- Choose relevant experience before comparing the lowest price.
- Check current documents against the company named on your quote.
- Compare the same scope, exclusions and payment milestones.
Start with a written brief and use the same questions for every candidate. Qatar Fit Out qualifies your project and prepares a one-page comparison of up to three checked local contractors. The service is free for you. Contractors pay us for qualified introductions. You decide who receives your details and who visits.
Define the job before choosing a company
Describe the current condition of the space, its approximate area and the intended use. State whether you already have drawings, a landlord manual or an approved design. Identify the person who can approve design decisions and spending. A contractor cannot price an undefined scope reliably.
Make your required completion date visible from the start. Explain whether it is fixed by a lease or opening event, or whether you have flexibility. Ask what needs to happen before construction can begin. An available site team is only useful when the design, access and materials are also ready.
Look for evidence that fits your project
Ask to see completed work with similar technical demands. A photograph of reception joinery says little about kitchen extraction or changes to fire systems. Request an explanation of what the company actually delivered and which specialist subcontractors were involved.
Speak to references with permission and ask about communication, variations, snagging and handover. Where a visit is possible, look beyond the finishes. Check whether the operator received usable manuals and whether defects were addressed. Treat references as evidence to consider, not a guarantee that your project will have the same outcome.
The 12-point contractor check
Check the following items before deciding who to appoint. Our public checklist covers the same subjects. Each point needs evidence or a written explanation relevant to the proposed work.
- Valid trade licence and Commercial Registration
Check validity, legal name and the activities relevant to the proposed works.
- Contractor All Risk and third party insurance
Review current evidence of cover, exclusions and applicability to the project.
- Civil Defence approval experience
Ask for evidence relevant to the systems and type of premises in your scope.
- Written inclusions and exclusions
Require a clear scope tied to the drawings and specification used for pricing.
- Payment schedule tied to progress
Agree evidence for each milestone and how advance purchases are documented.
- References you can actually check
Speak to previous clients with permission and discuss handover and defects.
- Completed projects in your sector
Confirm what the company delivered and which specialists performed the work.
- Named project manager and site team
Identify who runs the site and disclose the proposed specialist subcontractors.
- Responsibility for approvals
Assign landlord and authority submissions, fees and responses to comments.
- Materials and specifications in writing
Agree products, samples, alternatives and the process for approving substitutions.
- Programme and change control
Review milestones and availability. Approve the cost and time effects of changes in writing.
- Snagging, warranties and handover
Specify inspections, defect resolution and the documents required at completion.
Red flags worth resolving before you sign
An expired document, a quote in a different company name or a refusal to identify the site manager needs an explanation. So does a request to begin work before the required approvals are understood. Pause when a contractor treats important exclusions as something to discuss after the deposit.
A large advance payment without clear milestones creates avoidable exposure. There is no universal safe percentage for every contract. Ask what the payment purchases, how progress will be evidenced and what happens if delivery stops. Do not accept a low headline total while leaving essential services unpriced.
Compare offers on one scope
Put the bids beside the same drawing revision and specification. Separate construction, furniture, IT, professional services and approval costs. Mark every exclusion and provisional allowance. Ask contractors to explain differences in quantities or materials before comparing totals.
Record the proposed start, dependencies and handover requirements alongside the price. An offer that omits testing or closeout documents may leave work for you to procure later. Ask for a written process for changes, with cost and time effects approved before the extra work proceeds. Keep the accepted scope and quote attached to the contract.
Use the shortlist to make the next decision
Your one-page comparison brings scope fit, relevant work, indicative cost and availability into the same format. It is a starting point for choosing site surveys. It is not a set of final tenders or a ranking of every fit-out company in Qatar.
Choose up to three contractors from the shortlist. Only those you approve receive your contact details. They arrange the free site survey and prepare their own quotes. If none fits, explain the concern and we review the brief again at no cost. Your construction agreement is always directly with the contractor.
