During the permitting phase of the Richmond semi d project we had a large security deposit requirement to fund the eventual sidewalk replacement. Unfortunately the funds are required in advance of the DP being issued by the City, so that while you have paid for the work to be done, it won’t likely be done for another year, but the City gets to use the funds for whatever purpose it desires. It is a terrible use of precious builder capital to tie up that much money for work that can’t be done for a year, but you can’t delay funding these deposits or you will never get a permit to begin work. An option was to hire a private contractor to do the work a little sooner, however, we were shocked at the pricing for replacing 50 ft of sidewalk and curb. It was far better to wait for the City to bid out a large number of jobs so the work could be done according to its rates (about half of the lowest private contractor). Despite the City getting a way better price on the job than we could ourselves, our original deposit wasn’t enough, and we had to top it up. Despite this added cost, the overall project was as much as $15k less than hiring it out ourselves, so we feel we really dodged a terrifying cost.
Work is almost done and finally our clients will be able to access the front door by driving in from the street.