Make sure you account for electrical & air-con costs

When you compare quotations, make sure you account for the electrical costs.

Watch our tiktok video on this if you lazy to read.

Comparison of quotations is difficult, as renovation requires a lot of insider knowledge, and many firms have different ways of quoting.

Industry practice normally excludes electrical (and sometimes air-con) costs in the initial quotation.

Reason being, the initial quotation is done before the keys are collected. Hence, it is hard for the firms to quote, as they are based on individual items. For example, the number of power points in the house. If you don’t go into the house, you don’t know how much it costs.

As a result, many people tend to underestimate the costs of their renovation, and forms a significant part of variation orders (VOs).

Hence, we recommend to budget around $4,000 for your electrical needs, if your quotation does not include electrical costs.

Also, make sure you have the unit price for each itemised electrical items, such that the renovators cannot hide any costs within.

Above is a sample of how the electrical costs should look like in your contract. If you don’t see it, make sure you ask for it!

Separately, air-con is a must nowadays given the crazy humid weather (cue global-warming). Air-cons are also typically excluded from all quotations. It costs an average of $1,200 per aircon.

Hence, assuming a 4-room flat, with 3 air-cons required, this amounts to $4,000 + 3 x $1,200 = $7,600, which is not a small amount! So make sure to account for this in your total renovation cost before you sign the contract!

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