Contract "time bombs," "goods not as described," difficulty protecting rights... How many pitfalls must you encounter when renovating a home?

Before renovation, I browsed Xiaohongshu for three months, saved over 200 avoidance guides, and joined five renovation groups. I thought I was already half an expert, but on the first day of construction, reality gave me a big slap. You never know where the next pit is, and you definitely don’t know how deep it is…

On social media, many consumers complain about their renovation experiences. What pitfalls might occur when renovating a house? What are the underlying issues behind these problems? “Xinhua Viewpoint” recently conducted an investigation.

Contract “Hidden Mines,” “Goods Not as Described,”

Water Leakage and Water Infiltration Are Prominent Issues

In early January this year, Mr. Tan was attracted by a furniture company’s promotional event. After learning about it, he initially agreed to a full-house custom service and paid a 2,000 yuan deposit. A few days later, staff from the company came to measure and quote, and Mr. Tan found that the total price increased from the initial 12,000 yuan to 15,000 yuan.

The staff said that only participating in the “Full House Custom + Finished Furniture” package could get the advertised discount. Mr. Tan, who didn’t want to buy finished furniture, requested a refund but was refused.

The sales contract shown to reporters indicated that to enjoy the so-called “discount,” finished furniture must account for more than 50% of the custom contract amount, and the purchase must occur before the custom furniture is shipped. “It’s like buying meat that must come with half a bone and must be paid for in advance.”

According to the China Consumers Association’s 2025 top eight complaint hotspots, some home decoration companies set various contract traps and hidden charges, with related complaints on the rise.

Some consumers say that contract “hidden mines” are just the beginning, and issues like “goods not as described” after construction are common.

Previously, Li Yue (pseudonym), living in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, ordered full-house wardrobes and other furniture from a company in Chongqing via an e-commerce platform. After installation, she found that the actual materials used did not match the contract. “They showed original manufacturer-made veneer during promotion, but during sales, they replaced it with products made from plain boards purchased from third parties and claimed they were original manufacturer’s veneer.”

According to a statement from the original manufacturer, unauthorized use of their plain boards for surface finishing without permission, and claiming it as their own veneer, is false and potentially misleading.

Worse, some consumers found water leakage and seepage after moving in, with walls and floors also affected. A netizen from Hunan posted on social media that before the New Year, there was slight seepage at the bathroom door of their new house. After the holiday, they discovered large areas of peeling paint, debris falling to the ground, and some areas exposing mesh fabric inside the wall. They told reporters that although the renovation company promised to handle it properly, the cause of the leak has yet to be found.

Why Is Rights Protection Difficult?

Industry insiders believe that home renovation services have low entry barriers, long full-cycle chains, and non-standardized products. Some services lack standardized norms and strong constraints, making rights protection difficult.

— Industry standards are hard to implement.

Reporters learned that although relevant departments have issued series of national standards like the “Code for Construction of Residential Decoration and Renovation Projects,” in practice, due to the concealed nature of home renovation projects, administrative supervision cannot cover everything. Consumers often rely on post-approval assessments, leading to delayed enforcement.

Currently, China has issued acceptance standards or industry standards for wooden furniture, custom furniture, and full-house custom home products, but many are recommended rather than mandatory, allowing businesses to choose whether to follow them.

Xie Yuan, staff at the Market Supervision Office of Sanjiao Town, Yongchuan District, Chongqing, believes that some product quality standards are not detailed enough and difficult to unify. “In handling common complaints, many parties believe they have fulfilled the contract, but the outcome is dissatisfaction.” Several industry insiders also said that projects like “what constitutes unqualified” or “how much deformation is normal” lack mandatory detailed standards, leaving consumers in a difficult position when defending their rights.

— Responsibility becomes a “confusing account.”

“Home renovation service chains are too long, involving designers, custom manufacturers, foremen, workers… With many people involved, responsibility is often hard to assign clearly,” said Tao Yuan (pseudonym), a designer at a Chongqing renovation company.

Lawyer Zhu Yingwei from Chongqing Jianyu Law Firm, who has handled many renovation disputes, found that the biggest headache for consumers is gathering and fixing evidence. For example, promises like “full package,” “zero extra charges,” or “imported materials” are often oral commitments not written into contracts; once water and electrical lines are embedded in walls, their brand and thickness are uncheckable. Some consumers have to repair quality issues themselves to live in the house, destroying the original site and losing the basis for later assessment.

— “Replacing beams and columns” hides hidden dangers.

During interviews, it was found that some home renovation companies adopt a “project-based” approach or frequently change legal representatives, even registering shell companies to evade legal responsibilities. Even if consumers win lawsuits, enforcement can be difficult.

The China Consumers Association stated that some renovation companies operate under brand or affiliated company names, with inconsistent signing and payment entities, and actual construction workers often differ from the contract parties.

In July 2025, the chain home renovation brand Liangjiaju announced it would cease operations. Several consumers disclosed that the company had signed contracts with “ghost branches” that had already been deregistered, which could pose risks to legitimate rights protection.

Building a “Firewall” for the “Dream of a Comfortable Home”

This year’s government work report proposed “implementing service consumption quality improvement and benefit actions” and “strengthening consumer rights protection,” with a series of measures to create a safer consumption environment.

In January, the China Real Estate Industry Association released the “Standards for Full-Case Residential Decoration and Renovation Services,” covering the entire process, requiring installation site cameras, and clarifying after-sales response and handling time limits.

Ma Yong, associate professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law’s School of Economic Law, suggested that relevant departments should work together to improve industry standards, develop more detailed construction process standards and acceptance norms, and realize “what you see is what you get, and pricing is settled upon.”

Some beneficial explorations are already underway: Chongqing, Jiangxi, and other places have explicitly required property service companies to strictly implement decoration and renovation declaration and registration systems; to address the prominent contradiction of “pay first, work later,” some leading home renovation companies are exploring the introduction of banks as “fund custodians” for renovation payments…

Regarding the persistent issues of “fraud” and “company跑路” (跑路 means “run away” or “abscond”), interviewees generally believe that a nationwide online blacklist of home renovation companies should be established, including behaviors like malicious extra charges, shoddy work, and embezzlement, restricting their market access and financing rights.

For consumers, how to accurately “avoid pitfalls”?

Zhu Yingwei suggested that consumers should carefully verify renovation contracts, reject vague descriptions, specify brands and models of materials, clarify specific construction methods, and set penalties for delays. Before signing, they can also check company backgrounds via websites and avoid companies with very short establishment periods or frequent changes of legal representatives.

“Keep important records, verify key milestones, and confirm changes in writing. Even if disputes arise later, consumers will have solid grounds,” Zhu Yingwei said.

(Xinhua News Agency)