Short answer. Yes, if a price was fixed for each part. Article 1720 says that when the work is to be delivered partially, with the price for each part fixed, the sum for each is paid at the time and place of that part's delivery, unless you agreed otherwise. Absent a contrary stipulation, payment tracks each delivery.
What the law says
If the work is to be delivered partially, the price or compensation for each part having been fixed, the sum shall be paid at the time and place of delivery, in the absence if stipulation.
Civil Code, Article 1720 — Payment of the Price. Read the full provision →
The default rule: pay on delivery
Article 1720 begins with the ordinary case. It provides that the price or compensation shall be paid at the time and place of delivery of the work, unless there is a stipulation to the contrary. In a contract for a piece of work, then, payment and delivery are meant to happen together: the contractor delivers the finished work, and the owner pays for it at that time and place. Advance payment or deferred payment is not assumed. It arises only if the parties actually agreed to it. This baseline sets up the more specific rule the article then supplies for work handed over in stages.
Delivery in parts, with a price fixed for each
For staged delivery, the article says that if the work is to be delivered partially, the price or compensation for each part having been fixed, the sum shall be paid at the time and place of delivery, in the absence if stipulation. Two conditions must be met: the work is to be delivered in parts, and a price has been fixed for each part. When both are true, payment follows delivery part by part — as each portion is delivered, the sum fixed for that portion becomes payable at the time and place of its delivery. You are not required to wait until the entire project is finished to pay for the parts already completed and handed over.
Your agreement can change the timing
The rule is a default, not a straitjacket. Both the general rule and the per-part rule apply only in the absence of a contrary stipulation. The parties remain free to agree on a different payment schedule — a lump sum on completion, a deposit before work begins, retention of a portion until final acceptance, or fixed billing dates regardless of delivery. If your contract spells out such terms, those terms govern, and Article 1720 simply fills the gap where the contract is silent. So the first place to look is your own agreement; the Code steps in only when it says nothing about when payment falls due.
Why the fixed per-part price matters
The per-part payment rule depends on the price for each part having been fixed. If the contract sets only a single total price for the whole work, without breaking it down into amounts for each portion, there is no fixed sum to pay upon each partial delivery, and this specific rule does not neatly apply. That is why it is worth allocating a price to each stage when work is meant to be delivered in installments. Doing so makes each partial delivery a distinct, payable milestone under Article 1720, giving both sides certainty about how much is due, and when, as the work progresses.