How Do Payments Work for Contractors?
The customer pays a 25% deposit and the balance on completion. We collect both as payment administration agent and pass them to you without unnecessary delay.
The short answer
The customer pays, we pass it to you without unnecessary delay.
When a customer accepts your quotation, they pay a 25% deposit to secure the work and the balance on completion, by bank transfer. Both payments are made to you as the main contractor through Mortaro, acting as payment administration agent, and we pass them on without unnecessary delay. You don't chase either one.
Your trade rate is paid in full. Our fee sits on top of it in the customer's quotation and nothing is deducted from your figure.
Step by step
How the money moves
The customer accepts
They accept the quotation that names you as the appointed main contractor.
We collect the deposit
The customer pays the 25% deposit by bank transfer.
We pass it to you
The deposit is transmitted to you without unnecessary delay, so you can order materials and plan the start.
We organise the start date
We agree the date with the customer around your schedule.
You complete the work
We keep the customer updated while you're on site.
We collect and pass on the balance
On completion we collect the final payment and transmit it to you promptly.
Why contractors care about this most
Paid promptly, not weeks later
Contractors used to tendering routinely wait weeks for their money, and chasing it is unpaid work. We have no reason to hold on to your payments and no financial advantage in doing so. Deposits and balances are passed to you without unnecessary delay once received. We would rather you spent that time on site than on the phone asking where your money is.
How the structure works
We administer payments; we don't hold them
Mortaro acts as payment administration agent. The deposit is legally paid to you as the main contractor, and we transmit it. We are not an escrow service and we don't hold customer funds on anyone's behalf. That is deliberate, and it keeps the structure simple: the construction contract is between you and the customer, and the money for the work is yours.
What we do is the administration that normally eats into your evenings: taking the payment, confirming it, passing it on and chasing the final balance when the job is done. For more detail see how and when you get paid, and for everything else we take on, what Mortaro handles for contractors.
You price at trade rate, we add our fee on top in the customer's quotation, and you are paid your rate in full. See what rates do you expect? and do you take a percentage?
What it means for you
Why the arrangement works in your favour
The deposit comes before the start
The customer pays the deposit on acceptance and it is passed to you without unnecessary delay, rather than sitting with anyone while you wait.
No money conversations on site
You never have to ask a customer for payment. We handle the collection, the reminders and the confirmation, so the relationship on site stays about the work.
Your figure arrives whole
Our fee was added on top in the quotation. What reaches you is the trade rate you priced, in full.
Our role, precisely
What we do with payments, and what we don't
We do
- Collect the deposit on acceptance
- Pass it to you without unnecessary delay
- Collect the balance on completion
- Chase the balance if it is slow
- Pass the balance on promptly
We don't
- Hold customer funds
- Act as an escrow service
- Deduct anything from your rate
- Become party to your construction contract
The customer's side
What the customer is told about payment
Customers are told the same thing you are. Their construction contract is with the named main contractor. Mortaro acts as payment administration agent for that contractor. They pay a 25% deposit to secure the work and the balance on completion, by bank transfer.
Because that is explained clearly at quotation stage, payment rarely comes as a surprise to anyone. The customer knows when each payment is due and who it is for, and you know it is being collected without you having to raise it.
If a customer has a question about paying, it comes to us. You are free to concentrate on the job.
Straight answers
Payment questions
How does the customer pay?
By bank transfer. We do not take card payments.
Who chases the final balance?
We do. Collecting the final payment is part of the process we run, alongside customer communication.
Is anything taken off before I'm paid?
No. Our fee is added on top of your price, not deducted from it. The wider arrangement is on the contractor network hub.
For contractors
Tell us about your business
Your trade, the areas you cover and the size of work you take on. A person reads every enquiry, and if it looks like a fit we will send you the full application.