What happened with Greatearth in 2021?
Greatearth Corporation and Greatearth Construction, main contractors for five HDB Build-to-Order projects, informed HDB in August 2021 that they had run into financial difficulties, and works at the five sites ceased on 20 August 2021. Despite financial assistance from HDB, they could not complete the projects and went into liquidation. HDB appointed new contractors in about a month, compared with the three to four months a fresh tender would normally take, and estimated further delays of about two to three months.
From the RRD Field Guide, checked against the sources cited in How to Choose and Verify a Contractor in Singapore: Licences, Registration, Insurance and Red Flags. General information, not advice for your project.
The fuller picture
Check four things before you award building works in Singapore: the BCA builder's licence (Class 1 general builders have no value limit; Class 2 is limited to projects of S$6 million or less), the BCA Contractors Registration System workhead and grade, bizSAFE status, and insurance certificates. Then protect yourself with progress-linked payments, a performance bond where justified, and a programme you can monitor.
More questions on this topic
- What is the difference between a GB1 and a GB2 licence?
- Does my renovation contractor need a BCA builder's licence?
- What do CW01 and CR01 mean in BCA's directory?
- Is CRS registration the same as a builder's licence?
- How do I check a contractor's bizSAFE level?
- What insurance should a contractor have?
- How much deposit should I pay a contractor?