The essentials in 1 minute
- A fair payment plan looks like this: 20% after the order confirmation, 65% after your design approval, the last 15% only after acceptance.
- What matters is less the amount of an instalment than the step it is tied to.
- Nothing is produced or ordered before you have approved the workshop drawing.
- Kolev offers no bank or insurer cover for the deposit. Each instalment sits behind a step you can check.
- The percentages are set out in Kolev’s AGB and are the same for every kitchen, regardless of the price.
Rusi KolevArchitect & Founder
Real Estate Economist (ebs)
Questions in this guide 14
- What a fair payment plan looks like
- Why the 20% only falls due after the order confirmation
- The 65% only falls due after your design approval
- The last 15% only after acceptance
- Deposit and security: what really protects
- What you should ask any supplier about the deposit
- How we do it at Kolev
- Frequently asked questions
- Next step: the first consultation
What a fair payment plan looks like
A fair payment plan for a kitchen ties each of the three instalments to a visible milestone: to the order confirmation, to your design approval, and to acceptance. That way no instalment falls due before its milestone, and the largest instalment only falls due once the workshop drawing you have approved is settled. The three percentages are set out this way in our AGB, as of September 2026. They are the same for every kitchen, regardless of the price.
| Instalment | Milestone | What you then have in hand | Time to pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20% | after the order confirmation | the order confirmation as a line-for-line copy of the offer, fixed price locked in | 14 days |
| 65% | after your design approval, before production starts | the workshop drawing you have approved; the instalment covers materials and all appliances | before production starts |
| 15% | after acceptance (joint on-site acceptance, with ceramic and natural stone worktops after the worktop is fitted, § 6 of our AGB) | the fully installed, accepted kitchen; for reported defects your right of retention under § 4 of our AGB applies | due on acceptance (§ 641 (1) BGB) |
Why the 20% only falls due after the order confirmation
With us the first instalment is 20%, and it only falls due after the order confirmation, not already on signing the offer. The order confirmation is the line-for-line copy of the accepted offer, and it is what makes the price binding. The time to pay the deposit is 14 days.
The 65% only falls due after your design approval
The second and largest instalment, 65%, only falls due after your design approval and before production starts. Before that comes the site survey appointment, where the final measurements are taken. Then you approve the workshop drawing, and only after that does production begin. This instalment covers the materials and all appliances listed in the offer. Nothing is produced or ordered before you have approved the drawing you are paying for. What an offer and an order confirmation must contain so that you can check this is in the guide Reading the offer.
The last 15% only after acceptance
The third instalment, 15%, falls due on acceptance (§ 641 (1) BGB). You only fall into default under the statutory rules, at the latest 30 days after the due date and receipt of the invoice, if the invoice points this out (§ 286 (3) BGB). We carry out the acceptance jointly on site, with a ceramic or natural stone worktop only after it has been fitted: we walk through the finished kitchen with you, you check what you see, and what is discussed we then record briefly by email. We do not need signatures for it. For defects you report to us, your right of retention under § 4 of our AGB applies, as a rule at twice the expected cost of remedying the defect. How the acceptance works is in the guide Installation and acceptance.
Deposit and security: what really protects
A payment plan replaces trust with checkable steps, but it is not a guarantee. We do not offer a deposit guarantee. Instead we offer a payment plan in which every instalment sits behind a step you can check: 20% after the order confirmation, 65% after your design approval and before production starts, the last 15% only after acceptance. Delivered and installed, the kitchen stands in your room. That is why the final instalment sits behind acceptance. Until then the kitchen remains under retention of title, with us as well (§ 7 of our AGB). More important than the retention is when the individual instalments fall due. Planning, production and installation run with us on one contract, with one contract partner for all three steps. What else goes wrong when buying a kitchen is in the 12 Kitchen-Buying Mistakes guide.
What you should ask any supplier about the deposit
Any supplier can answer these questions, and the answers say more about the security of your payment than any promise:
- Which instalment falls due when, and how do I recognise the trigger?
- Is the payment plan, with its percentages and milestones, in the order confirmation?
- What exactly is the largest instalment for, and does it fall due before or after production starts?
- What happens to the deposit if the delivery date is put back?
- Do you offer a deposit guarantee, and what does it cost?
How we do it at Kolev
At Kolev every instalment follows a step you hold in your hands: 20% after the order confirmation, which is the line-for-line copy of the offer, 65% after your design approval and before production starts, 15% after acceptance. The price is fixed with the order confirmation and changes only through a variation agreement in text form that you approve. Our offer has one price, in writing, valid for three weeks, and the order confirmation carries the same price. We have no second price, which is why the first one is the best. A kitchen with us starts from €14,999 incl. VAT, including planning, delivery and installation. For the warranty, the statutory provisions apply.
Frequently asked questions
How large is a normal deposit for a kitchen?
There is no legally fixed amount. With us it is 20% after the order confirmation, with 14 days to pay.
Is a deposit of 50% or more usual?
Usual or not, what matters is less the amount than the trigger: to which step is the instalment tied? With us every instalment follows a milestone, the order confirmation, the design approval and acceptance.
How is my deposit protected?
What protects it with us is a payment plan in which the largest instalment only falls due after your design approval and the last only after acceptance. We do not offer a deposit guarantee. A payment plan is not a guarantee, but every instalment sits behind a step you can check.
Do you offer a deposit guarantee?
No, we do not offer a deposit guarantee. Such an arrangement, where a bank or insurer secures the deposit for a fee, is not part of our offer. Instead we tie every instalment to a milestone.
Is the payment plan in the contract?
Yes, the payment plan, with its three instalments and their triggers, belongs in the order confirmation, which with us is the line-for-line copy of the offer. Ask for it before you sign.
When does the final instalment fall due?
On the joint acceptance; with a ceramic or natural stone worktop after it has been fitted. The last 15% falls due on acceptance (§ 641 (1) BGB). You only fall into default under the statutory rules, at the latest 30 days after the due date and receipt of the invoice, if the invoice points this out (§ 286 (3) BGB). For defects you report to us, your right of retention under § 4 of our AGB applies.
Next step: the first consultation
If you have an offer in front of you and want to know whether its instalments are tied to steps you can check beforehand, and how much is paid before acceptance, then let’s talk. In the first consultation we look at your room, your wishes and your budget, directly with the architect, 45 to 60 minutes, for Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main region.
And a piece of advice no kitchen studio likes to give: get three offers and compare them. We are one of them.