Payments
How money moves — milestones, change orders, and where your money sits.
- How construction payments workFunds are held in your Beams Account and you release them to your builder as each milestone is approved. You're never paying for work that hasn't been done.
- How materials payments workYou pay material suppliers directly for the items you order. Beams partner suppliers process payment through their normal channels; non-partner suppliers the same. Construction-related materials your builder buys are inside the construction fee.
- How to approve a milestoneWhen your builder marks a milestone complete, you have a seven-day window to approve, ask a question, or decline the approval. Approval releases the next payment.
- How to change something on your spec mid-projectWant to change a tile, swap a fitting, add something into scope? Tell your builder, agree the cost and the timing, sign the change order, and fund it before work begins. The change-order process keeps everyone clear.
- What is a change orderA change order is how any change to scope, cost, or timeline gets agreed and paid for during the build. Submit through the platform, customer pre-pays, builder starts the new work.
- What is a target break-ground dateThe target break-ground date is the date you and your builder are working towards for the project to start. It's indicative — site readiness and contract signing both have to be in place.
- Where your money sits at each stageYour build deposit, construction fund, change-order funds, materials payments, and design fees each sit in different places. Here's a plain map of where each pound sits, and when it moves.