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Guides

Renovation quotations, explained.

How quotations work in Singapore: what belongs in one, what the units mean, and what the numbers should look like.

Most disputes about a renovation quotation are not really about price. They are about two documents describing different amounts of work, and neither side realising it until the invoice arrives. These guides are about reading the document properly: what each trade should say, what unit it is quoted in, and roughly what the number should be.

Every figure here is a published market range for 2026, with the source named on the page it appears. None of it is our own data, and a rate attributed to nobody is precisely the thing these guides argue against.

Start here4 min read

How to Read a Renovation Quotation in Singapore

You have three quotations for the same flat and they are thousands of dollars apart. That does not usually mean one contractor is cheating you. It usually means the three documents are describing different amounts of work, and the only way to find out is to read them the same way.

The numbers, at a glance

Indicative Singapore ranges for 2026. Each one is explained, and sourced, in the guide it links to. They move with material prices and they vary by contractor, so treat them as a way to sanity-check a quotation rather than a rate anyone is obliged to match.

Item	Indicative 2026	Unit
Carpentry	$130 to $450	per foot run	Explained
Kitchen cabinets	$180 to $360	per foot run	Explained
Wardrobes	$200 to $360	per foot run	Explained
Tiling	$6 to $12	per sqft	Explained
Electrical points	$45 to $90	each	Explained
Bathroom waterproof and retile	$3,100 to $4,700	per bathroom	Explained
PE endorsement, if hacking	$800 to $2,000	per job	Explained
4-room HDB resale, all in	$42,000 to $48,000	typical 2026	Explained
GST	9%	on the subtotal	Explained
Payment stages	10 / 40 / 40 / 10	common split	Explained

The ten trades, and how each is priced

Whatever the job, a quotation here is read against this list. A line with no unit against it is a line you cannot compare between two quotes, which is usually the point of leaving it off.

Hacking and demolitionlot or per item

Masonry and tilingper sqft

Carpentryper foot run

Plumbing and sanitaryper point or item

Electricalper point

Ceiling and partitionper sqft or foot run

Paintingper sqft or per room

Waterproofingper sqft or per area

Glass and aluminiumper sqft or item

Cleaning and permitlot

Writing one rather than reading one? The renovation quotation template sets out what each trade should state, and the page for design firms covers quoting in these units without a spreadsheet.

For homeowners

Reading, comparing and sanity-checking a renovation quotation before you sign it.

Where to Get the Floor Plan of Your HDB Flat

HDB sells your flat plan online for a few dollars. What it shows, the print setting that quietly changes its scale, and why your contractor wants it.

How Much Deposit Is Safe to Pay

Twenty per cent is the accepted ceiling, forty is a red flag, and an accredited firm bonds your prepayment. What to check before you transfer.

How to Read a Renovation Quotation in Singapore

What a renovation quotation should contain, trade by trade, the units each one is priced in, and the three things missing from most of them.

Carpentry Cost in Singapore, Per Foot Run

What carpentry costs per foot run in Singapore in 2026, what moves the rate, and the per-row question that makes two quotes look further apart than they are.

HDB Renovation Quotation, What It Should Contain

What belongs in an HDB renovation quotation, the permit and PE endorsement usually left out of it, and typical 2026 cost ranges for a 4-room flat.

GST on Renovation in Singapore

GST is 9% and not every renovation contractor charges it. How to tell whether it belongs on your quotation, and what to check if it appears.

For the trade

Quoting, pricing and winning work, for contractors and interior design firms.

Tracing a Floor Plan to Scale From a Photo

Three ways to calibrate a photographed floor plan, why a printout is rarely the scale it claims, and how to check the drawing before you quote off it.

Walking a Client Through a Room Nobody Has Built

A render is one angle somebody chose. A walkthrough is the room. What each settles, what each costs you, and why eye height matters more than lighting.

When SketchUp Is More Than the Moment Needs

SketchUp, AutoCAD and a browser drafting tool are not competing for the same hour. Which belongs at the site visit, and which belongs after you win.

A Site Measurement Checklist That Survives

What to measure at a renovation site visit, room by room, and the six readings that turn into variation orders when nobody writes them down.

Counting Foot Run Off the Floor Plan

A foot run is one linear foot along the wall, and top and bottom count separately. How to count it off a drawing so the quantity stops being arguable.

Variation Orders, and Where the Margin Goes

What a variation order has to state, why unsigned work is unpaid work, and how to price a change without giving it away.

When Your Quotation Becomes the Contract

For most Singapore renovation jobs the signed quotation is the agreement. What that means for what belongs on it.

Quoting Commercial Fit-Out, and How It Differs

What changes when you quote an office or a shop rather than a flat: terms, claims, submissions and the hours you can actually work.

You Are One of Seven Quotations

Homeowners here compare five to eight firms at once. What that does to your odds, and the three things that move them.

Putting the Programme on the Quotation

Typical Singapore renovation durations, why the clock starts at permit approval, and how to state a timeline that protects you.

Quoting on WhatsApp Is Costing You Jobs

Homeowners are told to treat WhatsApp-only quoting as a warning sign. What to keep in the chat, and what has to be a document.

Quoting Before You Leave the Flat

What has to be ready before a site visit so the quotation goes out the same day, and why the evening version keeps losing.

What CaseTrust Actually Asks of You

The standard contract, the deposit performance bond and the documented variation procedure, and why most of it is paperwork you should have anyway.

Markup Is Not Margin, and the Difference Is Your Profit

A 25% markup earns a 20% margin. The arithmetic behind it, what Singapore ID firms actually apply, and how to set a markup that reaches the margin you want.

How to Quote a Renovation Job in Singapore

From site visit to sent proposal: how to structure a renovation quotation by area and trade, what every line must state, and what to put in writing.

Renovation Payment Schedule, and Who Is Funding the Job

The 10/40/40/10 convention, why each stage is tied to a trade rather than a date, and how to avoid funding your own client cash flow.

Or skip the reading and build one.

CatchQuote structures a renovation quotation the way this market expects, and exports it as a branded PDF.