Is It Normal Practice To Bargain With Contractor?

[merly 0]

Hi,

I wonder whether is it a standard practice to bargain with the contractor with individual itemised quote before signing the package itself?

I am worried that the contractor might agree on the discounted price but later cut here and there on the material & quality during renovation work.

Please advise & thanks....

[hihihi 0]

of coz yes. And sure some contractor will start to cut corners, unavoidable. So u have to look deeper into where they can cut corners. And if worry, then take out those items and ask direct supplier to do. Or ask contractor to show u samples, take photo, document all the promised quality.

[porkypig 0]

it is better to know what brand of floor laminates, solid top, carpentry laminates and etc they are using..

It is best to itemise these things so that you know that your $$ is worth spent.

State clearly in the contract so that you wouldn't end up on the losing end...

If not you might end up getting cheapo stuffs...

You can still take out items on later stage even though contract has been signed..

[mud3210 0]

..I am worried that the contractor might agree on the discounted price but later cut here and there on the material & quality during renovation work.

u dun bargain, they will also "cut here and there" on materials, just a matter of more or less only.., but this kind of things u wont know unless u let that contractor do b4.

[Starscream 0]

Your bargaining power wanes the moment you sign on the contract, so feel free to strike out any clause you are not comfortable with, and better still if you can, include your own.

Example:

Say your contract gives you a paint choice of up to 4 colours. State it out to include what types of paint quality can be chosen and does the ceiling count as one colour, and whatever you can think of to protect your interests.

That being said, personally I think it is still more important who you engage rather than what he/she provides in the contract.

Edited August 12, 2008 by Starscream

[weireno 0]

There are many contractors out there who are honest. However there are some contractors who are not too.

The main disadvantage the contractors face are most people have bad impression about them because they are mainly from 'boh tak chen' never graduate from high school class. Hence there are a lot of good talking 'sales man' out there to outperform they do sales and bad mouth about them. these sales man are so called 'interior conceptualist', 'design consultant' , 'ID consultant' etc... all these man do is to sell you idea and sign up agreement, in fact when back to office they don't draw at all but the real ID in office does.

They have never gone through proper interior design training or academy. However they know how to sell you the idea.

My two cents worth is that you want to look for Interior Design, you make sure got one who is real interior designer. Else your money is not well spent. Of course if you meet real interior designer then their quote will not be cheap as contractor lah.

If you already know how to renovate and quite firm on your idea and color. Then you may just need consider a contractor who know how to transform your idea into physical works.

-- Edited no direct advertising allowed --- JuzChris

Edited August 12, 2008 by JuzChris