HDB Registered Renovation Contractors

[Pooroldman 0]

Hi ,

Are they really a difference between HDB Registered Renovation Contractors and non Registered ?

I dont believe that HDB Registered will delivery a good result and vice versa , anyone experience good non Registered contractor ? 

And some how non Registered seems slightly cheaper . Kindly share and for discussion . 

 

Thanks

 

[Tiler Seng 57]

Hello Pooroldman, i think it is fun to answer your Question....

There is NO different between them "IF" the non registered contractor has upgraded to Registered contractor, and they do not want to upgrade then forever there's a different by name.

Registered HDB Contractor has to go through the HDB courses and undertake any responsibility incurred by under HDB Renovation Law, non-HDB registered contractor did not studied it, so they only know their own Rules, doesn't that sounds scary ?

example, if the non registered contractor has hacked down a structural wall without proper approval, who will be responsible for any cost insisted by HDB? The Owner will be the one.

non registered maybe cheaper, registered contractor may also be cheaper too.

[Jelilbt 0]

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.