How materials payments work

You pay material suppliers directly for the items you specify and order. There's no Beams markup on materials — you pay what the supplier charges, with a trade discount where it applies. Construction-related materials your builder buys are inside the construction fee.

Items you pay for directly

Most materials sit on your side: tile, sanitaryware, lighting, paints, fixtures, fittings, kitchen cabinetry (unless your builder is sourcing it), and customer-supplied items. You order and pay the supplier through whatever channel they use — card, bank transfer, sometimes invoice.

If you're buying through a Beams partner supplier, the discount isn't applied automatically at a checkout. Beams sends the product list and your project reference to the supplier; the supplier sends their quotation directly to the customer, listing the recommended retail price and the price the customer pays after the Beams discount applied. You confirm the order and pay the supplier on their terms. The article Beams partner suppliers and trade discounts covers the mechanic.

Items inside the construction fee

Some materials are bought by your builder and included in the construction fee — typically structural materials, consumables, and anything baked into the labour scope (timber, plasterboard, copper pipe, electrical cable, screws, fixings). You don't pay these suppliers directly; the builder does, and the cost is in the milestone payments you've funded into the Beams Account.

Your builder's quote will be clear about which items are inside the construction fee and which sit on your side. The materials tracker shows the same split — the article How the materials tracker works describes it.

Paying for changes mid-project

If you decide to add or substitute materials during the build, that's a change order. Customer-supplied changes to your spec go through the change-order process. The article How to change something on your spec mid-project describes how that runs.

Refunds and returns

If you need to return an item, the refund flows back through the supplier. The article Returns of materials covers the path.

What this means for you

Plan the materials budget separately from the construction fee. Both are real, both are needed, both have their own timing. Your build advisor can walk you through how the two stack against the project total if you want a single picture.

Related articles

• How materials work — your role, the builder's role, ours
• Beams partner suppliers and trade discounts
• How construction payments work