How to choose a contractor who won't abandon the job — what to check before signing
Cases of contractors abandoning jobs happen every year, and almost all share the same pattern: paying too much upfront and not checking the contractor's background before hiring. Both can be prevented before the contract is signed
Screening: see it with your own eyes
- Ask to see a job in progress — Finished work shows skill, but an active site shows habits: how tidy the site is, how many workers are really there, and progress compared with what was promised
- Talk to at least 2 past customers — Ask directly: was the work late, were extra charges added midway, and was it hard to get them back to fix things after handover?
- Check their registration — For a company, check with the Department of Business Development (DBD): year registered, registered capital and whether financial statements show it's still active. For an individual, ask for a copy of their ID and search court judgments for job-abandonment cases
- Beware of unusually low prices — If it's 20–30% cheaper than others, suspect extra charges midway, or that your money will be used to keep another job going
Check the contractor's company name yourself (free)
If the contractor says they're a company or partnership, ask for the full legal name or 13-digit registration number, then search it yourself on the DBD website www.dbd.go.th under "Datawarehouse (juristic person and financial statement data)" or in the DBD e-Service app, free of charge. What to look for:
- Status — Must still be operating, not dissolved or struck off the register
- Directors / managing partner — Do they match the person you're talking to who will sign the contract? If not, ask whether they have authority to sign for the company
- Year registered and past financial statements — Have they filed statements every year? A company registered only a few months ago isn't necessarily bad, but ask to see more real work
- Registered business type — Is it related to construction?
The name on the contract and the account you transfer to should match the company you found. If asked to transfer to someone else's personal account, ask why and get it in writing
Questions to ask before hiring
- Who supervises the site every day, and how many regular workers are there?
- How many jobs are you running at the same time right now?
- How are payments split, and what completed work does each milestone cover?
- What does this price include and exclude (foundations, MEP systems, sanitary ware, permit fees)?
- If work is late or failed work needs redoing, how will we handle it?
- After handover, how many days to come fix problems, and for how many months?
A safe payment structure
The key is pay for work actually completed, not by time Use frequent milestones (a 2–3 million baht house should have 6–10), each tied to tangible results, e.g. "Milestone 3: 2nd-floor beams and all columns poured". The starting deposit shouldn't exceed 10–15%, and keep the final 5–10% to pay after inspection and all defects are fixed
Warning signs during the job
Workers disappearing from the site for days, asking for advances before a milestone is reached, claiming material price rises to charge more, or becoming hard to reach — all are signals to stop paying immediately until work is back on plan. Don't worry about seeming unkind: money paid ahead of the work is the hardest money to get back
Bhoon Kharn has a milestone system that ties payments to progress, with photo evidence for every milestone, plus verified contractors with reviews from real jobs to browse before deciding