Step one:
The firs thing that you are going to need to do is to choose a general contractor. The key to finding a good general contractor is to take your time and do your research because the general contractor is going to be somebody that you are going to rely upon for everything during the entire construction process.

Step two:
The next thing that you need to do after finding a general contractor is to go over your contract that you have with the general contractor. Everybody knows that general contractors rarely do any of the work, which is how we end up with sub contractors. But what you want to find out is what kind of work the contractor is going to be subbing out, who he is going to be using as his sub contractors, what he is going to be paying his sub contractors and who is in charge of paying the sub contractors. Most of the time the contractor is going to be in charge of paying the sub contractors, but sometimes you will run into a general contractor who stiffs the sub contractors so they will go after you in the end so they can get paid.

Step three:
Most of the time what will happen is that you will pay your general contractor a certain amount of money at certain times throughout the construction process, this is also known as percent complete. What happens is that the general contractor is going to send you an invoice for the work that has been done so far and you will need to pay the general contractor within so many days. This is usually stated in your contract with the general contractor as well.

Step four:
Once you have paid the general contractor they in turn are going to receive an invoice from the sub contractors stating that they are owed this much money for the work and materials that they have done and bought so far. The general contractor then will pay the sub contractors out of the money that you have given them, so now the sub contractors are paid.

Step five:
If you are in charge of paying your sub contractors something that you want to keep in mind is that you do not want to pay them for a job in full. By holding back some of the money you are ensuring the fact that the job will be finished the way you want it done, which is to your satisfaction, if it isn't or there are problems then you have the retention money that you can withhold until everything is done.

Step six:
If your general contractor does not pay your sub contractors then the sub contractors have every right to attach your property, this is the only way that they are guaranteed to get paid. Many times as a home owner you have no idea that this has happened until you have sold your house or are trying to refinance your mortgage at a later date. If this happens you have the option of paying the subcontractors in full and then going after the general contractor yourself or you can do nothing. If you do nothing you will not be able to sell your house or refinance the mortgage. Most people choose to pay the sub contractors what they are owed and then deal with the general contractor. But one way to prevent this from happening is to pay the subs yourself or keep in contact with the sub contractors to be sure that they are getting paid by the general contractor. You can also ask for a receipt from the general contractor that shows they have paid the sub contractors.