Where builds are won or lost

Essential vocabulary

• el pago por avance: payment by progress The standard system of Bolivian construction: money follows completed work, stage by stage, it exists to protect you.
• la planilla de avance: the progress sheet One sheet: every stage, its percentage, its certification, its payment. When money questions come up, the answer starts with 'veamos la planilla'.
• ¿este pago corresponde a qué etapa?: this payment corresponds to which stage? The anchor question before any money moves, neutral, factual, impossible to resent.
• que la arquitecta certifique la etapa: let the architect certify the stage Certification before payment turns money conversations into checkable facts, the professional judgment you hired in chapter one, doing its job.
• ¿me da recibo, por favor?: will you give me a receipt, please? Site payments often move in cash, the numbered recibo gives both sides the same clean history, ten seconds at a time.
• no adelanto pagos sin obra: I don't advance payments without work Your four-word standing rule against the classic construction risk, said warmly, held always.
• lo vemos con la arquitecta, según el contrato: we'll sort it with the architect, per the contract The constructive route that makes your 'no' a path instead of a wall, genuine material needs have a clean, written mechanism.
• etapa certificada, pago puntual: certified stage, punctual payment Your half of the deal, the symmetry that makes good crews LIKE working for disciplined owners.

Bolivian Spanish terms

• el adelanto: the advance (payment) The big advance before work exists is the classic Bolivian construction risk, and the request usually comes from real cash-flow, not scheming: maestros float materials across jobs. Firm rule, warm delivery, contract route.
• el recibo: the receipt On sites where much is agreed by voice and paid in cash, numbered receipts plus the planilla are what keep a build auditable months later, 'pago 3, etapa 3, recibo 003' tells the whole story.
• el anticipo de materiales: the (structured) materials advance Well-drafted construction contracts often DO provide a materials advance with invoices, completely different from informally fronting a stage. The contract you insisted on in chapter three referees exactly this conversation.

Useful phrases

• ¿Los pagos son por avance, etapa por etapa?: Are the payments by progress, stage by stage? Confirm the system out loud at the start, a formality every serious crew appreciates.
• Prefiero pagar contra avance verificado por la arquitecta.: I prefer to pay against progress verified by the architect. Said once, kindly, at the start, it prevents a dozen awkward conversations later.
• No adelanto pagos sin obra, no es desconfianza, así trabajo yo.: I don't advance payments without work, it's not distrust, it's how I work. The warm no of the sales-push chapter, now guarding your build, rule plus face-saver in one breath.
• Entiendo que es serio, por eso lo resolvemos hoy, con la arquitecta y según el contrato.: I understand it's serious, that's exactly why we solve it today, with the architect and per the contract. The answer to a stoppage threat: urgency of the right kind, speed through the system, never around it.

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Plan and Manage a House Build in Bolivia, Spanish

More guides from this notebook

• The longest relationship of the goal
• Legal before physical
• Two quotes, one rule
• The weekly rhythm
• Every build changes, the good ones change on paper

Words from this guide in the glossary

• el adelanto: the advance (payment)
• el recibo: the receipt
• el anticipo de materiales: the (structured) materials advance