Financing for Contractors Around Delaware, OH: Trucks, Tools and Retainage Gaps

Contractors fund three kinds of cost. Machines such as a skid steer have a serial number and resale value. Tools such as laser levels, rotary hammers and the racking in a work truck are smaller and wear out. Deposit gaps come from the job itself: materials and crew get paid before the customer's next payment.

Specialty trade contractors (NAICS 238) were 291 of the 447 construction establishments with paid employees in Delaware County, OH in 2023, and 181 of those 291 had fewer than five employees (CBP).

A concrete crew's equipment runs from walk-behind saws and plate compactors to reusable wall and footing forms. Forms are a large purchase that pays back over many pours, which makes them a fit for heavy equipment financing alongside the machines.

Illustration only, invented figures: a concrete crew buys a $42,000 package of wall and footing forms, 2 plate compactors at $2,850 each and a $6,200 walk-behind saw, $53,900 in all, on a 48-month equipment contract at an annual rate of 10.25%. The 48 payments of $1,373.52 put the total at $65,928.96; the financing cost in this example is $12,028.96.

The 2024 Nonemployer Statistics count 1,103 specialty trade contractors (NAICS 238) in Delaware County, OH with no paid employees.

A builder pays for lumber, windows and dumpster swaps as each stage of a house goes up, and the payment for that stage arrives after the work is checked. Insurance jobs follow a similar pattern: the contractor repairs storm or water damage and waits for the insurer's check. A builder line of credit fits both, because it is drawn for the stage and paid down when the money arrives.

Illustration only, invented figures: a builder spends $38,000 on framing lumber, windows and two dumpster swaps for one stage of a house, and the $45,000 payment for that stage arrives 21 days after the work is checked. In this example the line carries $38,000 for three weeks and is paid down when the payment lands, leaving $7,000 toward the next stage.

Permit counts give a builder a sense of the work there is to bid on. For Delaware County, OH, the Building Permits Survey recorded 2,054 authorized new housing units in 2023, then 2,747 in 2024 and 2,016 in 2025. Single-unit buildings took 1,637 of the 2025 authorizations and buildings of five or more units took 341, so single-unit homes made up the bulk of permitted residential work that year.

Near the end of a job, a general contractor's costs shift from materials to labor: drywall crews with carts and panel lifts, painters, trim carpenters, and the punch list before final payment. The final payment and any retainage come only after the punch list closes, so the last weeks of payroll come before the last check.

Illustration only, invented figures: a general contractor on a $260,000 interior job has 5% retainage held from each payment, $13,000 by the end, released only after the punch list closes. In this example the contractor pays the finish crews for the last weeks while $13,000 of earned money is still held.

Construction of buildings (NAICS 236) had 145 employer establishments in Delaware County, OH in 2023, 88 with fewer than five employees (CBP). Nonresidential building construction (NAICS 2362) accounted for 25 of the 145.

A mini excavator with a hydraulic thumb, a trailer to haul it and a generator for the site are three pieces of equipment that can share one equipment financing request. A used machine can be financed too; a partner can look at its age and meter reading when it sets the term.

What the request covers:

• The dealer quote with model, year and serial number, including for a used machine.
• The thumb and buckets priced on the same quote as the excavator.
• The trailer's rated capacity, matched to the machine's weight.
• Time in business and annual revenue.
• Recent bank statements that show job payments coming in.

Trench boxes for utility work and wet tile saws for a finish crew sit at opposite ends of a contractor's tools, but both are bought ahead of the job that uses them. Payroll between draws is the cash side: crews are paid each week while draws come by stage.

Illustration only, invented figures: a crew payroll of $9,400 a week, and a draw that arrives 24 days after a stage begins. In this example the contractor meets 3 or 4 weekly payrolls, $28,200 to $37,600, before the draw comes in, depending on the day the stage starts.

A working capital loan or a line of credit is meant for that stretch of paydays. Crews are the big cost line: County Business Patterns reported $260 million in 2023 construction payroll for Delaware County, OH and 3,296 paid employees in the March pay period.

Hardware and building material dealers are on the retail funding page. Other trades are on the industries page, and county and city figures are on the Delaware, OH funding page.