A site visit that produces a useful quotation takes about an hour. One that produces a vague number takes fifteen minutes, and that is usually because the owner had nothing ready. Twenty minutes of preparation changes the quality of every quotation you receive afterwards.

## Have these ready

The floor plan. Even the developer's sales brochure layout helps. For a landed property, any drawings you were given at purchase.

A written list of what you want done, room by room. Not a mood board — a list. "Master bathroom: full rebuild including relocating the shower" is actionable. "Make it nicer" is not.

Your budget range. Owners hide this believing it prevents overcharging. It does the opposite: without a range, contractors design to their own assumption and you get three quotes pitched at three different specifications, none comparable.

Your timing constraints. Move-in date, tenancy expiry, festive deadline, a baby due.

Access to everything. The roof space, the electrical board, under the sinks, the rear yard. What a contractor cannot see, they price as a guess or exclude entirely.

## What a good contractor will do on the visit

Measure rather than eyeball. Open the distribution board. Look into the ceiling space. Check where the drainage runs. Ask about the building's age and any past leaks. Ask what you dislike about the current layout, not just what you want to add.

If someone walks through in ten minutes, takes no measurements and promises a quote tomorrow, the quote will be a placeholder that changes once work starts.

## Questions worth asking them

Who supervises the site day to day, and how often are they there. What is the current workload. Can you see a project of similar size in progress. What in this scope worries them. That last question is the most revealing one you can ask — an experienced contractor always has an answer.

## After the visit

Ask for the quotation to follow your written scope, itemised, with exclusions stated. If all three contractors price your list rather than their own interpretation, you can compare them honestly.

## Talk to CRITANS — Free Preliminary Consultation

CRITANS Building Services is a CIDB-registered general contractor (0120231107-SL127438) based in Ampang, Selangor, serving Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley. We handle residential, commercial, retail, hospitality, industrial and educational projects end to end.

Send us your floor plan, photos or a rough idea and we will come back with a realistic scope and budget. Consultation is completely free.

WhatsApp us now: +6016-610 4189

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