Bathroom Renovation Quotation in Singapore: What to Compare Line by Line Before You Choose a Contractor

Pictured above: a finished bathroom with a white countertop basin, brass tap, arched mirror and louvred door, from our project archive (C05).

You have three bathroom quotes on the table. One is a single line, "bathroom renovation, full set, lump sum". One runs to a page. One is cheaper than the other two by a margin that makes you nervous. The question is rarely "who is cheapest". It is "are these three quotes pricing the same job?" Usually they are not, and the differences sit in lines that are easy to miss.

This guide is for the homeowner choosing between bathroom renovation contractors in Singapore. It uses only what we publish on our bathroom renovation page, and tells you what to ask where a figure is not published.

Start with the range, so you know when a number is odd

Our published guide gives an HDB bathroom, common or master, at $5,000 to $12,000, with a full hack-and-retile including new toilet, basin, mixer, shower, vanity and waterproofing typically between $7,000 and $10,000. Master bathrooms with rain showers and double basins sit at the higher end. A condo bathroom is $8,000 to $20,000 and a landed bathroom $10,000 to $25,000 and up.

A range is not a price, and it is not a promise that your quote will land inside it. What it does is tell you when to ask a question. A quote far under the range for a full hack-and-retile has either left something out or priced something thinner. A quote far over it should be able to tell you which line is carrying the extra.

The lines a bathroom quote should show separately

Our quotations itemise six things separately: the waterproofing, the tile cost per square metre, the sanitaryware, the vanity, the accessories and the labour. You can compare any other quote against that list. If a line is missing, ask whether it is included or simply not mentioned.

• Hacking and removal. The old tiles, sanitaryware, fixtures and false ceiling coming out, and the debris leaving the flat. Our process removes hacking debris daily, so the unit does not sit with rubble for weeks. Ask how often the debris goes and who pays for disposal.
• Waterproofing. This is the line to read most closely. Our specification is two coats of approved membrane on the full floor and 1.5m up the wet walls, followed by a 24-hour ponding test before any tiling begins. Ask for the coats, the height up the wall and the test, in writing, on every quote.
• Floor and gradient. Old HDB bathrooms often have too little floor slope and a clogged trap. Hacking down to the slab, re-screeding to a proper 1:80 gradient and replacing the floor trap is the right way. Skimming over the old surface is not. If one quote has no screeding line at all, ask what happens to the floor.
• Tiling. Floor-to-ceiling tiling is standard in our scope. Half-height tiling leaves the walls behind the basin and shower exposed to splashes. Check whether a quote says floor-to-ceiling, and check the tile price per square metre. A low lump sum often hides a low tile allowance.
• Plumbing and electrical. Moving the toilet, shower or basin means re-routing the SP and SW pipes within the screed. A water heater, instant heater wiring, a bidet spray and the pressure test all belong here. If you are keeping every fixture where it is, the quote should say so and be lower for it.
• Sanitaryware. Named brand and model, or "provisional sum"? We recommend mid-range brands such as the entry lines of Grohe, Roca and Hansgrohe over the cheapest options, because a cheap mixer or toilet is the one place where saving a little now costs more in replacement labour later. Ask for the brand by name.
• Vanity, mirror and accessories. Our vanity cabinets are built in our own Singapore carpentry factory, sized to your bathroom, with waterproof construction. Ask any other contractor who builds theirs, what it is made of, and whether the mirror cabinet, towel rail and shower screen are in the number.
• False ceiling, lighting and ventilation. Moisture-resistant gypsum ceiling, concealed wiring and an exhaust fan. Ventilation matters more than it looks: without an exhaust fan ducted to the outside, and not just into the ceiling cavity, mould tends to appear on grout, ceilings and silicone within a year.
• Permit and approvals. In an HDB flat, hacking, plumbing alteration and electrical works need a renovation permit, and the contractor files it. In a condo, MCST approval comes before any hacking. Ask who applies and whether it is in the price.

Where the cheap quote usually saves its money

If one quote is well below the others, the saving is usually in one of four places, and you can ask about each in a single message.

1. The ponding test is quietly dropped. Some contractors waterproof and tile in the same week to compress the schedule. If the membrane has a pinhole, you only find out years later when water seeps into the unit below. A 24-hour test costs a day on the schedule, which is why it is the first thing to go when a contractor is trying to be fast or cheap.
2. The floor is re-used. Re-using the existing trap and floor gradient saves hacking and screeding. It also keeps the problem you were renovating to get rid of.
3. The tiles are only half-height. Less tile, less labour. The walls left bare behind the basin and shower discolour and crack within three to five years in our experience.
4. The fittings are the cheapest on offer. Not wrong in itself, but then the quote should name them, so you are comparing like with like.

The timeline is a line item too

A typical bathroom remodel takes 2 to 4 weeks per bathroom. If you are renovating more than one bathroom in a single project, they usually run in parallel without extending the overall duration much. Our published sequence for one bathroom runs hacking, then plumbing and electrical re-routing, then waterproofing, then the 24-hour ponding test, then screed and tiling, then sanitaryware, vanity and mirror, and finally the false ceiling, lighting, cleaning and handover.

Ask each contractor for their own sequence with dates. A contractor whose sequence has no gap for the ponding test between waterproofing and tiling is telling you something about the quote. If you live in the flat and it has only one bathroom, the sequence is also your plan for where the household showers, so ask before you sign, not after hacking has started.

Working hours you should know before you compare timelines

HDB allows renovation work 9am to 6pm on weekdays and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays, with no work on Sundays or public holidays. Condos are usually stricter: common conditions include weekday-only working hours, a deposit and noise restrictions, so read your MCST house rules. A contractor who promises a schedule that cannot fit inside these hours has not read them.

A side-by-side you can do in ten minutes

Make a table with one column per quote and one row for each item above. Mark each cell as "named", "included but vague" or "not mentioned". Anything "not mentioned" gets one question to the contractor. The quote that answers all of them clearly, with the waterproofing and ponding test in writing, is usually the one to take forward, even if it is not the cheapest.

If you want the broader method for any quotation, our guide on how to read and compare renovation quotations covers the whole-flat version. For the single-room case, see renovating one bathroom on its own, and for the test that proves the waterproofing, the ponding test and what to ask before tiling.

The short version

• Published guide: $5,000 to $12,000 for an HDB bathroom, typically $7,000 to $10,000 for a full hack-and-retile. Use it to spot an odd number, not to expect a price.
• A bathroom quote should itemise waterproofing, tile per square metre, sanitaryware, vanity, accessories and labour.
• Waterproofing: two coats, full floor and 1.5m up the wet walls, then a 24-hour ponding test before tiling. Get it in writing.
• Ask about the floor gradient and the trap, floor-to-ceiling tiling, named sanitaryware and a ducted exhaust fan.
• Typical timeline is 2 to 4 weeks per bathroom, and the schedule should show the ponding test as its own gap.

We are an HDB Licensed Renovation Contractor, HB-09-5667H. Want a bathroom quoted line by line? WhatsApp us on 9107 2601 with your property type, estate and which bathroom it is, and attach photos of the room. Full scope and pricing is on our bathroom renovation page.