Depending on how big the job is, There should be a deposit upfront to keep the price shoppers and those with no intention to pay away.
There should be a schedule for progress payments. After a certain amount of work is done, yu get the next payment and work continues AFTER that payment is made. Structure these so you're always ahead, or a least not in a psition to lose your shirt if you have to walk away.
And every change, whether it's additional work or just a change gets done on a written change order, signed by both of you, that becomes an ademdum to the original contract. And every change costs money (maybe a $25 change order fee) to discourage indecisiveness. The reason for written change orders is 1: At the end of the project people can flrget what was discussed and if its not on paper you will end up re-doing something and 2) You need to get paid for extra work.
Edit: forgive the spelling. Its late, my glasses are in the bedroom, and I'm typing blind.
[This message has been edited by maintenanceguy (edited 04-11-2004).]
