Something I’ve found quite surprising since moving is there is such a huge market for people who do “a quarter of the job for half the price.”
For example where I’m living, we get quite a bit of snow in winter, it’s pretty hard on houses. Every summer a man in a suit comes around and gets awarded a contract to paint some poor old ladies house.
The scaffolding goes up and all of a sudden some dudes in cheap overalls rock up and start painting directly over old and dirty paint and grim. No proper preparation, just a quick and dirty fix, the consumer is non the wiser because they don’t really know about practical stuff and the dirt bags walk away with the cash.
The same goes for pest removal, plumbing, electricians, reinforcement of old broken structures etc. Super cheap, super dodgy.
Have others observed this? I have to say it really bugs me. Lots of “solutions” which cost half as much but end up costing more money in the long run.
My theory is because there is no such thing as a real consumer affairs watchdog such as in Canada or Australia. Ripping people off is a pretty safe industry.
Do all tradespeople need to be licensed in Japan?
I also realize people around here are pretty adverse to spending money, so I guess it’s attractive to go for the cheapest option as soon as it’s offered.
Maybe it’s a combination of dodgy contractors and the irresistible urge to save a buck?
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Hi I see you haven’t dealt with the lowest bidder anywhere else.
Unfortunately this happens everywhere especially in the States. Sometimes you get what you pay for, sometimes, you don’t get what you pay for, I.e even if you pay a lot, they do shitty work or don’t even finish the job.
Because the country has shonky building standards. And that’s because they’re not updated as often or as comprehensively as in other countries you might be familiar with (and haven’t been for a long time, so have fallen quite behind in many respects), and they’re not enforced as effectively either (like you say, there’s no effective overseeing watchdog or the like among other protections).
Seems like you haven’t lived in the US where high school kids roll up to your house with a can a brush and a ladder.
It sounds like everyone commenting here is doing so without experience.
Op is right. In general, tradesmen in Japan are utter trash and the corps that hire them are predatory.
We’ve had plenty of work done on our house – never from the lowest bidder. Sometimes it’s the ‘official contractor’ for the store / architect / insurance agent. Other times direct hire.
We’ve *never once* had a job done well.
I don’t actually know what happens when the tarps and scaffolding go up around a building, but I always assumed it was more sealant than paint.
Had a same personal experience too.
There is communal center besides my previous house and they had lots of sakura trees (big ones) some random ass neighbor complained and the dude just cut of all the big branches(even on my side) it’s so bad that almost felt like the tree is cut in half. Can’t have those sakura tree anymore sad.
TIL “shonky”.
It’s always sad when people get fleeced. Roofers in the US are somewhat infamous for this, particularly after hail storms. I’m not sure what a good solution that is actual practical to help people. There could be some education in school that would help in the future (my high school in the US had various few-week-long courses on all kinds of practical stuff from small engines to finance and stock market).
Cowboy builders are a thing everywhere. In britain we even have TV shows about them.
I think in Japan people really dont do home maintenance much at all unless its absolutely necessary to live. So they rather pay someone tondo a botch job given the chance anyway. Combines desire to get it done quick and cheap with the fact they either dont know about maintenance much as a country who isnt into it and you can see what happens.
i assume those contractors will take care of all the paperworks needed like say for painting the bldg. not everyone has the time to deal with the paperwork, nosy neighbors, claimers, etc. in our area, everytime something will be done here, they send notice to all houses. very mendokusai
So, I actually work in japanese construction, mostly renovations. What most of these “omg me too” comments are a result of is freelance, independent, “handy men” that usually can’t get a real full time gig with a legitimate company because of various reasons, like past DUI, no license, no insurance, disability, fired too many times because of subpar work, alcohol abuse, or plain laziness. They get an unrelated salesman to get job sites for them, sometimes they are lifelong friends with someone that throws work their way.
These types of “contractors” are the exception, not the rule, but they are out there, and keep doing their shit because they charge WAY LESS than any other legitimate company that specializes in renovation. It’s literally the LOWEST BID, and you will get the lowest quality. It’s very simple.
The majority of the contractors are high quality, long established, trustworthy, and they are usually very busy. (another reason why the subpar results are seen is because the quality contractors are way too busy to go do these small half day or less jobs). They tend to seek and prefer the larger job sites where the work quality is expected to be higher, the estimated duration is longer, and the bid is higher. Real, legitimate, renovation companies quickly scoop up and hire for themselves, or contract their work to their preferred list of trusted contractors that they know will get results they want to either build up or maintain their reputation, either for the community via word of mouth or for the bigger developers which are reliable cash cows. The legitimate outfits will have mostly licensed people working for them and will at the very least, have a licensed supervisor on site as a go between for the customer and worker. Yes, the legit Renovation companies are the ones you should definitely go to for any of your home maintenance or renovation work, but they will be more expensive than the independent freelance guy in his Kei bus. These renovation outfits can do any type of work, small, large, or even brand new residential/commercial builds, so they absolutely should be your go-to, not the cheapest guy you can find.
You get what you pay for. If you call around for services, you have to ask for what you want. Painting over old paint is how it is done, because most people just want things to look clean and tidy. As far as standards go, ironically, people don’t want the standards found in Canada. Where I live in the mountains, you can build anything you want with zero oversight. There is a limit, such as how many floors before you need a fire-escape, exit signs, sprinklers, etc.
Personally, I love that Japan has these levels of service work. The first remodel we did of our 120 yr old house cost about $70k. Now we are doing a second remodel and spending more for some tasks, such as flooring.
My family lives half the year in Thailand and half in Japan. I find Thailand to have very similar issues that you have described. In both countries I find it is only a problem for foreigners.
>My theory is because there is no such thing as a real consumer affairs watchdog such as in Canada or Australia. Ripping people off is a pretty safe industry.
Are you referring to Australia, [which has 97% of apartment buildings that are defective](https://au.sports.yahoo.com/most-nsw-apartments-have-building-defects-210000777.html), [poorest insulation building standards](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-15/why-are-australian-homes-so-cold/101227308), and the [worst case of “dodgy contractor” issues](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-26/aged-pensioner-lodges-complaint-about-unlicensed-builder/10796422), as you described?
Are you referring to Canada, [which has had one of the worst leaking condo crises since 1998, and the government has still allowed hundreds of defective condos to remain on the market after 20 years without proper repair?](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-leaky-condo-crisis-1.4609418)
[Lack of protection for people taken advantage of by unscrupulous dentists](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/dentist-check-up-bills-of-901-leaves-alberta-newcomer-feeling-ripped-off-1.3131390)?
[What about those shady mechanics that defraud consumers with car maintenance](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/oil-change-shop-caught-scamming-customers-marketplace-investigation-1.2418675)?
[What about some cowboy builder in the UK?](https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/cowboy-builders-rip-merchants-named-14037981)
[In Spain?](https://spanishnewstoday.com/woman-scammed-by-two-cowboy-builders-in-alicante_1643464-a.html)
[In Sweden?](https://metro.co.uk/2014/05/22/builder-is-water-boarded-because-of-poor-bathroom-job-4737028/)
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It’s interesting how people often claim things like “How Japan doesn’t have xxx like other countries” but it literally only takes a few minutes of internet research to find out such things exist in almost every country. However, people are more tolerant with Western countries because, well, we all know why…
West good, Japan bad.
West helping west, Japan bad.
Western countries are always doing it better, Japan bad.
Most residential construction in Japan is garbage to start with anyway, so people don’t want to spend unnecessarily on something that isn’t even intended to last a long time anyway. That’s why contractors and customers alike don’t really give a shit.
Little incentive to do the work right (and more expensively) if you’re just going to demolish the building in 20 years is my guess.
Your not wrong 🤔
Yes you do need licenses to properly do business in Japan but mostly everything is done under the table and Some contractors do get paid directly in cash with no contract signed. That leaves the owner with no legal protection, so it’s best take the time and not be cheap.
Big companies are strict about paper work and require all documents before work can start.
There are good guys here but you often need to know someone who knows them, or you need to be very lucky. We have a carpenter we use for general repairs who is excellent and doesn’t cut corners. We also have an electrician/aircon guy who does careful, high quality work.
If you’re calling up the guys who advertise in your mailbox or who go through three levels of subcontracting you’re not getting the good guys. The good guys don’t need to advertise, they already have as much or more work than they can handle just through word of mouth.
Not too long ago, the business on the floor beneath our home was having work done, and one of their contractors decided to enter our terrace and barge in through the back door of our residence. He literally shouted at my spouse questions as to whether or not we had a certain appliance on that floor. I was in my pajamas and totally livid. Glad we received an apology, but that was beyond unprofessional.
We just had our house repainted and the roof fixed up. I let my wife handle it and she chose a local because she wanted to help support a local. And I must say, the guy did a superb job. It’s a father/son business and they are booked through the entire year. The price was very good and what was cool was the guy would also send daily videos of what he did. My suggestion- do the same. Choose a local and let them know that you are choosing them because you want to support a local.
Ever since we had someone clean the aircon last summer the light that indicates it needs to be cleaned has been flashing.
Great job! 👍🏼
I have to agree, and it’s not only when you go with the lowest bidder.
When we renovated our kitchen, we shopped around. Contracted with a really well known company that had a very beautiful showroom.
The people who showed up to do the work in our house seemed like they were dragged in from the streets. The number of things “forgotten” or not done correctly was outrageous for the cost. We had to call the office several times and then they would send an experienced person to fix the “handyman”‘s mistakes. We were so unhappy with them they refunded us part of the fee, showing how much we overpaid, in hindsight.
The rest of the house I renovated on my own. Took time, but crazy cheap compared to the quotes we got. And compared to the kitchen work, similar/better quality at that