ABSTRACT
Clearly the ultimate protection for any supplier is to be paid in advance, an approach which has been suggested in the past by, among others, the Electrical Contractors’ Association, who proposed monthly payments in advance rather than in arrears. While this would put the client one month out of pocket, it would give trade contractors advance warning of a break in the flow of payments, before excessive costs were incurred. It should however be noted that an employer who agreed to pay in advance would inevitably require the contractor to provide a bond covering the possibility that repayment will become due (Davis, 1991).
