Fairbuild Help & Support
Contact: drfloor1@gmail.com we read every message and normally reply within two business days.
GETTING STARTED
Create a project, pick the type, and enter your contract total. Fairbuild suggests a contingency range for that kind of job 15 to 20% for a kitchen, more for a whole house and you can accept it with one tap.
Add your payment schedule next. Enter each payment your contract calls for, and tie it to a milestone you can walk up and inspect rather than a date on the calendar.
ARE YOU AHEAD OF THE MONEY?
This is the number the app exists for. Fairbuild compares what you have paid against how much work you have actually received, and shows the dollar amount you have paid for work not yet delivered.
Work completed is your own honest assessment. Fairbuild never guesses it from dates, because a calendar tells you nothing about whether the tile is on the wall. Update it from the Position tab as the job progresses.
If the app says you are exposed, the practical response is simple: do not release the next payment until the work catches up, and get that in writing.
THE DEPOSIT CHECK
Contractors commonly ask for up to half the contract up front. That is normal practice and Fairbuild does not treat it as a scam. It tells you that 30% or less is the safer position, shows you what that is in dollars, and suggests you counter and tie the balance to milestones.
Where your state publishes a legal cap, that overrides the guidance. Fairbuild lists only states whose limit we could verify from that state's own licensing board, and every figure is dated with a link so you can check it. If your state is not listed, you still get the general guidance the app will not claim a legal figure it cannot stand behind.
PAYMENT SCHEDULE REVIEW
Fairbuild flags payments tied to a date instead of a milestone, stages with no stated trigger, milestones too vague to enforce, a schedule that does not add up to the contract, and too little held back for the end. Around 10% held back until the punch list is genuinely finished is what gets the last of the work done.
THE PAYMENT LOG
Every payment you have made, with the date, a running total, and its share of the contract. The schedule is what you agreed to pay; the log is what you actually paid. In a dispute, the log is the document that matters. Tap any stage to set the date it was actually paid.
LIEN WAIVERS
If your contractor is paid but does not pay a subcontractor or supplier, that company can place a lien on your house even though you paid in full. A signed lien waiver with every payment is the defense.
There are four kinds and the difference matters. A conditional waiver takes effect only when the payment clears. An unconditional one takes effect immediately. A progress waiver covers one payment; a final waiver covers everything through the end of the job.
Practical rule: issue conditional waivers with the check, and collect the unconditional version once it has cleared. Never hand over an unconditional waiver before the money has moved. Fairbuild tracks which one you should be holding for each payment and warns you when it is the wrong one.
CHANGE ORDERS
Log every change, including the verbal "while we are in there" extras. Fairbuild shows what each approved change does to your final number and how much contingency is left, and counts the ones not backed by a signed document dated before the work started. Verbal change orders are the most common cause of renovation disputes.
CONTRACT CHECK
Two tiers. Serious problems are worth walking away over: no written contract, cash before paperwork, full payment before work begins, no license where one is required, an address that is a P.O. box. The second tier is worth asking about but common enough on its own.
A large deposit is deliberately not on either list. It is a negotiation, and it is handled by the deposit check on your payment schedule.
BUDGET AND QUOTES
Track each line quoted against what was invoiced, grouped by room or by trade. The gap between quoted and invoiced is where budgets drift, and a running total hides it.
The quotes screen compares bids against each other. It does not tell you what a job "should" cost prices vary far too much by region for a national figure to mean anything. Watch for quotes that exclude materials or permits; the cheapest number is often the one covering the least.
YOUR DATA
Everything stays on your device. No account, no ads, no analytics, no tracking, and the app makes no network requests at all.
Because your data lives only on your device, deleting the app deletes your data. Use Back up now in Settings, and export as CSV to keep a copy elsewhere. Export is free and always will be.
TROUBLESHOOTING
The exposure figure looks wrong. Check that your work-completed percentage is current, and that every payment you have made is marked paid. Both feed the calculation.
My state is not in the deposit list. Only states we could verify from a primary source are listed. You still get general guidance.
A change order is not affecting my total. Only approved change orders count. Proposed and rejected ones are tracked but do not move the number.
DISCLAIMER
Fairbuild is a record-keeping and budgeting tool. Nothing in it is legal, financial or construction advice. Laws differ by state and change over time. Always confirm with your state licensing board, and consult an attorney before acting on anything that matters.