I would never accept either of those, as you have paid 100% before the job is done. That is actually illegal where I live. By law you are not allowed to make a final payment to any contractor until the final inspection by the town is completed.
The last job I had done - a large addition on the house -- in addition to payment schedules I insisted on penalty clauses based on completion times. For each day the contractor missed his completion date by he had to pay me $100 a day. This is typical for commercial business but not as common amoung home owners. This is the way to really protect yourself.
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