Whole-Flat Renovation Packages in Hong Kong: What They Include, What They Leave Out, and How to Compare

• What is a renovation package? A fixed rate, by floor area or by flat type, for a set list of work. The rate is built on assumptions: a flat of a certain size and condition, the layout unchanged, standard materials, set quantities. It stays fixed only while your flat matches them.
• Who does a package suit? Usually a newer flat, a standard brief and a layout you are keeping. Some basic packages are offered only for newly completed bare-shell flats.
• What should I ask first? Three things. What is the quantity behind each item (how many electrical points, how many feet of cabinet)? Which materials am I expected to buy myself? What happens to the price if the site visit, or the work, finds something the package did not assume?
• Package or design and build? A package prices a standard flat; a designed job prices yours. If you are changing the layout, adding a lot of built-in joinery or renovating an older flat, a tailored quotation is usually the steadier route, as our renovation cost guide also says.

The rest of this guide goes through each in full.

A package turns a renovation into a product with a price tag. The pages we read set the price in one of three ways: by flat type or household size, by square foot, or as a starting figure that is confirmed only after a free site measurement. One "whole-flat package" turned out to be furniture only, a TV cabinet, wardrobes and beds by number of bedrooms, with no building work at all, which is the first reason to read the item list before the headline. Behind every package are assumptions about the flat. The clearest example we found is a basic package, offered by several firms in almost the same words, that applies only to public and Home Ownership Scheme flats completed after 2015 and handed over as bare shells; older flats are quoted after a site visit instead. Another firm's page says plainly that its new-flat package should not be applied directly to an old flat. The assumptions matter because the price is fixed only while they hold. Five of the seven pages we read say in their own fine print that the final price is the one on the quotation issued after the site visit, set by the flat's actual condition, the scope of work, the materials, the number of electrical points, the furniture sizes and any items added. That is not a trick; it is how a package has to work. It does mean the advertised figure is a starting point, not the total.

The seven pages with building work listed broadly the same trades. What differs is the quantity, and most packages limit almost everything by a count.

• Electrical. Capped by the number of points. One basic package sets the count by household size; another includes a fixed number of points plus a new consumer unit; a third says "designated points" with no number.
• Cabinets and joinery. Capped by linear feet. A five-foot kitchen wall cabinet appears on four pages; others give a set length of base cabinet, a short bathroom mirror cabinet, or furniture sized by household. One page says cabinets made longer or deeper are charged by the foot.
• Partitions. Usually one new room, in brick or board, sometimes with a stated maximum wall length.
• Plumbing. Only one package re-pipes the whole flat in concealed pipes. The rest move the sink and washing-machine drain, or install new taps, and leave the pipes as they are.
• Tiling and flooring. Two pages tile the kitchen and bathroom walls and floors. For the living room, three pages say the floor price covers the base work but not the tiles.
• Painting. On every page, often with a named paint. The basic packages paint the walls only; the ceiling is excluded.
• Ceilings. An aluminium false ceiling in the kitchen and bathroom, with two LED lights, on three pages.
• Doors and windows. One door in the basic packages, two or three in the design tiers. Only one package replaces the windows.
• Design. Four pages offer drawings, from free design to 3D renderings after signing.
• Rubbish and cleaning. Usually one clearance at the end of the job; one page clears rubbish throughout and includes a basic clean.
• Warranty and insurance. One year on workmanship and third-party and labour insurance appear on three pages each.

None of this is unreasonable. It simply means that "the whole flat" in a package is a defined list of quantities, and the questions are whether your flat and your plans fit inside them.

The fine print on the same pages is where the total is decided. These are the exclusions we saw, with how often:

• Materials you buy yourself. Three pages say the floor price excludes the tiles; one lists tiles, doors, door locks, lights and sanitary ware as items the client buys. Another adds that the quantity, wastage and delivery timing of client-bought materials are the client's responsibility.
• Work outside the package. One page lists demolition, moving water or electrical points, built-in furniture, false ceilings, aluminium windows, air-conditioning and glass partitions as separate items that can be added to the same quotation.
• The building's own costs. No page includes handling the management office's renovation application or its deposit. One lists the building deposit, the rubbish disposal fee and set working hours as costs or arrangements outside the package.
• Things found on site. One page is unusually frank: a ceiling that is peeling badly or has leaked must be scraped back before painting, as a separate item; warped or swollen doors are extra; a floor that is lifting, blackened or sounds hollow should be replaced rather than covered; ageing angle valves are a small plumbing extra; and in an old flat, leaks or aged pipes found once a wall is opened have to be fixed at the source first.
• Upgrades. Some pages offer upgrades, better taps, wood-look tiles, a different door handle, without saying what they cost.
• The site visit. One firm charges a measurement fee, refunded once the work is confirmed.
• The warranty. One page notes that its warranty covers workmanship, not normal wear or materials the client bought.
• The catch-all. "Other items cannot all be listed."

The Consumer Council found the same pattern in its 2020 test of renovation quotations (CHOICE issue 529): of eleven contractors asked to quote for a 400 sq ft flat, only two gave fairly detailed quotes, five did not state the cost per switch or socket and seven did not say how many coats of paint. A package that is silent on a quantity is not necessarily hiding anything, but it leaves the number to be settled later, when you have less room to say no.

Most extras on a package come from the gap between the flat the package assumed and the flat that is opened up. In Hong Kong the gap is usually in the same places. Old water pipes. The Water Supplies Department prohibited unlined galvanised iron pipes for fresh water in new buildings and in replumbing from December 1995, so a flat in an older building may still have them. Replumbing needs the department's approval before the work starts, and the application is made by a licensed plumber; most work on the water supply inside a flat must be done by one, except work of a minor nature. A package that only "installs new taps" assumes the pipes behind them are fine. Old wiring. The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department's rule is that new, added or altered wiring must be inspected and tested by a registered electrical worker before it is switched on, after which a Work Completion Certificate (Form WR1) is issued, which the owner should keep. The department adds that the condition of old cables cannot be judged by eye. A package that caps the number of points, and says nothing of the consumer unit or the WR1, is pricing new points on top of whatever wiring is already there. Water from above. Since 16 July 2026 the Joint Office's new procedures give the flat above 28 days to inspect and repair the seepage source, and owners must remove obstructions, such as a false ceiling, that hide the seepage. A leak found during the work becomes a separate item and a delay; one package page says outright that the source has to be fixed first. Our water seepage guide covers the procedure. Walls, ceilings and floors. Uneven or hollow surfaces, peeling ceilings and swollen doors are the site conditions that package fine print most often turns into extras, and the Consumer Council's 2020 test noted possible surcharges for stripping old paint. Layout changes. The Buildings Department treats plastering, tiling and replacing sanitary fitments as exempted works, and removing a non-structural wall as exempted too, provided fire safety rules are still met; structural walls need the department's approval. Moving water or electrical points is an extra on the package pages, and most packages include one new partition at most. The building's rules. The Environmental Protection Department notes that house rules can require a renovation permit, set working hours and waste arrangements, and let management hold a deposit and deduct compensation for breaches. None of that is in a package price. Our old-flat renovation guide covers pipes, spalling and wiring in older buildings in more detail.

Neither route is right for every flat, and it is worth being honest about the trade-off. A package can work well when:

• the flat is new or recently completed, and its pipes and wiring do not need replacing;
• you are keeping the layout, or adding at most one simple partition;
• your brief is standard: tiling, flooring, painting, a kitchen and a few wardrobes in the package sizes;
• you are happy to choose from the package's materials, or to buy the tiles, lights and fittings yourself.

A designed job (design and build, or a designer plus a separate contractor) usually fits better when:

• the flat is older, and the pipes, wiring, walls or windows are likely to need work;
• you are changing the layout: opening the kitchen, moving a bathroom, removing or adding walls;
• you want a lot of built-in joinery, sized to the room rather than to a package length;
• the flat has rules of its own, as a Home Ownership Scheme flat does;
• the household has needs a standard plan does not meet, such as an elderly parent, small children or working from home.

The trade-off is time. A designed job measures the flat, draws it and specifies it before the price is fixed, which takes weeks; a package can start sooner. What you get for the time is a price built on your flat rather than on an assumed one. For a fuller view of the scope decision, see our guide to full or partial renovation.

A package quote and a designed quote are written in different shapes, which is why they are hard to compare. In the Consumer Council's 2024 study, 58% of consumers said quotations in different formats were hard to compare. The fix is to put both on the same lines.

• List the same items. Write down every trade in the designed quote and find the matching line in the package. Anything the package does not list is an extra until the contractor says otherwise in writing.
• Compare quantities, not names. Number of electrical points, linear feet of cabinet, square feet of tiling, number of doors, number of coats of paint. "Kitchen cabinets" in one quote and "five-foot wall cabinet" in another are not the same item.
• Check who supplies what. Supply and install, or install only? If you buy the tiles, sanitary ware and lights, add their cost, the wastage and your time.
• Check brands and grades. Paint, tiles, worktop, hinges and taps, by name.
• Ask what triggers a variation. Which site conditions, found later, would change the price, and how each change is priced and approved before the work is done.
• Compare the payment stages. Each payment should follow a stage of work you can see. The Consumer Council's advice is to keep the first payment to no more than 40%.
• Compare the warranty. How long, and what it excludes.
• Check the building items. Who applies to the management office, who pays the deposit, and who clears the rubbish, and how often.

Our guide to reading a renovation quotation goes through the lines one by one, and the guide to renovation contracts and payments covers what to put in writing before you pay.

Since 19 July 2013 the Trade Descriptions Ordinance (Cap. 362) has covered services as well as goods, and it prohibits a set of unfair trade practices. The Customs and Excise Department, which enforces it, describes the ones most relevant to advertised packages in its enforcement guidelines:

• False trade descriptions of services (s.7A). A trade description is any indication, direct or indirect, about the service, and the guidelines list the price and how the price is calculated among the aspects covered.
• Misleading omissions (s.13E). Omitting or hiding material information, or giving it in a way that is unclear, unintelligible, ambiguous or untimely, so that the average consumer is likely to make a decision they would not have made otherwise.
• Bait advertising (s.13G). Advertising at a specified price without reasonable grounds to believe the trader can supply at that price, in reasonable quantities, for a reasonable period. The guidelines say a disclaimer such as "while stocks last" is unlikely to be sufficient.
• Bait and switch (s.13H). Inviting purchase at a specified price and then trying to sell something different, for example by refusing to show the advertised item or showing a defective sample.

On indictment, the maximum penalty for these offences is a fine of HK$500,000 and five years' imprisonment. Whether a particular package falls foul of them depends on the facts; the packages we read set out most of their limits, in the fine print. The Consumer Council's study of the renovation industry, published on 21 February 2024, counted 1,205 home renovation complaints from 2017 to 2023, and 52% of consumers surveyed were worried about pressure to buy expensive home renovation packages or additional items. Its mystery visits found sales tactics that might have constituted false trade descriptions, bait advertising or bait and switch. Of 40 draft quotations it reviewed, all gave a lump sum, but only 38% broke down all the works, 28% gave quantities and 20% gave unit prices. Its advice: ask for the quotation or contract to be updated for any variation or added work before you commit. The Council also proposed a standard-form quotation, with labour and materials as separate items with quantities and unit prices, and a cooling-off period of at least seven days.

We quote each flat on its own, after a consultation, rather than from a package. We take on projects as design and build, with design, construction and defects handled by one team under one contract. We measure the flat and design it first; once the design is locked, we issue one lump-sum price for the build, and the procedure for variations, priced from a schedule of rates agreed in advance and signed off before the work, is written down before site work starts. Payment follows six stages of work you can see, from 10% at signing to a 5% retention released after the defects are closed, and after completion Artwill provides a 12-month workmanship warranty covering the work we carry out ourselves. A full design-and-build project usually takes 5 to 10 months. If you are weighing a package against a designed renovation, the first consultation is free, at our Wan Chai studio. Bring the floor plan, a few photos of the flat as it is, and any package quote you have; we will tell you where it is likely to hold and where it is not. Read about our renovation service, or book on WhatsApp.