Protected deposits.
Trusted projects.
Milestone-based payment protection for homeowners and contractors. Funds are held in escrow-style infrastructure and released only when work is verified.
A £40bn industry runs on goodwill — and breaks because of it.
Home improvement payments still move through bank transfers and credit cards designed for retail. Neither protects either side of the table. The result: a structural mistrust that costs both parties billions.
- H.01Deposit fraud
Funds vanish before work begins. No recovery path.
- H.02Contractor abandonment
Half-built sites. Sunk capital. No legal leverage.
- H.03Budget uncertainty
Scope creep, surprise invoices, opaque draws.
- C.01Late or partial payment
Cash flow stalls when homeowners delay or contest.
- C.02Verification limbo
Completed work waits weeks for sign-off.
- C.03Cash flow pressure
Materials and crews funded on personal credit.
Four steps. One protected flow.
Every BuildVault project moves through the same four-stage protocol. Each stage is independently verifiable and recorded to an audit-grade ledger.
Secure deposit vault
Homeowner deposits the full project budget into a regulated holding account. Funds are ring-fenced, never touched by BuildVault, never accessible to either party.
- Regulated PSP custody
- FSCS-compatible structure
- Per-project ring-fence
Verified milestones
Project is broken into milestones at contract signing. Contractor submits proof of completion. Homeowner approves — or independent inspector verifies in dispute scenarios.
- Photo / doc evidence
- Two-party sign-off
- Optional 3rd-party inspector
Automated releases
On verification, the milestone tranche releases to the contractor automatically. Payout settles in hours, not weeks. The vault recalculates remaining balance in real time.
- T+0 instant settlement
- Programmatic release rules
- Audit-grade ledger
Dispute protection
Structured resolution framework: clarify, mediate, escalate. Funds stay protected throughout. Both parties get a clear path forward — no court, no chargebacks.
- 48h response window
- Independent mediation panel
- Binding outcome on-platform
Every alternative was built for a different problem.
The instruments homeowners and contractors currently rely on were designed for retail, e-commerce, or one-off legal escrow — not for staged, milestone-driven construction work.
| Feature | Bank transfer | Credit cards | Escrow lawyers | BuildVault◆ this |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fraud protection | None | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Milestone verification | None | None | Partial | Yes |
| Dispute resolution | None | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Settlement speed | Instant | T+2 | Weeks | T+0 verified |
| Cost (per £100k project) | £0 | ~£2,800 | £2k–£8k | ~£600 |
| Built for construction | None | None | Partial | Yes |
| Regulatory framework | Partial | Partial | Yes | Yes |
A multi-billion £ industry with virtually no native payment infrastructure.
The UK home improvement market processes tens of billions annually. The vast majority moves through instruments built for retail or generic banking — leaving an open lane for purpose-built protection.
UK home improvement spend (2025)
Projects £10k–£250k in scope
Year-5 platform throughput target
UK home improvement projects / year
Homeowners cite payment trust as #1 concern
Average contractor payment delay
Infrastructure-grade economics with five compounding lines.
Each verified milestone earns a per-transaction fee. SaaS and partner lines layer on top — turning every active project into recurring revenue.
Transaction fees
0.5–0.8% per protected milestone release.
Contractor SaaS
Project management + payout tooling tier.
Verification subscriptions
Premium inspections + automated checks.
Insurance integrations
Embedded warranty + contract works cover.
Dispute resolution
Premium mediation and adjudication tier.
blended rev / £100k project
A reinforced foundation, not a wrapper.
BuildVault is engineered around the regulatory reality of consumer payments and construction. Compliance is structural — not retrofitted.
PSP-backed custody
Funds held with FCA-authorised payment partners. Never on BuildVault's balance sheet.
KYC / AML by default
Identity verification on every party. PEP and sanctions screening at onboarding and on-going.
Consumer-rights aligned
Built around UK consumer-protection norms and Section 75-style assurances.
Audit-grade ledger
Every movement timestamped, signed, and exportable. Designed for regulatory disclosure.
BuildVault sits at the centre of the construction-payments stack.
A protocol layer for protected payments — interoperable with PSPs, insurers, regulators, and trade bodies. The trust fabric for an entire industry.
Payment providers
Stripe · Modulr · ClearBank
Insurers
Contract works · warranty
Local authorities
Building control feeds
Trade associations
FMB · TrustMark · NICEIC
Verification partners
Independent surveyors
Legal & ADR
Mediation panels
Enterprise-grade control surface for every protected project.
A single workspace for homeowners, contractors, and verifiers. Live milestone state, deposit ledger, payout queue, and dispute flags — all on one canvas.
Oak House Extension
- VRF-0042M3 · Shell completion£24,800Awaiting
- VRF-0041M2 · Foundation pour£18,200Released
- VRF-0040M1 · Strip-out£20,400Released
Help redefine trust in construction payments.
We're building the protected-payment layer for the next decade of home improvement. Investors and early customers welcome.
Be first on the platform.
Homeowners, contractors, and partners. Early cohort gets fee-free milestones for the first 12 months.
Request the investor deck.
Raising to ship the MVP, secure FCA pathway, and onboard the first 100 contractors.