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

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

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?

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

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

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

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.