Jelilbt

To be fair, many non-registered contractors are newly startups and may have some experience working in licensed HDB contractors. They could 'borrow' license from HDB license 'mint' contractors to do the major masonry works - tiling, hacking, etc. Simple works like carpentry... don't need license. Buy they need to get their license by taking the HDB contractor courses and accumulation proven wet masonry works experience doing non-HDB projects which HDB will check before granting the license. If they don't after sometime in business (more than a year or more), it only means 2 things. One, they don't have the necessary non-hdb project experience or something is strange. What many owners are afraid is to encounter a scam contractor who form a new company each time after the other shut down, thereby not interested or qualified to get license. HDB license contractors may have bad reviews, but rarely run away as far as I know. Like Tiler Seng said, the risks go directly to the owner if something goes wrong. It may not be something major like hacking a reinforced columns which have happened. It could be a waterproofing problem several years after the renovation. The un-license contractors don't have to entertain the owners and they may not be even in business any more. If the licence 'mint' ignore HDB town officers requests to resolve the problem, then the ball and costs go to the owners. Honestly, there is no need to appoint non-license HDB contractors when there is literally thousands of licensed contractors, unless the contractor is your friend or relative who will take care of your interests. To be sure, just make sure you work with the license holder himself supervising your project, not some newbies testing learning on your project, or some gangster loan shark types. Regarding pricing, owners would be surprised that licensed contractors can be very competitive and creative, especially those who have own workers or work from home or are owners of the company. My HDB licensed contractor works from home, very experienced, design well and uses very professional sub-contractors who produce very good workmanships and beats all 12 quotes from the IDs quotes that I have sourced. Before signing I visited some of his projects, both running and completed. Those completed project visited, I spoke director with the owners without his presence - He said you can choose any completed project in his facebook and go visit directly without him coming along. Amazing right, both owners can communicate what they want. So find your contractor well ahead in time of your renovations; visit their running and completed sites as many as possible, then chances of have a renovation nightmare is a lot less.

I would go for HDB licence contractor as HDB have strict requirements to get the licence. If the contractor do not have experience in the private sector, they do not give it to them and I know HDB have a banker guarantee or bond according to HDB site. So if anything got problem like hack wrong wall, water proofing problems, they go after the licence holder which is an individual. If you use a non-licence contractor the owner bear the consequences if got problems after a few years. It is not after a few months as some like to tell you. Most of the time, when ID or contractor tells you it is ok to use them as they borrow the licence for wet works, it is because they do not qualify for the licence or worst got banned by HDB which gives demerit points to compliants. Too many demerit points, I am sure HDB will suspend their licence or banned them. If so easy to get licence, then everyone, Singapore, Malaysian and China contractors with experience or no experience or any junior or even senior interior designers will get the licence already. When I get quote from the few contractors and ID that I shortlisted, the first thing I ask them is if they got HDB licence for wet works. I think if they are not even licence holders personally themselves, that say so much about their experience levels,. And there are so many licence holders to select, probably in the thousands, so why take the risks. And I check the individual name of the contractor with HDB and not just company name and make sure it is not a borrowed licence which they will say it is related companies and more often than not it is not true. Don't be mislead lah.

From what i know from marble experts, even with polishing the grout lines are still visible if you look closely as marble is a natural materials and have vines. No marble filler or glue can 100 percent hide the grout gap. Of course, the grout gaps will be much smaller then tiles which need to be about 1.5 to 2 mm. Because they grind and polish the marble slabs after laying, you will get the seamless feeling with your hands or feet which tiles will never be able to achieve. i would be very interested to see an example of tiles with their marble glue that can achieve the seamless look. Can you ask them to show a picture?

can pm me your ID contact? Thanks

Looks quite bad. I doubt your ID is going to replace your cabinet which means damaging your countertop which is costly. Most likely they hopefully will fix the leak and let the plywood dry out. If they are not fixing for you, you may need to DIY, scrape off the black mounled wood and fill the edges and any exposed raw plywood with white silicon (not the water soluble type). it should help. Actually, a good ID or carpenter should have done it in the first place. Maximum 1 tube of silicon will do which is only a few dollars. This is also applicable for vanity bottom cabinets. But most carpenters and IDs don't care as it takes time to do this. My cabinets which are silicon and more than 6 years now and is still good. Advice, find a more responsible or knowledgeable ID or contractors and not cut corners like the silicon.