Checklist for Office Renovation Contract

The office renovation contract is a written agreement between two parties on the renovation terms of services and obligations. A specific and solid contract is also the foundation for a positive renovation experience for both the renovation contractor and the client. The contract helps prevent conflicts from misunderstandings and false expectations from either party because it is the official paper to keep track of all the discussions and arrangements. No matter how great was your first impression on the renovation contractor from the first meeting or how much you trust that contractor, you may as well regret if after then something goes wrong, e.g. material costs increased or deadline compromised, and you have nothing to back up your words. Hence, a good contract would create a set of standard expectation and mutual understanding between two parties, and protect both parties involved.

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Below are some of the fundamental, yet most crucial things you should include in the renovation contract before getting the work started.

1. A Physical Address. 
The suggestion here is to make the deposit to the contractor at a physical location stated clearly in the contract. Make sure that that address is an “active” one. This is to guarantee that if something goes wrong and you need to find your contractor, you know where to begin.

2. A License. 

This item is so obvious. A license indicates that the contractor is legitimate and has every legal right to process the renovation works on your property. Moreover, a valid license also implies that the contractor you are planning to hire can be trusted with the legal issues (if any) as that that contractor has been complying with the law.

3. Liability Insurance. 
You cannot plan out everything happened in a construction site. If you contractor does not have proper insurance and injuries accidentally occur, especially on your property, you might be held liability to the incidents. Hence, before everything started, you may need to do two things: (1) consult the local authority for the appropriate amount of liability insurance, and (2) examine if your contractor hold proper compensation insurance, and check the range that insurance cover when accidents happen.

4. Work-scope. 

There are numerous subtle works need to be done in an office renovation. Hence, before the renovation begins, you have to take some time list down everything, as detailed as possible for the contractor to grasp your expectations. This is the most ideal approach to get everyone on a same page in an agreement. If your interior designer and contractor are from the same interior renovation services provider firm, then this “agreement” might not be a big deal. Otherwise, you need to make sure that your interior renovation designer and contractor have some necessary communication to revise the designer detailed plans on works and date so that you may have someone to take the responsibility in case the final deliverables are not quite matched with your expectations. Thus, for the sake of your renovation project, if possible, you may want to use the full services of interior renovation to avoid any miscommunication between the interior renovation and the contractor.

5. Exclusions. 

A decent contract should also incorporate a checklist of exclusions – things that fall out of each party’s responsibility. Some of the items might be obvious, but some might not be visible until the renovation work (firstly, the destruction work) initiate. One of the things that bring heating argument to the contractor and client in any renovation project is the level of cleaning after the all the work has finished, so discuss this matter carefully. If there is any probability of finding asbestos behind the walls, consult your constructor. Even if he cannot tell for sure, but he has experience and may help you arrange contingency financial plan.

Initial agreement on the level of cleaning might help you avoid unnecessary conflict after the work is done

6. Timeline. 

Although renovation projects often take longer time to complete than anticipated for certain justifiable reasons, you still have to state the expected duration in the contract. This is a guarantee that even when you may not see your contractor regularly, the project still has to be completed on time. Thus even if you see that the progress is slow at some point, or delayed some time due to unavoidable incidents, you still can keep the proposed duration in the contract as a reference and adjust it to your situation.

7. Installments schedule. 

There is no standard schedule for such payments. All parties involved in the project should together come up with the most agreeable timeline for these payments. Here at Trends Interior, we recommend that installments are better paid at the end of each project’s milestone rather than completion percentages as it can also be a benchmark to what have both parties achieved so far in the project progress. However, as long as this payment terms are stated clearly the contract and you do not feel like you are paying significantly more than what you expect for the services, you can rest assure.

8. Warranty. 

The standard warranty for office renovation work is one (1) year from the official completion date. If you follow tips number 1 above and check the address your contractor put in the contract carefully, then you will know where to find him when something goes wrong.

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Source: Trends Interior.