One frequent sighting on the websites of many interior design companies in Singapore is a button that provides homeowners with quick quotations for the deal they wish to get. Unfortunately, although this might be a fuss-free way to get an idea of the price and a simple mechanism to compare and get the best deal, this quick service is not all as good as it seems.
We’re here to tell you that quick quotations do come with some problems as it overlooks many essential considerations that all homeowners should know. So below, we’ve listed all these important aspects in detail so that you know what to expect before you sign an agreement with a home interior design company in Singapore.
Over Simplified Quotations
Many quotations in interior design websites are simple. In fact, it’s too simple. In most cases, you just need to upload your floor plan and requirements to get the price tag for your specific project.
The concern with oversimplified quotations is that they lack some facets of home renovation that can initially drive down the price. For instance, many of these quotations exclude small details such as the material and mechanism used in the project. This crucial information is not mentioned in the beginning, and to your surprise, you’ll have a totally different price tag in the end. What’s worse, you’ll only find out after you’ve signed the agreement that you actually agreed to a deal for the inferior quality and other essential facets that they’ve excluded in the beginning at an additional cost.
So while simple quotations may seem practical, make sure you understand that these quotations may also lack the complexity of design, which brings us to the next point.
You can’t compare prices among different interior design companies in Singapore just through quotations. The reason is that each company has a different level of complexity in design. Therefore, pricing varies depending on the company. There is no standard pricing when it comes to this matter, so this element of design is taken for granted when just comparing quotations.
Also, other complex items such as design work, space planning, and carpentry require a lot more than just a simple quotation. It needs further discussion and understanding in order to estimate the true cost.
Fluctuating COVID-19 cases and Singapore’s changing regulations have hit the home interior design industry hard. Home renovation is one part of interior design that is greatly affected because many contractors have left for their home country of Malaysia and are having a hard time getting back due to strict border restrictions. With this, Singapore’s interior design industry is seeing less manpower, and the home renovation timeline has been pushed back and stretched more than ever.
In order to get homeowners to sign the agreement, some interior design companies have over-promised their timeline, only to break it once the renovation has started. Therefore, we recommend that you ask your interior design company to provide you with a detailed renovation work schedule that entails the scope of the work, preferably for each week.
Another highly recommended step is to look out for interior design companies that are part of CaseTrust. These companies are reliable and will provide better assurance regarding the timeline and take responsibility for any delays.
The second important consideration for home renovation in Singapore that cannot be judged solely by quotation is workmanship. One way to see the quality of a company is through pictures. Better yet, if the company has a showroom where you can directly judge the quality of their work. We’ve seen many cases where homeowners who have already agreed to the price only to terminate the agreement due to poor performance in the company’s workmanship. This will cause homeowners another round of discussion and most likely increase your budget. We understand that as a homeowner, you want to limit the budget and save as much as possible. Therefore, due diligence is crucial in preventing the troublesome case we mentioned above from happening in the first place.
All of the above scenarios are preventable if you hire a credible home interior design company. Besides their proven work in the line of home renovation, you also need to make sure that the company you hire is HBD registered and licensed. Cases have emerged where an interior design company in Singapore has a different registered company doing the construction from the one homeowners have engaged for the interior design project.
What does this mean? It means that the home interior design company has tapped into another contractor that is not part of their company. You want to avoid this circumstance from happening because, in the unfortunate event of onsite accidents, homeowners would not be able to reach out for compensation or liability.
Now that you understand the pitfalls that come with multiple quotations, it’s time for you to find a reputable and credible home interior company in Singapore. Home Guide has a stellar reputation in the business and is HBD licensed home renovation contractor. So don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ll guide you from the beginning and all the way to the end. Check out our portfolio and the many services we offered for our beloved clients.
