Stage payments for house construction in Batumi: payment schedule, phases, mothballing

Stage payments for house construction: pay for what you have accepted

Stage payments for house construction mean you do not pay for the whole house up front. The advance goes on materials and the first stage, and each further payment is made after the stage has been accepted against a signed record. That way the money always follows completed work rather than running ahead of it. If the budget comes together gradually, the house can also be built in phases: the shell first, the roof and windows a year later, then the finishes. Below is how this works and what to agree in advance.

An example payment schedule

This is an example for a turnkey house. The exact shares depend on the design and are written into the contract, but the rule is the same: the next payment comes only after the record for the previous stage. How stage acceptance itself works is on the how we work page.

What the advance is for

The advance covers the materials and work of the first stage, as well as long-lead orders that have to be paid to the manufacturer in advance, such as windows or steelwork. We show you what it was spent on: suppliers' invoices and delivery notes. We do not take prepayment for the whole house. If a contractor asks for half the price up front, that is a reason to ask questions before signing the contract, not after.

Building a house in phases

If the money comes together gradually, it is convenient to divide the build into self-contained phases. The first phase is usually the foundation and shell, the second the roof, windows and facade, the third the services and finishes. Where you stop matters: in Batumi a shell without a roof gets through winter badly, with water standing on the floors and soaking into the masonry. So it is better to take the first phase to a weathertight shell, even if that means simplifying something in the finishes. What the house shell includes is on the house shell page.

Mothballing between phases

• a temporary roof or a tight cover over the top floor;
• window and door openings closed up;
• rust protection for rebar starter bars;
• drainage of water away from the foundation;
• site visits and photo reports while the build is paused.

After a long pause, before work resumes, we inspect the house for cracks, rust and damp in the masonry. If someone else built the first phase, we start with a structural inspection and only then price the next phase.

Prices between phases

A fixed price in the contract applies to stages that run without a break. If a year passes between phases, the prices of materials and labour will have changed, so the next phase is repriced from a current estimate before it starts. To avoid surprises, the repricing rule is written into the contract in advance: what is fixed and what is repriced from suppliers' invoices. More about the contract clauses on the turnkey construction contract page.

This is not credit

Stage payments are not an instalment plan in the banking sense: we do not lend money or charge interest. You pay for completed stages from your own funds. If you need a loan, it is taken from a bank, and then we fit the payment schedule to the release of the tranches. A developer's instalment plan when buying an apartment works differently; there is a comparison on the payment plan or mortgage page.

If you are not in Georgia

Stages can be accepted over video call: the site manager goes through the list and shows everything the stage covers, then you sign the record and make the transfer. Payments are made by bank transfer to the company's account, and no cash changes hands on site. Remote monitoring with photo and video reports for the whole project can be ordered separately; more on the remote construction page.

How much a house with stage payments costs

A mid-range turnkey house with payment by stages costs from 1 680 ₾ per m². If you build in phases, a masonry house shell from 690 ₾ per m², a white frame ready for finishing from 1 050 ₾ per m². Mothballing an unfinished house between phases from 2 820 ₾, looking after a mothballed site from 330 ₾ per month, remote construction monitoring with photo and video reports for the whole project from 4 500 ₾. The final cost is set from the design and after agreeing the estimate and the phasing schedule.