Money goes to the company, not to a person
Why — act while you have leverage
Where payment is directed to a named individual who is not identified as the proprietor or an authorised signatory, the money leaves your contract. If the work stops, you are pursuing a person rather than the party you contracted with.
What to look at
- Payee name matching the contracting party
- Any individual named as payee also identified in the contract
- Bank details inside the agreement, not sent separately by message
How to check it yourself
Check the payee name on the payment clause and on the bank details against the contracting party named at the top of the agreement. If they differ, ask why in writing and get the individual identified in the contract as proprietor, partner or authorised signatory. Pay by traceable transfer, never cash.
Where this comes from: Kolo review of Kerala construction quotations and agreements (established trade practice)
More construction agreement checks before you sign
- Agreement check passed
- Contractor background verified
- Site handover checklist agreed
- Worker-welfare rules applicability checked
- GST treatment understood before signing
- The payment schedule keeps money back until the end
- The agreement does not contradict itself
- GST is stated, and you know who pays it
- You know who you are contracting with
- Price escalation has a limit you can calculate
- Foundation extras cannot be open-ended
- Curing is the contractor's job, in writing
- The arbitrator is not chosen by the contractor alone
- There is a warranty, and it has a length
- Worker safety stays with the contractor
- Signing for a stage does not sign away everything after it
- There is a way to settle a dispute short of court
- Cancellation terms are not written by one side
- Nobody else builds your house without you knowing
- No blank spaces, no missing dates
- You can ask where the money went
- Delay has a consequence for both sides
- The quotation is attached to the agreement
- Force majeure is not a blanket excuse
The whole stage: Construction agreement checks before you sign