Singapore family’s S$80K renovation budget ends up with S$216K bill; contractor ‘goes missing’

Summary

• Errol Lee’s family budgeted S$80,000 for a retirement home but eventually faced renovation costs of S$216,000.

• The family transferred S$47,000 to the contractor’s personal accounts after being asked to make payments outside the company accounts.

• The renovation firm later went into liquidation, forcing the family to spend an additional S$70,000 to rebuild much of the home.

SINGAPORE: A Singapore family’s S$80,000 renovation budget turned into a S$216,000 bill after their contractor stopped work and disappeared.

Errol Lee’s family was renovating his parents’ retirement home. They had rejected several quotes ranging from S$130,000 to S$150,000 because they were far above budget.

The contractor they chose appeared credible, with showrooms, good online reviews and a director who promised to oversee the project. But extra charges soon pushed costs higher, while progress slowed, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reported (Sept 19).

Photo: CNA/YouTube @ CNAInsider

Extra charges pushed the renovation costs higher

The family was billed for additional hacking, carpentry, windows and electrical work. Some of these charges were S$23,210 for hacking and S$16,557 for carpentry.

They were also charged S$9,000 for windows and S$8,700 for electrical work. The contractor later asked them to transfer S$35,000 to his personal account instead of the company account.

The family eventually transferred S$47,000 to his personal accounts. They were anxious to finish the home before Chinese New Year and feared the work might stop.

Problems became obvious when they inspected the home

The family later found several problems that weren’t apparent from the updates they received. The kitchen counter and drawers were too shallow to fit their utensils.

Parts of the home were also still unpainted, despite being presented as finished. They discovered their selected kitchen products and fittings hadn’t been used either.

Five months after work began, the interior designer stopped responding. The company’s showrooms were emptied, and the family realised their money wasn’t coming back. By then, they had paid more than S$130,000.

Experts point to several warning signs

Linus Ng, chairperson of the Consumers Association of Singapore’s consumer education committee, said unusually low renovation quotes can attract homeowners before extra charges raise the final cost.

Mervin Foo, co-founder of renovation platform HomeMatch, said requests for more money while work is progressing slowly can signal cash-flow trouble.

Mr Ng also warned against paying a company’s director through personal accounts. The contract is with the company, rather than the individual director.

The renovation firm later went into liquidation. The family then hired another interior designer to rebuild much of the home. The kitchen, electrical work and plumbing were redone, while the entire home was repainted.

The second renovation cost S$70,000 and took six weeks. Temporary accommodation added S$9,000, while storage and transport cost another S$7,000.

Only the original tiling and windows remained. Mr Lee said homeowners should research renovation problems before choosing a firm rather than relying mainly on marketing.

A cheap quote can be useful, but the payment terms, contract and company details deserve just as much attention.