Paid at practical completion. Payroll every Friday.
Construction cash flow runs backwards: wages, materials and equipment go out months before certificates and retentions come in. One request reaches funders who understand staged payments, with a soft search that never marks your credit file.
The last slice of the job is the slowest.
Construction money is lumpy. Work is invoiced on progress or stage payments, and a slice of every one is held back as retention until the job is signed off, sometimes months after you have finished on site. That money is yours, it is just not with you.
Put long payment terms from main contractors next to it and the picture is familiar: a profitable, growing firm running short of cash. Funding for a construction business is mostly about bridging that gap so you can take on the next job without waiting to get paid for the last one.
Bridge the gap, then take on the next jobMost requests are about timing, not trouble.
These are the five moments that send construction owners looking, and every one of them lands at the wrong end of the payment chain.
Materials bought before a stage payment lands
Every new job starts with money leaving: materials on order, plant hired in, the first weeks of labour. None of it is invoiced yet, and what is invoiced is not certified yet.
Wages and subcontractors on the same date every week
The crew does not wait for a valuation. Payroll and subcontractor payments land on their own schedule regardless of where the certificate has got to.
Plant, machinery, vehicles and tools
Kit is bought once and earns for years, so paying for it out of this month’s cash is the expensive way round. Spreading it over its working life keeps the float where it is needed.
A bigger contract that needs cash to get going
Winning larger work is a cash event before it is a profit event. More materials, more people and a longer wait before the first payment arrives.
Weather, delays and the quiet spells
A wet fortnight or a delayed start moves the whole payment chain back while the fixed costs stay exactly where they were.
Amounts run from a few thousand for tools or a cash-flow top-up to several hundred thousand for major plant or a large build. Because you describe the job in your own words, funding partners propose what fits rather than forcing it into a fixed product. You can see the whole range on the funding types Capvant covers.
One request reaches funding partners who understand staged payments, and comparing is a soft search that leaves your credit score exactly where it is.
There is no single construction loan.
The right product depends on whether you are funding materials, equipment, payroll or a build. Kit that earns for years belongs on equipment & asset finance, often secured against the kit itself. Week-to-week costs sit better on working capital or a facility you draw on as jobs move. And if the squeeze is certified work that has not been paid, invoice finance releases the cash already sitting in that invoice.
Many firms blend two, for example asset funding for an excavator alongside a line of credit for day-to-day cash flow. A good match looks at your job pipeline, not just your balance sheet, and keeps repayments aligned to when projects actually pay out.
Repayments aligned to when projects payWhat you have won shapes what you can raise.
Funding partners know construction revenue is project-based, so they look past a single month of figures to the work in front of you. Three things move the number more than anything else.
Contracts, not hopes
Strong, signed contracts tell a funding partner the revenue is real. A pipeline of quotes and maybes tells them much less, so what is actually signed tends to set the ceiling.
Who owes you, and how they pay
A spread of clients who settle predictably is worth more than one large contractor on long terms, because the risk sits with whoever is doing the paying.
The margin left after costs
What is left after materials and subcontractors is what services the funding, which is why margin matters as much as headline turnover on a project business.
Pick the range the next job needs and see which funding partners would support it. It takes about three minutes.
What decides it on a construction firm.
Funding partners want to understand how the money moves through your jobs: how long you have been trading, recent turnover and bank activity, the work in your pipeline, and how reliably your clients pay. Then they weigh the things specific to the trade.
- How long the firm has been trading, and recent turnover
- Bank activity across a few recent months
- The work in your pipeline and how firm the contracts are
- How reliably your clients pay, and whether they are spread or concentrated
- How much cash is tied up in retention, and your margin after materials and subcontractor costs
- Whether the funding is secured against equipment or against invoices
- Recent bank activity
- Your latest accounts or management figures
- An idea of your project pipeline
- What the money is for, and roughly how much
A spread of clients beats one main contractor
Signed contracts and several paying customers usually make an offer easier and the terms more favourable than reliance on a single payer.
A short trading history is not a closed door
Newer firms, and firms with past credit blips, can often still get funded because some funding partners look at exactly that, though the limit and terms will usually reflect it.
Looking is a soft search
Comparing what is realistically available has no impact on your credit score. A hard check only happens if you accept an offer.
Every decision, limit and term sits with the individual funding partner and is subject to their approval. Capvant is a funding marketplace, not a lender. The full path is set out on how Capvant works.
Materials prices move and a contract will not wait, so the point of comparing genuine competing offers is speed as much as cost: how much, over how long, the total cost, and how repayments line up with your payment cycles. Then you get straight back on site. Amounts here are illustrative only, shown in £.
Frequently asked questions
Can my construction business get funding through Capvant?
Yes. Capvant works with funding partners that fund construction businesses across the United Kingdom. One request matches you with the partners most likely to say yes.
What funding suits construction businesses?
It depends on your goal, common options include equipment & asset finance, invoice finance, working capital, business line of credit. Compare them side by side and pick what fits.
Will checking my options affect my credit score?
No. Seeing your options through Capvant is a soft search, so it leaves no mark on your credit file. A lender only runs a full credit check if you decide to accept an offer.
Is Capvant a lender?
No. Capvant is a funding marketplace, we match you with funding partners and you choose the offer that suits you. Funding decisions, rates and terms are set by the lender, subject to approval.
How fast can I get funded?
Once you accept an offer, many businesses receive funds within a few working days, some products fund same day.
Stop funding the job out of your own pocket.
One request brings back competing offers from funding partners who understand staged payments and retentions, and looking never touches your credit score.
No obligation. Checking your offers won’t affect your credit score.
Disclaimers & footnotes
- 1Capvant is a funding marketplace, not a lender. We match business owners with third-party funding partners; we do not make credit decisions, lend money, or set rates or terms. All funding decisions, rates, terms and approvals are made solely by the lenders in our network, subject to their criteria.
- 2Checking your options through Capvant does not affect your credit score. A lender may carry out a soft or hard credit search depending on the product, stage and your consent. A full hard credit check is only carried out where required by a lender before you proceed.
- 3Funding speed, including any reference to funding in as little as 24 hours, is typical for some products and lenders and is not guaranteed. Actual timescales depend on the lender, the product, and how quickly requested information and documents are provided.
- 4Funding amounts and ranges are indicative only and vary with your business profile, trading history, the lender and the market. Figures shown are not an offer of finance and do not guarantee any particular amount, rate or approval.
- 5Any offers, rates or repayment figures shown in illustrations or examples are for demonstration only and are not real quotes. Your actual offers, if any, are provided by lenders and are subject to approval.
- 6Product availability varies by market. Some products are only available in certain countries. Capvant currently serves businesses in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Capvant is not a lender and does not make credit decisions, we introduce businesses to third-party funding providers. Capvant is not authorised or regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
Capvant does not compare every lender, broker, funding product or offer available in the market. We only show options from funding partners in our network that may be relevant based on the information you provide.
Capvant may receive compensation from lenders, brokers, funding partners or referral partners when a customer is introduced, approved, funded or takes another qualifying action. This compensation does not guarantee that any lender will approve an application or offer specific terms. Capvant does not charge business owners a fee to compare funding options unless clearly stated otherwise.
If you access Capvant through a partner, introducer or embedded funding page, that partner may receive a referral fee or commission if your request results in funding. This does not increase your cost unless expressly disclosed.
Capvant is intended for business-purpose funding only. Eligibility may depend on entity type, location, trading history, revenue, industry and lender criteria. In the UK, Capvant currently focuses on limited companies, LLPs and plcs, and does not currently support sole traders or ordinary partnerships.
Information on Capvant is general information only and is not financial, legal, tax or accounting advice. You should consider whether funding is suitable for your business and seek professional advice where appropriate.
Calculators, eligibility checkers and funding-readiness tools are estimates only. They are based on limited information and assumptions, and do not represent a credit decision, quote, approval or recommendation.
Company information may be sourced from public registers such as Companies House, or from information you provide. Public register data may be incomplete, delayed or inaccurate and should not be treated as a full credit assessment.
The Business Credit Score by Capvant is an independent statistical assessment based on public register data. It is not provided by a credit reference agency and may differ from scores used by individual lenders.
By submitting an application or funding request, you authorise Capvant to share relevant business, owner, request and document information with funding partners, service providers and introducers where necessary to process your request, subject to our Privacy Policy.
Some US commercial financing offers may be subject to state-specific disclosure requirements. Where required, additional disclosures will be provided and must be accepted before a transaction is finalised.