Building construction loans and property purchases are outside this site; the contractor's own business is not.
A material deposit before the first progress payment fits a short credit line draw. Retainage held back while crew payroll keeps running is priced against four or five paydays. A trencher is financed as equipment, and a scissor lift is compared with renting it five months a year. County payroll splits builders from specialty trades.
At a glance
- Construction payroll, Cabarrus County, NC (CBP 2023)
$407.2 million for 6,123 employees
- Construction establishments with a ZIP 28081 address (ZBP 2023)
73, of which 67.1% had fewer than five employees
- Construction businesses without paid employees, Cabarrus County, NC (NES 2024)
2,350, with $232.5 million in receipts
- Specialty trade contractor payroll, Cabarrus County, NC (CBP 2023)
$316.4 million for 4,756 employees
Credit line uses for Cabarrus County, NC contractors: material deposits before the first progress payment
On many commercial jobs the trade contractor buys material first and bills for it later, so the deposit leaves weeks before the first progress payment arrives.
Illustration only, invented figures: an electrical contractor puts down $12,380 on switchgear and wire for a commercial job and draws it from a credit line. The first progress payment lands 45 days later and clears the draw; at 13.75% a year counted by the day, that wait costs about $209.87.
A business line of credit fits because the same limit can serve the next job's deposit once this one is paid back. Electrical contractors (NAICS 238210) in Cabarrus County, NC paid $74.6 million to 1,087 employees in 2023, per County Business Patterns.
Credit line uses for Cabarrus County, NC contractors: retainage held back and crew payroll
Retainage is the share of each progress payment that a general contractor or owner keeps until the job is closed out. The subcontractor has already paid the crew and the supplier for that work, so the held amount is money the business has spent and not yet collected.
Illustration only, invented figures: on a subcontract worth $186,000 with 5% retainage, $9,300 sits with the general contractor at the end. Closeout takes 60 days, and the crew's $11,460 biweekly payroll keeps running: 4 or 5 paydays fall in that window, depending on the calendar, so $45,840 to $57,300 goes out while the $9,300 waits.
Because the retainage comes back as one sum, a line draw or a short working capital amount matched to the closeout date fits better than a long loan. The contract's retainage terms are between the contractor and its client; a funding partner may ask to see them.
Financing trenchers and job-site trailers for Kannapolis, NC contractors
Plumbing, electrical and irrigation crews dig with walk-behind or ride-on trenchers, and a trencher fits equipment financing like any other titled or serial-numbered machine.
Illustration only, invented figures: a ride-on trencher at $23,900, on a 48-month agreement at 10.70% a year, needs $614.23 each month. By the final payment the contractor has paid $29,483.04, which means $5,583.04 in interest.
An enclosed job-site trailer for tools and material, at an invented $8,450, can sit in the same agreement or a separate one. A funding partner decides how it treats each piece, and used machines are part of the same conversation.
Scissor lift rental or a financed purchase? Kannapolis, NC contractor math
Renting a scissor lift for each job that needs one is simple; buying one starts to pay once the rental months pile up. Illustration only, invented figures: a lift at $14,650, financed over 36 months at 11.55% a year, costs $483.45 a month, or $17,404.20 in all with $2,754.20 of interest.
Renting the same class of lift at an invented $1,180 a month for five months a year costs $5,900 a year. Twelve loan payments come to $5,801.40, $98.60 less than a year of rentals, and after 36 months the lift belongs to the contractor.
Storage, transport between jobs and upkeep fall on the owner, not the rental yard, and they belong in the comparison too.
Builders and specialty trades in Cabarrus County, NC: payroll, small crews and one-person outfits
County Business Patterns splits construction (NAICS 23) into construction of buildings (236), heavy and civil engineering (237) and specialty trade contractors (238); builders and specialty trades look different in Cabarrus County, NC:
| Group (NAICS) | Establishments | Employees | Annual payroll | Fewer than five employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Construction of buildings (236) | 169 | 700 | $44.9 million | 81.7% |
| Specialty trade contractors (238) | 493 | 4,756 | $316.4 million | 57.8% |
Builders here are mostly very small employers, with 81.7% under five employees, while specialty trades account for $316.4 million of the sector's $407.2 million payroll. Each group also has a nonemployer count of its own: 2024 Nonemployer Statistics counted 736 construction-of-buildings businesses with no paid employees in the county.
Specialty trades show the same pattern in their own count: the 2024 Nonemployer Statistics list 1,585 specialty trade contractors in Cabarrus County, NC without paid employees. The Kannapolis, NC page has the office city's figures, and the industries page lists the other trades.
By Ivyvale Capital Group ยท Updated