How to choose a reliable contractor
You rarely spot a reliable contractor from a website. You spot one from how they work: they look at the job before naming a price, they put agreements in writing, and their business can be checked. In Amsterdam there is one extra test — a firm that regularly works in old buildings will start asking about the joists, the building association and how materials will get upstairs before you have finished describing the job.
What to check before letting anyone in
Start with who you are actually dealing with. Does this person work for a registered business, and is that the same business that will issue the invoice? Ask for the company name as it appears in the trade register and look it up yourself. Do not take any registration or tax number at face value without checking it against the official source. Ask whether there is liability insurance covering the work, and on larger jobs whether subcontractors will be used and who carries responsibility for them.
Then look at the kind of work the firm normally does. A specialist in finishing new-build apartments is not automatically the right party for an 1890 canal-side property with a timber joist floor and walls that are visibly out of true. Ask for references from comparable buildings and, if possible, photographs taken during the work rather than only of the finished result.
The stages from first contact to signed job
The sequence is almost always the same. A short call or message in which you describe the work. A site visit, because a price for an old building given without one is guesswork. A written quotation split by element, stating what is excluded. Your questions, and where needed a revised quotation. Only then a signed agreement with a start date, a schedule and staged payments.
Use the site visit to ask about what cannot be seen. In a home built before 1994 a good contractor raises suspected asbestos without prompting: it must be surveyed by a certified assessor and removed by a certified abatement company. Never by you, never as a favour by the builder on site. The same principle applies to anything structural — a wall should not be opened or removed until a structural engineer has judged whether it is load-bearing. A firm that waves this away has told you what you needed to know.
What actually drives the price
Price differences between firms rarely mean much on their own; they usually reflect different assumptions about the work. The main drivers are the condition of the substrate, the volume of demolition and preparation, the standard of finish you want, and whether the work happens while you keep living there.
In Amsterdam the building itself adds more. A narrow staircase or a shared entrance determines how large a sheet or a bathtub can be and whether anything has to be hoisted through a window. A skip or a lift on the street means a municipal permit or a road closure. Work touching the façade, window frames or risers falls under the building association, which adds lead time. Also look at the unit each line is priced in: square metres for plastering and tiling, linear metres for skirtings, per item for installations, hourly for unpredictable repair work.
Questions to ask before you sign
- Which registered business name will invoice me?
- Is there liability insurance, and what does it cover?
- Who will be on site day to day, and who is my single point of contact?
- Do you use your own people or rotating subcontractors?
- What is the schedule, and what happens if it slips?
- How is extra work recorded, and at what point do I approve it?
- What guarantee do you give on the work, and is it written into the agreement?
- Can you give me a reference address for a comparable property?
Common mistakes
The best known is choosing on lowest price. A cheap quotation usually contains less preparation, and that difference reappears later as extra work. Compare the line items, not the totals.
Second: paying a large deposit. Staged payment is normal; paying everything up front is not. Always keep a final instalment open until after handover.
Third: arranging everything verbally because the conversation went well. Confirm even small changes by email. And fourth: skipping the building association. Consent for shared structure, façade, window frames and risers is arranged before work starts, and a listed or protected building needs a further approval route. Undoing finished work is the most expensive outcome available.
Frequently asked questions
How many firms should I invite?
Two or three. That is enough to see whether they share assumptions about the scope. More quotations rarely produce more insight.
Is a contractor without a website unreliable?
No. Plenty of good small firms run entirely on word of mouth. What matters is verifiable registration, insurance, and a written quotation.
What if the work goes badly during the job?
Raise it in writing straight away, with photographs, and ask for it to be put right within a concrete deadline. Do not keep releasing instalments while a defect is unresolved.
Should I inspect the work at handover?
Walk the job with a snagging list and record outstanding points in writing before paying the final instalment. On a major renovation an independent building surveyor is usually worth the fee.