A package is only as good as the lines it leaves out.
An HDB resale renovation package is priced for a flat nobody has seen yet. Here is how to read one line by line, and what to ask before you sign.
A resale renovation package bundles a fixed list of works under one headline figure: usually painting, a run of kitchen cabinets, a wardrobe, some flooring and a bathroom refresh. It is a reasonable place to start, but in a resale flat the expensive work is often undoing the last owner’s renovation and fixing what sits behind it, and that is exactly what a package tends to leave out or cap. Read it line by line for what is in, how much of it, and what is missing. If you have not walked the flat with a critical eye yet, start with our resale HDB renovation guide, which covers what to check before you buy.
What a resale package usually covers
Packages vary from firm to firm, but most are built around the visible surfaces of a flat. Expect lines for painting, kitchen cabinets of a stated length, one or two wardrobes, a flooring overlay for the living areas, and a bathroom tile overlay with new fittings. Some add a few electrical points, a false ceiling in one room or a feature wall. That is a fair outline of a new flat’s needs. It is a thinner outline of an older flat’s, because a resale unit rarely arrives as a blank slate.
Check the package you were sent
Go through the package with the list below and mark each line as you find it. The tally shows how many questions to put in writing before you sign.
Anything not listed or unclear in the package is a question to ask in writing before you sign, along with the quantity behind every line that is included.
A package is priced before anyone has seen your flat. In a resale unit, the flat is the part that decides the bill.
What a package tends to leave out
The gaps cluster around the work that only shows up once the old renovation comes off. Hacking out tired carpentry, tiles and a false ceiling is a job in its own right, and so is carrying the debris away; HDB expects your contractor to dispose of renovation debris properly, so someone has to do it and someone pays for it. Older wiring may want replacing rather than extending, and HDB asks for all electrical work to be done by an EMA-licensed electrical worker. Pipes can reveal themselves once a wall is opened. Bathroom “renewal” can mean an overlay on old waterproofing or a full hack and new membrane, and the two are very different jobs.
Then there is the paperwork. HDB requires a permit before any wall is hacked or altered, and the renovation contractor submits it with a floor plan of the proposed works. Our guide to HDB renovation permits sets out which jobs need one. Ask who applies, and whether it sits inside the package or outside it.
Quantities matter more than the item list
A line that says “kitchen cabinets” tells you almost nothing. Ask for the length in metres, the carcass and door material, and whether the top cabinets run to the ceiling. “Flooring” needs an area and a product, “electrical” needs a count of points. Without the numbers you cannot compare one package with another, and anything beyond the stated amount usually comes back as an add-on, priced on its own.
Why an itemised quote is easier to compare
An itemised quote works the other way round: it starts from the flat. At LN the quote is built row by row once we have seen the unit, with carpentry, tiling, electrical, painting, plumbing, hacking and masonry, and any layout changes each on their own row, and the project-management fee shown openly on a row of its own. Lay a package beside a quote like that and the gaps show up as missing rows. If the scope changes later, a room added or a different finish chosen, the new row is shown to you before any work begins.
Whichever route you take, compare the same scope on both sides. Our page on how a quote is built walks through each row and what moves it, and the renovation guide shows where the quote sits in the order of works.