Look at the estimate and mentally add half. Why does the repair always go beyond the budget? How to avoid direct deception? We interviewed specialists and found out the most common schemes of fraud. The spontaneity and unpredictability of Russian repair became proverbs and sayings. Price per square has long been measured not only in money, but also in nerve cells. Neighbors relay each other's phone numbers to good people, later to spread their hands: how can such be advised? We suspect the workers of all mortal sins at once - they "pay" us by a breakdown in terms and quality. To save your money, nerves and a human attitude towards people who work for you, you need to know what is really to be feared and what to control. 
1. Estimates
Judge by the result, and not by promise. In the market there is a crisis and intense competition, and therefore, for an approximate price per meter written on the site or sounded after a quick survey of the front of the work, one should not orient oneself. In most cases, the estimate is written in order for the client to accept it, and not to understand what is waiting for it. The details are revealed already during the work, when it is not so easy to change the team and the contractor. 
Anton Elistratov, an expert in interior design: - Do not trust the average price per meter, it will be difficult for you to keep track of what will actually come into it. Then you will necessarily be "divorced" for additional work. Ask to paint everything in stages, find out all the details: what kind of stage and what works involves. Discuss the price for each and the deadlines. Discuss your requirements - where you need a very high-quality work, and where you can save and you will be satisfied with the average result. For example, you need to level the walls, but in one of the rooms a significant part will go under the built-in closet - there is no ideal accuracy, accordingly, the material can go less. And so on. 
Mikhail Egiyan, architect:- If the price for the work is very democratic, this is already a reason to be wary. Most often, this means that people are planning to make money on something else. One of the most common ways is to use cheaper rough materials than planned. Even at the stage of acquaintance, insist that the estimate indicates all the materials that will be used, with brands and prices, and their volume. Then, in case of doubt, it will be easier for you to insist that you are right. In the process of repair, it is difficult for a non-professional to distinguish one kind of plaster, brick or concrete from another, especially since many well-known and good manufacturers have "budget" lines designed for sale in the construction markets, and anything can be written on the invoice or receipt. Such a replacement can greatly affect the quality of work. People who are faced with construction for the first time, as a rule, do not understand this. Therefore, those who make their second or third repair mostly come to me. They understand that the price, painted for all types of work with deadlines and necessary materials, will be as close to the final price as possible. And it is much more difficult to go beyond such an estimate. torard.ru 
2. Rough work
Materials - the main "pain point""master-foreman" relationship. It is necessary to understand that most contractors and superintendents necessarily have some personal relationships with suppliers and sellers, which means that there is scope for all sorts of frauds. If the volume of purchase is quite large, then the benefits for both parties can amount to substantial amounts. 
Mito Melitonyan, architect:- I had a case when I was invited to a construction site as an independent technical consultant, and I quite carefully made measurements in the "weak points". When I noticed a discrepancy with the project, I was not too lazy to take control measurements on several floors in different places of the building. It turned out that the thickness of the interfloor floors was 230 mm instead of 250, as was laid down in the project. Outwardly, it was imperceptible, but I noticed that the thickness of the ceiling is suspiciously small in those places where ventilation holes were made along the entire height of the building. It turned out that the contractor did not fill up the floors for 4,000 m3 of concrete, which significantly affected the bearing capacity of the structures. You can imagine the amount of theft yourself. melitonyan.com 
Of course, there is so much to be renovated in an ordinary apartmentyou will not earn. But even here there are options: from completely harmless discounts for wholesale supplies to friends who will knock out a check for any amount. Matvey, foreman from Moldova: - Draft materials are about a third of our earnings. It is best if the owner trusts you with the purchase. Most people only come with us to get material for the first time. You come to a large store, you look at the price, you say that you know people who have everything the same, for example, cheaper by 1,000 rubles. You go where you need to buy at a good price. The owner remains satisfied and no longer interferes with your work. Then you buy everything yourself. The main thing is not to get impudent, then everything will be fine. 
Specialists should be checked especially carefully,which lead several objects at once. They have the opportunity to write out a purchase for one object, and deliver it in three. Anton Elistratov, interior design expert: - The worst thing in this case is if, instead of purchasing new material, you are brought unused leftovers from previous repairs at old facilities. Check the release date and expiration date - it is written on the packaging. Otherwise, you may end up with caked plaster or paint that has frozen over the winter in the warehouse. And this will have a very serious impact on the result. 
3. Hidden works
Each of the repair steps must be completedcheck carefully and personally. This is especially true for everything that is "sewn up", "poured" and laid in the floor, walls and ceiling. Solving problems that may arise later will be much more expensive. Mito Melitonyan, architect: - For example, the project contains one category and cross-section of wires, but in fact another wire is laid, and it can only be measured with a special device by checking the resistance of the wiring. This is calculated "at a time", the main thing is to know what you are looking for. The wires must be crimped, but it happens that the contractor "forgets" to do this. The same applies to waterproofing, soundproofing, fittings and everything else that is poured with concrete immediately after installation, hiding behind drywall, and no one else ever sees it. melitonyan.com 
Mikhail Egiyan, architect:- Do not save yourself and diligently check your workers during this kind of work. Underfloor heating that goes under the tiles, pipes that are difficult or impossible to reach must be of high quality, wires of the exact brand and quantity that you ordered, and diluted by a competent specialist exactly as required by technology. Otherwise, you will have to rotate half of the room to fix the wiring. To save money, low-cost performers are often hired to carry out individual jobs. This is also a subject for discussion at the very beginning of our acquaintance: are there specialists in all areas of work, are they competent enough to do what is planned in your design project. torard.ru Do not be lazy and do not hesitate to experimentally check waterproofing, pressure testing, pipe joints and underfloor heating. For newly built partitions and derived corners, there are protractors and rules. This is a simple tool that any consultant at a hardware store will teach you to use. 
4. Finishing
We treat fine finishing muchmore carefully, therefore, there are much fewer cases of abuse of trust. There are many more examples of common incompetence. For outright fraud, we sometimes give reasons ourselves. Andrey, a foreman from the Moscow region: - To say that you cannot do something, if it is not an electrician, of course, is not worth it - you will be left without clients. The most common option is when I do not have the right specialist at hand, but the owner needs it urgently, and he does not want to wait for my man to be free. Then I am urgently looking for someone who will do it quickly and cheaply. And we'll see there. Sometimes it happens that the tiler glues the wallpaper or lays the floorboard according to the instructions for the material. The result is appropriate ... Well, I also know a case, it was not with me, but in the neighborhood. The guys replaced the client's old, but very good German plumbing, which began to leak, with a new one assembled in China. The renovation was very economical, in a small apartment. In the mind, it was not worth changing anything: any plumber from the housing office would fix this toilet in half an hour. The German, of course, was taken away. They told later that she herself suggested, because she was making noise all the time. I decided it was broken. 
"I can, boss!"- the most common guest response from the near abroad to any professional question. In practice this, of course, is far from the case. Therefore, ordering a rare or expensive finishing material, find out from the seller whether there is an instruction for the workers, whether any demonstration master classes are held. If the technology is really complicated, think about not risking and inviting experts from the firm. 
Hiring a brigade from near abroad, havemind another not very common, but possible option. It happens that after taking the prepayment from you, people leave for their homeland, leaving you both without repair, and without money. In most such cases, the police will not give you anything, even if you have an official agreement. If you are planning a serious construction with a large amount of work, if you have doubts or suspicions that you can not prove - think about an independent examination. 
Mito Melitonyan, architect:- The customer needs to have an independent person who can supervise and control the construction process, if he does not have the time or desire to do it himself. It is more difficult to negotiate with an independent controller if he has a certain financial motivation, and having such a person, if not saving, will at least save money and allow you to get the highest quality product that is fully operational. melitonyan.com 
So, what to do to protect yourself from fraud:
