Oxaide Research • 14 November 2026
Check an Interior Design Firm Before Paying a Deposit in Singapore
Design is taste. The deposit is paper.
An interior design firm sells a vision first and a renovation second. The renders tell you about taste. The register tells you who legally receives your deposit, and the contract tells you what happens when the vision meets the site. Check both before you pay.
Ask for the exact registered name, UEN, and registered address before you pay anything. Then run the checks below and keep the results with your quotation.
What the free data shows, and what it does not
The free UEN lookup shows the registered name, Live status, entity type, incorporation date, registered address, and SSIC business activity codes. The free GST check shows whether the name is GST registered. That is enough to catch the common failures: a struck-off entity, a lookalike trading name with a different UEN, or a GST charge from a business that is not GST registered.
The free snapshot does not show directors, shareholders, charges, or credit standing. Do not claim otherwise. If you need officers, ownership, or charges, that detail sits in the paid S$5.50 BizFile profile. A clean free result means the public register did not contradict the payment request on the day you checked. It never guarantees the firm will perform.
The ten-minute check before any deposit
- Copy the UEN from the quotation and search it on ACRA BizFile or our free UEN lookup. Search by UEN, not by name.
- Confirm status is Live, note the entity type and incorporation date, and check the registered address is a credible business address.
- Compare the registered name and UEN against the quotation, the invoice, and the bank payee name. All three must match exactly.
- If GST is charged, verify the GST name matches the ACRA name with the free GST check. A mismatch is a reason to pause, not a clerical detail.
- Read the SSIC codes. They describe what the company said it does at registration. A code with no design or renovation activity deserves a question, not an assumption.
- Save or print the profile page and keep it with the quotation, so any later name change is visible.
Interior design specific checks
There is no mandatory interior-design licence to check, so the written scope and the staged payments carry the weight. Ask for drawings and renders tied to a written scope, materials by brand and model where it matters, and variation pricing agreed in advance.
Ask who does the renovation work: the firm’s own team or a subcontractor, and whether that contractor is on HDB’s list of registered renovation contractors for HDB flat work. Check the list before you sign. Agree a defects liability period and refund terms if the job stops, in the signed contract.
- Scope in writing: drawings, materials, and finishes listed, not described as “premium” or “same as showroom”.
- Staged payments: each payment tied to a milestone you can see, with a retention sum held until defects are fixed.
- Past work: dated completion photos and past client references you can contact, for the same type of home and scope.
- Who builds it: the named renovation contractor, their registration, and who is accountable on site each day.
A fictional example, labelled fictional: a buyer in Bishan signs a design-and-build package after loving the showroom. The UEN on the invoice belongs to a live company incorporated three months earlier, while the showroom brand belongs to a different Pte Ltd, and the renovation contractor is unnamed in the contract. The design may still be good, but the warranty, deposit protection, and GST invoice come from a different legal person than the buyer expected. That mismatch is worth one email before payment, not a dispute after.
Red flags: pause or walk away
- No UEN on the quotation, or a UEN that belongs to another name when searched.
- Bank payee differs from the registered name, or large sums routed to a personal account.
- A quotation with no drawings or materials list, or a design fee with no written deliverables.
- GST charged while the GST name and the ACRA name do not align.
- A heavy upfront deposit with no milestone schedule, no refund term, and no named signatory.
- Pressure to pay today for a discount that expires, or refusal to name the renovation contractor.
- Repeated online complaints about deposits, delays, or silent after-sales service for the same entity.
One red flag can be clarified with a document. Two or more call for smaller tranches, a meeting at the registered premises, and verification of signatories. A cluster of money, identity, and pressure flags is often cheaper to walk away from than to investigate after payment.
For the full sequence, read the general guide to checking a Singapore company and the guide to what the ACRA profile contains. For the renovation side, read the renovation contractor guide.
Research, not advice. Figures from public records as cited; confirm specifics before acting.
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