How to choose a renovation crew and vet a contractor

Where to look

The most reliable route is through people who have seen the crew's work with their own eyes: friends after a renovation, your designer, neighbours in a building where a renovation is under way. Online reviews are useful, but they don't show what's hidden under the tiles.

If you work with a designer, ask whom they've worked with before: a designer sees crews at stage acceptance. How working with a designer goes is in Renovating with a designer: design supervision stage by stage.

Look at a site in progress

A finished renovation shows the finishes; a site in progress shows how the crew does the things you won't see later. What to look at:

• order and cleanliness - debris is removed, materials are stacked; the route's hint: a clean site speeds up the work;
• protection of common areas - whether the lift and hall are covered, if the building requires it;
• lines in the walls - neat chases, a labelled panel;
• photos - whether the contractor can show photos of hidden work from previous jobs.

Questions to ask the contractor

Good questions are ones that can't be answered with “sure, of course”. Here are a few whose answers are in the app's route:

• How do you check the pipes before they're closed in? The route's answer: a pressure test, with a photo of the gauge at the start and end of the test.
• How do you check the wiring? A continuity test doesn't detect damaged insulation - you need an insulation tester, and the readings are photographed.
• How do you dry the screed before waterproofing or flooring? Drying isn't sped up with heaters, and the moisture is measured.
• Is waterproofing needed under tiles? Yes: tiles are not waterproofing.
• Can a load-bearing wall be chased horizontally? No.
• Do you photograph hidden work? Each wall in full, a tape measure in the shot, before closing.
• Which drawings do you work from? A crew works from working drawings - the measured plan, elevations, wiring and plumbing diagrams - not from verbal arrangements.
• Who buys materials and how do you account for them? If the crew buys materials, agree on receipts.

If the contractor answers “we'll do it the usual way” and can't explain how they check their own work, that's a reason to be wary.

Estimate and schedule

Ask for an estimate by stage: what each stage includes, the quantities, the price of labour and, separately, materials. Two or three estimates for the same scope of work can be compared fairly; estimates “for roughly an apartment” can't. Ask for a schedule too: the order of the stages and how long each takes. How to read and draw up an estimate is in How to draw up a budget for an apartment renovation.

Check their status

In Russia, a contractor or crew usually works as a sole proprietor, a self-employed person or a company. You can check who you're dealing with on the Federal Tax Service website nalog.gov.ru: it has extracts from the registers of companies and sole proprietors (EGRUL and EGRIP) and a check of self-employed status by tax number (INN). Status alone doesn't guarantee quality, but it shows whom you're signing the contract with.

Contract and payment

A contract isn't a formality but something you can show if things go wrong. What to put in it - scope, deadlines, price, quality requirements, stage acceptance, warranty - is covered in The contract with a renovation crew: what to include.

Pay by stage, after acceptance: that way the advance doesn't run far ahead of the work. How to agree on it is in Paying a renovation crew by stage: how to agree and pay.

Warning signs

• they ask for a large prepayment for everything at once;
• they don't want to sign a contract;
• they name a price without seeing the property;
• “we don't need drawings, we'll sort it out on site”;
• they refuse to photograph hidden work;
• they suggest saving on waterproofing, the pressure test or the insulation test;
• they push to start before the design is approved.

Start with one stage

You don't have to hand the whole renovation to a crew at once. You can start with a small stage, such as demolition or partitions, and accept it item by item. At acceptance you'll see how the crew follows the design, photographs its work and fixes remarks. How to accept is in How to accept a crew's work stage by stage.

The crew in the app

Invite the crew leader to the property: “Profile” → “Property members” → “Invite” → the “Contractor/foreman” role → “Create code” → “Share code”. Tilers, electricians and other tradespeople are invited with the same role. The contractor doesn't see the budget or expenses.

From then on the contractor checks off the stage's items, attaches photos and taps “Send for review”, and you or the designer accept the work or write remarks. Who checked off what and when stays in “Property history”. What a contractor sees and does is in Contractor on a property: how to join and hand over a stage.

Choosing checklist

• You've seen the crew's site in progress.
• The contractor explained specifically how they check pipes, wiring, screed and waterproofing.
• There's an estimate by stage with quantities, and a schedule.
• The contractor's status is checked on the Federal Tax Service website.
• The contract is signed, and payment is by stage after acceptance.
• The first stage is accepted item by item, with photos.

Have your own experience choosing a crew, or a question this article didn't answer? Write to us.