The short answer
Tie payments to deliverables — concept, approvals, working drawings, site stages — with a modest advance and a retention at completion.
A common structure is a small mobilisation advance followed by instalments released against defined deliverables: concept sign-off, submission drawings, working drawings, tender stage and site completion stages. Each payment should map to something you can see.
Avoid paying the full fee up front, and avoid open-ended per-visit billing without an agreed count. Put the schedule, revision limits and termination terms in the agreement so both sides know what happens if the project pauses.
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