[Decoration contract pitfall avoidance needle] Don’t be dazzled by beautiful pictures! Why do the "design contract" and the "engineering contract" have to be signed separately? Analysis of the valuation form rejecting the "one-size-fits-all" anti-pit clause

Double Traps in Decoration Contracts: Why are two-in-one contracts easily trapped?

In the greater Taipei area, many homeowners often hear sales pitches like this when negotiating with interior designers: "As long as you sign our two-in-one design and engineering contract today, we can directly waive your design fee, or fully offset the design fee against the project cost." It sounds like a very good deal, but this is often the beginning of a decoration tragedy. When a homeowner binds design and construction to the same contract, once the design drawings are released, he discovers that the design details are not to his liking, or that the price on the project estimate is ridiculously high and far exceeds the budget. If the homeowner wants to change the construction team, he will find that because the contract is bound, if he unilaterally terminates the contract, he must pay sky-high liquidated damages of up to 10% - 20% of the total project price. This contract mechanism will cause the homeowner to lose his bargaining power and choice, and become a lamb waiting to be slaughtered. Therefore, signing the "design contract" and the "engineering contract" separately is the golden rule to avoid decoration pitfalls.

Physical hedging mechanism: Why must the "design contract" and "engineering contract" be signed separately?

Signing contracts separately is essentially using "phased acceptance" to establish a physical hedging mechanism between the homeowner and the designer:
1. Maintain the freedom to change work shifts at any time (firewall): When signing a "design contract", what the homeowner pays to purchase is the designer's "intelligent property rights to the drawings." When the design contract is completed and the designer delivers a full set of construction drawings (including plan, elevation, water, electricity, and ceiling drawings), the design contract ends. At this time, the homeowner has the right to hold this complete set of design drawings and find 2-3 other legal turnkey decoration companies for "open price comparison." If the original designer's project quotation is reasonable, he can naturally sign a "project contract" and hand it over to him for construction; if the quotation is higher than the market price, the homeowner can also change the turnkey team without the risk of default.
2. Compulsory completeness of drawings (drawing specifications): When design and construction are bound, designers often omit detailed construction drawings on the grounds that "we will see to it on site." When signing separately, because the homeowner paid the design fee, the contract will stipulate that the designer must deliver a complete inventory of drawings (including at least: demolition drawings, partition drawings, ceiling drawings, lighting control drawings, water and electricity circuit diagrams, woodwork and iron facade drawings). The more detailed the drawings, the more accurate the project estimate will be, and the better it will be to prevent disguised additional budgets during the construction period.

The key to preventing pitfalls in the estimate sheet: reject any "one-size-fits-all" vague pricing

When signing a project contract, the most critical attachment is the "project estimate sheet". Many bad design companies often write vague words such as "living room ceiling project: NT$ 95,000 per unit", "kitchen water and electricity project: NT$ 75,000 per unit" on the estimate sheet. When the homeowner finds that there are not enough sockets during the construction period and requests more sockets, the designer will declare that "the original model only contains three basic sockets, and additional fees will be charged."
A compliant estimate must list the following four elements:
1. For example, "ceiling calcium silicate board fire-proof primer (Japanese Lux does not contain asbestos)".
2. It must be measured in specific physical units such as "ping", "meter (m)", "piece" or "branch" to avoid "one type".
3. Listed in detail are "TaiDian (Pacific Electric Wire and Cable) 2.0mm single-core wire" and "Nanya flame-proof CD tube 4-piece tube".
4. List the unit price of each unit of continuous work and materials, so that when there are subsequent increases or decreases in items, the excess will be refunded and the less will be compensated directly based on the unit price.

Shuangbei design fees, project supervision fees and delay penalty prices

In Shuangbei area, the reasonable cost distribution of selecting legal designers is as follows:
* Depending on the designer’s reputation and qualifications, the reasonable price is about NT$ 4,000 to NT$ 10,000 / square meter. If the price is less than NT$ 3,000, the homeowner must be wary of whether the other party will add a hidden bonus to the subsequent project payment.
* The designer is responsible for on-site process deployment, material inspection and photography records. The reasonable price is about 5% to 10% of the total project cost.
* The contract must state that "if it is not a natural disaster or a change in design, the construction party shall pay the owner as liquidated damages for each day overdue." Taking a project worth RMB 3 million as an example, a penalty of NT$ 3,000 will be imposed if the project is overdue for one day. This penalty can effectively encourage designers to complete the project on time and prevent delays in the construction period.

Commercial acquisitions and businessmen’s long-term asset thinking: Separate contracting is the key control point to control renovation costs and exit mechanisms

For real estate commercial investors who specialize in Flip (buy-renovate-sell) or lease management of old houses in Shuangbei, Businessmen's modification projects pursue extremely cost-effective building materials and extremely short construction days. If a two-in-one contract is signed, the businessman's funds will be completely limited by the construction quotation of a single designer, and he will not be able to introduce outsourced work classes for cost optimization, which will directly lower the IRR of the project. When operating asset reorganization, businessmen should pay a fee to entrust a professional designer to issue standard construction drawings, and then bid the drawings to their long-term, lower-cost hydroelectric cement contractor (turnkey contractor) for construction at wholesale cost. This refined management thinking of separating contract signing and valuation orders is a golden control point for businessmen to accurately control financial budgets, prevent construction delays, and prevent litigation disputes in real estate development.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs' latest "Regulations on Consumer Electrical Equipment Installation" and the key points of electricity safety in old houses

Due to the popularity of high-power household appliances (such as air fryers, microwave ovens, dishwashers, instantaneous electric water heaters, and IH furnaces) in recent years, the Energy Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs has revised the "Regulations on Consumer Electrical Equipment Installation" many times to strictly require the diversion and protection mechanisms of residential electricity circuits. Statistics show that more than 30% of building fires in Taiwan are caused by electrical factors, among which "old wire insulation deteriorates and short circuits", "socket contacts are oxidized and loose, poor contact" and "non-fuse switch (NFB) overloaded and failed to trip" are the three main fatal causes.

Old apartments in Shuangbei that are more than 30 years old have a total original designed power capacity of only 30A to 40A, and several rooms often share the same 1.6mm or 2.0mm circuit. In the modern standard safety configuration, kitchen electrical cabinets, bathroom equipment, and air-conditioning and heating machines must all be equipped with 5.5mm² dedicated circuits (single circuit and single socket). It is recommended that the main switch box be upgraded to a busbar (Busbar) integrated distribution board, and the total amperage is increased to 75A or 100A (a qualified electrical appliance contractor needs to be entrusted to Taipower to review the additional power capacity).

Residential electricity self-test and regular inspection checklist

• Appearance and temperature of the socket: Touch the outer cover of the commonly used socket lightly with the back of your hand. If it feels lukewarm or if you find that the plastic socket is yellowed and charred, or the plug is loose and shaking after being plugged in, it means that the internal copper plate clamping force is exhausted or the contact resistance is too high, and you should immediately cut off the power and replace it.
• Regular testing of leakage circuit breakers (ELCB): For leakage circuit breakers in humid places such as balconies, bathrooms, and kitchen sinks, regulations require that the "TEST button" on the switch be pressed once every 1 to 3 months to confirm that it can automatically trip and cut off the power supply instantly.
• Serial connection and overloading of extension cords are strictly prohibited: Extension cords should be purchased with 2.0mm thick wire diameter products that have CNS certification and automatic overload power-off protection. Do not share the same extension cord with high energy-consuming appliances to ensure zero hidden danger to life and property at home.