Hiring: designers, contractors, quotes and contracts
Interior designer or contractor, comparing quotes like for like, what the contract should say, and how payments are staged.
Guides in this section
Interior designer or renovation contractor: which do you need?
An interior designer designs your home and manages the trades who build it. A renovation contractor builds what you’ve already decided. Neither is a licensed profession on its own, but in an HDB flat whoever carries out the works must be on HDB’s directory.
Read the guide →
Checking a renovation contractor before you sign
Before you pay a deposit, look the firm up in four places: HDB’s contractor directory (for HDB flats), ACRA’s Bizfile, CaseTrust’s list of accredited businesses and CASE’s Company Alert List. All four are free to search.
Read the guide →
Comparing renovation quotes like for like
Two quotes are only comparable if they price the same work. Give every firm the same written brief, ask for itemised quotes with materials and quantities, and line them up item by item. The cheapest total often just leaves things out.
Read the guide →
What your renovation contract should say
A good renovation contract describes the work in detail, sets start and completion dates, ties each payment to a stage of work, says how changes are agreed and priced, and states the warranty. If a promise isn’t in writing, assume it isn’t part of the deal.
Read the guide →
How renovation payments are staged, and how to protect your deposit
Pay as the work is done, never far ahead of it. CASE suggests a small deposit on signing, stage payments as each part is finished, and the last part after everything is completed to your satisfaction. Renovation had the highest prepayment losses reported to CASE in 2024.
Read the guide →