waileong

That's not true. ID is not a necessity, and it's not about being brave. Look, the ID's main purposes is to help you with design. They help you with space planning, (hopefully) provide innovative solutions to your reno problems, make sure your house is pretty, things make sense, can even recommend furnishings to match. The secondary purpose is that of a project manager, to deal with all the subcons and coordinate everything. If you don't need the design work, you can use a general contractor. You tell the guy what to do, and he'll coordinate everything. Indeed, some ID's also use general contractors to handle the project management, because they're too busy with design work to go around chasing the electricians, plumbers, tilers, carpenters, etc. So if you know what to do, and you're not too fussy about design, there's no need for an ID, just get a good general contractor. Indeed, that would be the prudent and money-saving thing to do because ID's typically take a percentage cut of the renovation quote. Chunky-- Sorry to hear your woes. I think you should think further ahead, see whether you want to continue relationship with this contractor, or replace him. No point continuing with him if you don't trust him and doing the contractor's work yourself.

My bulb blew after one year as well, what's there to say? If you study statistics, the lifespan of a bulb is modelled by a poisson distribution. Bulb lifespan is typically calculated, not measured, ie they don't run the bulb for 3,000 hours before they tell you it's 3,000 hours. They just do some engineering calculations and say that the bulb can last 3,000 hours based on the calculations. How often a bulb is turned on or off, voltage surges, etc. all can affect lifespan.

Why don't you read up from HDB website. It's quite clear. He's the one buying the flat, not his parents, so if he never bought before, why would he need to pay levy?

I would suggest you don't take your ID's word for it. Check the HDB site to confirm anything the ID says...

Shortage of time is one prime factor for unsatisfactory renovation. Be warned!

Ask the guy who sold you the flooring. Ask him to recommend some installers as well.

You should check the HDB website then. As noobs, I think you're being too aggressive on these things.

Wow. The mosaic tiles must have cost a fortune! $10 psf and up, as I remember.

Search the archives.

Is that wallpaper on the left wall?

No, it's weird. I've never heard of walls needing waterproofing. Toilet floors, yes. But not exterior walls. I guess it's because water is supposed to roll off the wall, whereas on the floor, it can stay there and seep through the floor.

I doubt that. HDB just collects the money. But the point is that, someone in CPF has yet to approve it.

I thought the grant was by CPF.

Truly weird. Why don't you call town council.

The advice has already been given.

Try the Converts Association.

And rightly so. Less regulation should be done, rather than more. Singapore is already known as the place where people expect the govt to spoonfeed them, and expect the govt to step in whenever something goes wrong. The list of industries with bad apples is tremendously long-- used car dealers, timeshare companies, property agents, travel agents, etc. How can one single out the reno industry alone? In the case of enbloc, they came out with a set of procedures, but there's no regulation of the market players, ie a company does not have to be licensed to participate in the market. I think it was driven by political considerations (ie to allay the many disgruntled homeowners) and also a social/political consideration (to stem the runaway enbloc prices). Regulation is always a difficult question, the govt has to balance the social cost of regulation vs the its pro-business stance, the political impact of regulation, benefits vs cost, etc. Where regulation has been applied, our govt has always tried very hard for it to be pro-business, eg. safety regulations, environmental standards, minimum paid-up capital, security bond requirements, etc. but generally not interfering in how contracts are structured between market participants.

Your original point is that Case, Radac, BCA, CAD, etc. know of all these shady contractors yet refuse to do anything. And it seems that you expect them to take proactive and preventive action since you claim they know about all these for years. In my view, taking "proactive" action is not what Case, Radac, BCA, CAD, etc. are set out to do. As you said later, they are helpful in seeking redress, which is something that they can do after someone has a dispute. That's definitely not a proactive or preventive action. As you well know, govt agencies can only act according to the statute that empowers them, and they usually investigate only when there is a complaint. A contractual dispute is unlikely to be a criminal matter and thus will not likely be acted upon by govt agencies. That's what the civil courts are for. Maybe Case and Radac can take proactive actions, such as endorsing certain contractors and coming up with acceditation schemes, etc. However, as you know these are voluntary and limited in their effectiveness. In other words, there's no requirement for a contractor to join Radac, and you can't prevent someone from engaging a non-Radac contractor, etc. In other words, I do not agree with you that BCA, CAD, etc. know about these things for so many years and refuse to do anything. The fact of the matter is, it's not their job to do these things. In some cases, it's not even relevant for them (eg BCA's job is building safety, it has nothing to do with reno disputes). We should reflect on the deeper meaning of caveat emptor. It means "buyer beware". At a more fundamental level, it means you take your own risks when you contract with someone. And since you take your own risks, you have to put in your own risk mitigation measures and you have to deal with the consequences should the risks materialise. No one else is responsible but you. Hence, "buyer beware"-- because no one else can help you.

I beg to differ. 1. One should obviously start by asking lawyer friends, or even free legal clinics. I can't imagine one walking into any lawyer's office just like that, not when it's not even clear whether there's something worth pursuing. 2. If there is a valid contract that shows the additional price is $1 psf, then one should try to enforce it. I would like to ask the orig poster, where is the contract? My view is that without any reliable proof of this "representation", it's no better than a puff. 3. My point about promises they can't keep is that one should not look to Case, the govt, Radac, etc. This is at best a civil law matter, there is no basis for the govt to get involved in a contractual dispute between two private parties. People and companies get into such situations all the time, that's why there's contract law and the due legal process. It's a civil matter, not a criminal matter. 4. You'll turn a lot of people off voice recorders. My advice is, don't pay "deposits" at reno fairs. Not unless you get a valid and binding contract with a firm quotation (incl. additional and optional items) and a clause which clearly allows you to regain your deposit (or at least part of it) if you decide to change your mind. Unfortunately, I must say that most people cannot foresee every single optional item they will need at the start of the process. Hence, even if you have a quotation when you sign the contract, you may later request items which will require further quotation. And the contractor, if he wants to take advantage of you, can obviously quote high prices for such items, and it may not be practical for you to terminate the contract halfway and call in another contractor. In other words, you need to find a contractor you can trust. A contract you can rely on is a necessary but not sufficient condition for reno success.

Know what? Do what? Nothing illegal has taken place. This is all caveat emptor stuff, and if any buyer think anything illegal has taken place, they should consult their lawyer about legal action. There will always be people who make promises they can't keep, and there'll always be people who believe them. The govt does not exist to protect you from such people. Their job is to enforce the law, and giving poor quality service is not against the law.

CRACKING is not the problem with the right tools. Having a floor hole is good.

1. You can't get money back. 2. You can cancel contract, but should see what are the penalties.

Why hack away the study? Having 4 rooms is a blessing, you can have a dedicated study/computer/internet/entertainment room + one room for each child (or a spare bedroom for your mom-in-law, etc).

Rushed job means more risk, lower quality. Do you know how long it takes to find a reliable contractor/ID, to finalise a design/quote, to select materials, to get permits to start work, to rectify defects, etc? Do you know how long it takes to do a good job? A good contractor is like a good hawker-- they'll have a long queue of people waiting for their services, but the food is worth the wait. So it is with contractors. If you are in a rush, you won't get a good contractor. And you can read the horror stories of those who did not have good contractors in this forum.

You're setting yourself up for trouble. Rushed renovation in Dec. Sounds like first time doing renovation. And trying to cut corners with 1st/2nd appt.