Paying 100% before the windows are installed: what a fair payment schedule looks like

In a post on r/Homebuilding, the homeowner said the contract called for 50% at signing and the other 50% before the windows were delivered and installed, while a competing bid held the second half until the job was done. On a schedule like that the owner has paid in full before a single unit is set, and has nothing left to withhold if a window arrives in the wrong size or the install goes badly.

Several states limit how much a contractor can collect up front. In California the down payment on a home improvement job cannot exceed $1,000 or 10% of the price, whichever is less, and later payments cannot run ahead of the work performed; the Contractors State License Board says special-order materials are no exception. Massachusetts law caps the deposit at one-third of the price or at what special-order or custom materials ordered ahead of the work actually cost, whichever is greater, and bars demanding final payment until the work is complete. Made-to-measure windows can fall under that exception. Maryland's Home Improvement Commission says a contractor cannot take more than one-third as a deposit, or any money before the contract is signed. In New York, payments received before the job is substantially complete must go into an escrow account at a New York bank within five business days or be covered by a bond, according to the state attorney general.

Beyond the deposit, Maryland leaves the schedule to the two parties, so the contract wording does the work. Tie each payment to something you can check: a deposit within the state limit, a payment when the windows arrive and match the order in size, glass and condition, and the balance after installation. New York's attorney general advises holding the final payment until all work is finished and required inspections are signed off.