For contractors and the trades
Your crew gets paid every week. The draw comes once a month, minus retainage.
Construction pays in arrears. You buy materials and pay crews as the work goes in, then bill for it and wait, while the owner holds back part of every payment until the job is done. The Business Funding Club is a free referral club: we send contractors to ROK Financial. ROK and the lenders it matches you with review each request and make every funding decision.
A referral club, free to apply. ROK Financial and its lenders review every request and make all funding decisions. How we’re compensated.
Prefer to go straight to the funder? You can apply on ROK's own site. It carries our referral ID.
The math
The math
- DAY 0
You mobilize
Materials get ordered, equipment gets to the site, and the crew starts. On federally funded work covered by Davis-Bacon, laborers and mechanics must be paid at least once a week[1].
- MONTH END
You bill the work in place
On a federal fixed-price job, progress payments are made monthly as the work proceeds[2]. Payment is due 14 days after the billing office receives a proper payment request[3].
- CLOSEOUT
You collect the retainage
On a North Carolina state or local public job of $150,000 or more (NCDOT contracts aside), the owner can hold up to 5 percent of each periodic payment, and with the surety's consent releases it within 60 days of a pay request once the project is substantially complete. Smaller public jobs carry no retainage[4].
None of this means a job is going badly. It is how construction is paid: wages weekly, pay applications monthly, retainage at closeout. The bigger the contract you win, the more payroll and material you carry before the owner's money catches up. It is a growth problem, not a rescue.
By Marcus L. Barber, Publisher · Reviewed by Marcus before publishing · Updated · How we write and check facts
Where the cash goes on a job, and when it comes back
Labor and material leave before the first draw arrives, and labor is hard to find. In the Associated General Contractors' 2025 workforce survey, most firms that employ craft workers reported open craft positions, and 77 percent said crane and heavy equipment operators were hard to find[5].
Materials are moving too. In the same survey, 39 percent of contractors said they bought key materials early because of tariffs[5]. Buying early protects margin, and ties up cash in material on the yard.
| What | When | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Crew wages on Davis-Bacon work | At least once a week | [1] |
| Federal progress payments | Monthly, as work proceeds | [2] |
| Federal payment due date | 14 days after a proper payment request | [3] |
| Federal retainage | Up to 10 percent of a payment, held if progress is not satisfactory | [2] |
| NC public retainage | Up to 5 percent on projects of $150,000 or more (none below that); none withheld after 50 percent complete with satisfactory work and surety consent | [4] |
| NC public retainage release | Within 60 days of a pay request after substantial completion | [4] |
Pay-when-paid, and where subs and trades stand
If you are a roofing, HVAC, plumbing or electrical sub, your money comes through the general contractor. In North Carolina, payment by the owner to the contractor is not a condition for paying a subcontractor, and a contract term that says otherwise is unenforceable[6]. Once a contractor receives a periodic or final payment, it must pay the sub within seven days[6]. A contractor may hold retainage from a sub, but not more than the percentage the owner first held[6].
On federal work, the prime's subcontracts must require payment to subs within 7 days of the prime being paid[3]. The prime may also hold a set percentage of each sub payment as retainage[3].
Check your state and your subcontract
These are North Carolina and federal examples. North Carolina's subcontractor payment chapter does not apply to residential contractors or to residential projects of 12 or fewer units, among other exclusions[6]. Other states set their own retainage and prompt-payment rules. Read your contract and your state statute before you count on a payment date.
Equipment: excavators, trucks, lifts and service vans
Equipment is the other big outlay: excavators, skid steers and dump trucks for site work; service vans, recovery machines and pipe tools for HVAC and plumbing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects HVAC mechanic and installer jobs to grow 11 percent from 2025 to 2035, and 68 percent of them work for plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors[7].
Equipment financing ties the payments to the machine instead of to your working cash. Ask your tax preparer about Section 179, which lets a business elect to deduct the cost of eligible property in the year it is placed in service instead of depreciating it, within IRS limits[8].
What ROK will want to see
ROK's partner application lists at least 4 months in business and at least $10,000 in monthly gross sales, which is $120,000 a year[9]. Lenders commonly look at credit history, cash flow, equity and collateral[10]. For a contractor, have these ready:
- Recent business bank statements that show your draws coming in.
- The signed contract or notice of award, and the schedule of values.
- Your last few pay applications and what was paid on each.
- An accounts receivable aging that shows retainage receivable as its own line.
- A dealer quote with make, model and year for any equipment.
- Your backlog of signed work not yet started.
Credit is one input among several. ROK and the lenders it matches you with review each request and make every decision. The Business Funding Club does not.
What fits the gap, and what doesn't
Match the financing to the timing. A monthly gap fits something you draw and repay. A machine you will run for years fits financing tied to that machine. Before you sign, ask how payments are collected: daily or weekly debits can strain a business paid once a month.
Financing that fits this kind of gap
Which one fits your business, if any, is a conversation to have with ROK’s advisor once they have seen your file. These are the types that usually come up.
- Business line of creditDraw for payroll and materials while a pay application is out, then pay it down when the draw lands. It matches the monthly billing cycle.How it works
- Invoice and purchase order financingUses pay applications and invoices owed by general contractors or public owners. Ask whether a lender will count retainage receivable, since it is not paid until closeout.How it works
- Equipment financingFor excavators, skid steers, dump trucks and service vans. The equipment is part of the deal, so your working cash stays free for the job.How it works
- Term loansFor a one-time investment like a yard, a shop buildout or a fleet of vans, repaid on a fixed schedule from the work it supports.How it works
Go deeper
Common questions
Can contractor financing cover retainage?
Retainage is money you have earned but cannot collect until closeout. A line of credit can carry the cash you are missing while it is held. Some receivables programs may count retainage receivable and some will not, since it pays later. ROK and its lenders decide. List retainage as its own line on your receivables aging.
What do lenders look at for construction business loans?
Lenders commonly look at credit history, cash flow, equity and collateral[10]. For contractors, bank statements showing steady draws, signed contracts, pay applications and backlog tell the story. ROK's partner application lists at least 4 months in business and $10,000 in monthly gross sales[9].
Is heavy equipment financing a fit for a roofing, HVAC or excavation business?
It is usually the closest fit for a machine or truck, because payments are tied to the equipment, not your working cash. Bring a dealer quote with make, model and year. Ask your tax preparer whether Section 179 applies to the purchase[8]. ROK and its lenders review the request and decide.
What does The Business Funding Club cost?
Nothing. The Business Funding Club is a free referral club. We are not a lender and not a broker. We send your application to ROK Financial. ROK and the lenders it matches you with review it and make every funding decision. If your business is funded, ROK pays us a referral commission. You never pay the Club anything.
Sources
- 29 CFR 5.5, Contract provisions and related matters (Davis-Bacon) Electronic Code of Federal Regulations (eCFR), checked October 16, 2026
- FAR 52.232-5, Payments Under Fixed-Price Construction Contracts Acquisition.gov (U.S. General Services Administration), checked October 16, 2026
- FAR 52.232-27, Prompt Payment for Construction Contracts Acquisition.gov (U.S. General Services Administration), checked October 16, 2026
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 143-134.1, Interest on final payments due to prime contractors; payments to subcontractors North Carolina General Assembly, checked October 16, 2026
- 2025 Construction Workforce Survey Analysis Associated General Contractors of America, checked October 16, 2026
- N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 22C, Payment to Subcontractors North Carolina General Assembly, checked October 16, 2026
- Occupational Outlook Handbook: Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, checked October 16, 2026
- Publication 946 (2025), How To Depreciate Property Internal Revenue Service, checked October 16, 2026
- Business Financing application (ROK Financial partner page) ROK Financial, checked October 16, 2026
- SBA lender resources: Partnering with SBA loan programs U.S. Small Business Administration, checked October 16, 2026
Before you start
What ROK looks for.
Stated plainly so you don’t spend time on a form that isn’t built for your business yet. These are the minimums ROK lists on its partner application. Meeting them is the starting line, not a decision.
- 4 monthsminimum time in business
- $10,000minimum monthly gross sales
- U.S.based and operating
Credit history is one input among several. ROK reviews the whole picture: revenue, deposits, time in business, and what the money is for. What to have ready.
A referral club, free to apply. ROK Financial and its lenders review every request and make all funding decisions. How we’re compensated.
Prefer to go straight to the funder? You can apply on ROK's own site. It carries our referral ID.
Plainly
What we are, and what we are not.
We are a referral club. We introduce small businesses to ROK Financial. That's the whole service, and it's free to you.
We are not a lender and not a broker. We don't fund anything, we don't quote figures, and we don't negotiate on your behalf. If someone tells you what your financing will look like before ROK has reviewed your file, that person is guessing.
We are paid by ROK, not by you. When a business we refer gets funded, ROK compensates us. You are never charged a membership fee or an application fee, by us or by anyone acting for us. Full disclosure here.