions, not renovations

This post has been edited by vetkin_gray: Feb 13 2012, 11:37 PM

Well from now on no matter consumer or contractor shall follow the accurate trade as mentioning above. Any ongoing jobs & for future jobs such as renovation, refurbishment and so on needed CIDB licenses (class A,B,C,D,E) which is consumer required to look for those contractor with such license only allowed to take up jobs. Meaning ther is no more 'Oparloh' price as the client needed to pay more to have that kind of security. To do list runner,application involving goverment authority,money,times,procedure,firm and etc.thus 2000 over 'Oparloh' out there can tapau. Because our brother here emphasizing in money to get maximum security. BTW i agreed as you mention,

I would assume you are rich and is not making sense to have this for those medium class spender or budget tight. And sumhow those so call 'oparloh' vanish in this very market.Meaning rich only can have all this...

To own mercedes but paying with proton price,make sense?I believed in this very forum is sorting out the best solutions which is contribution idea is making sense and depending on the class of consumer.

haha, it sounds really funny when some one lock your door and you have to pay them before you can enter your house, omg..