What Should Be in Your Renovation Contract?

A Quotation & Payment Milestone Guide

Most renovation disputes in Singapore don't start on site — they start with a contract or quotation that was too vague to protect either side. A lump-sum quote with no breakdown makes it genuinely hard to say, later, who did or didn't deliver what was promised.

Here's what a properly structured Singapore renovation contract and quotation should contain, and what payment schedule is considered reasonable.

Start With an Itemised Quotation, Not a Lump Sum

A trustworthy quotation breaks costs out by category — carpentry, tiling, electrical, painting, and so on, with material, labour, and brand or model specified where relevant, rather than a single figure covering “renovation works.” Ask for clarification on anything unclear before signing; a firm confident in its pricing will walk you through it line by line without hesitation.

The Payment Schedule: What's Reasonable

Under the CaseTrust Standard Renovation Contract used by accredited firms, the initial deposit is capped at no more than 20% of contract value, with the balance collected in progressive payments tied to completed, inspected milestones rather than the calendar.

Even outside a CaseTrust context, treat this as your benchmark: a deposit above 30%, or most of the contract value requested before any work begins, shifts nearly all of the financial risk onto you as the homeowner.

A typical milestone structure looks like this:

• Deposit on signing (10–20% of contract value)
• Progress payment on completion of hacking/demolition and rough electrical & plumbing works
• Progress payment on completion of tiling and masonry works
• Progress payment on completion of carpentry installation
• Final payment on handover, released only after snag-list items are closed

What the Contract Itself Should Specify

• Full scope of works, broken down room by room
• Named materials, brands and quantities — not vague “similar to” descriptions
• Start date and estimated completion date, with a clear process for variation orders — changes documented and costed before proceeding, never applied retroactively
• Defect liability / workmanship warranty period (12 months is the standard for accredited firms)
• Which party is responsible for HDB or MCST permit submissions, and by when
• The firm's registered business entity and UEN — confirming this is the same entity you're paying, not a personal account or an unrelated related company

Before You Sign: A Two-Minute Final Check

• Does the total in the contract match the total in the quotation you agreed to?
• Is every blank field or “TBC” resolved, or one you genuinely understand and accept?
• Is the payment schedule tied to inspection-verified milestones, not simply dates on a calendar?
• Do you have a named point of contact and an agreed channel — WhatsApp or email — for written confirmations of any changes?

A clear contract isn't a sign of distrust between you and your designer — it's what makes a good working relationship possible, because everyone is measuring progress against the same document instead of memory.

At Ace's Design, every project runs on an itemised quotation and milestone-based payments under our CaseTrust-accredited process, with a fixed point of contact from your first consultation through to handover.

Request your itemised quotation to see the format for yourself.