Oxaide Research • 14 November 2026
Check a Renovation Contractor Before Paying a Deposit in Singapore
Start with the register, not the showroom
A renovation deposit is the largest prepayment most Singapore households ever make to a trades firm. The showroom, the 3D drawings, and the friendly designer tell you nothing about who legally receives your money. The ACRA register does, in ten minutes, for free.
Ask the contractor for the exact registered name, UEN, and registered address before you pay anything. A genuine firm provides these without argument. 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 general trading code with no 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.
Renovation-specific checks
For HDB flat work, ask whether the contractor is on HDB’s list of registered renovation contractors, and check the list before you sign. For larger works, ask about BCA registration and who handles permits and submissions, and get the answer in writing.
Read the written scope the way a dispute would read it later: materials by brand and model where it matters, hacking and wet works listed line by line, a payment schedule tied to visible milestones, variation pricing agreed in advance, a defects liability period, and refund terms if the job stops. Promises made in chat or at the showroom count for nothing unless they are 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 flat and scope.
- Who does the work: whether the firm uses its own team or subcontractors, and who is accountable on site each day.
A fictional example, labelled fictional: a buyer in Tampines receives a low quotation for a full flat renovation. The UEN on the invoice belongs to a live sole proprietorship at a residential address, while the showroom brand belongs to a different Pte Ltd. The work may still be real, 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 heavy upfront deposit with no milestone schedule, no refund term, and no named signatory.
- GST charged while the GST name and the ACRA name do not align.
- Pressure to pay today for a discount that expires, or refusal to allow a site visit.
- Repeated online complaints about deposits, delays, or silent after-sales service for the same entity.
- Warranty and delivery promises made in chat but missing from the signed quotation.
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.
Research, not advice. Figures from public records as cited; confirm specifics before acting.
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